The supermarkets in my affluent county thirty miles north of
Atlanta sell tradecraft sized novels of Stephen King, Dean
Koontz, and other top of the line authors were on sale for $12. No way my tradecraft sized novel at $13.50 could compete with
Stephen King and Dean Koontz.
Adjacent to the tradecraft size novels were
intermediate size paperbacks (5" x 8") on sale for $7.50. ( Listed
for $10 on Amazon). The vast majority of the intermediate sized novels were
vampire or paranormal novels by established authors, and usually part of a
series. Most of these novels are targeted for "teenage" readers. But
there were at least six authors of adult targeted vampire or paranormal novels.
At $7.50, these novels are selling for less than the cost of my print on demand
paperback. This is a stake in the heart, so to speak, for paperback sales of unknown
and relatively unknown authors, and of course the small presses that publish
them.
The digital world
remains the last refuge for "us little ones." On Amazon Kindle,
Stephen King novels are selling for $8.99 or $9.99, depending on when they were
published. The well-known, but not famous, authors' novels are selling for $5.99
and $6.99. Less than famous folks can sell novels for $.99 to $2.99 and be
competitive. Hopefully, most readers don't only read Stephen King, Dean Koontz and other famous authors
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