Not having the page count listed on a campaign page is one of my biggest pet peeves. I'm not surprised 25% of the campaigns didn't have page count listed, but it's one of the first things I look for, and if it's not readily available, I won't back it (and if it's a page for a friend or client, I immediately suggest they remedy the matter).
Love the number crunching! Numbers are similar to what I was seeing last time I did a pricing spot check.
My gut tells me that relying solely on PPP to price books would probably get you some weird price points, and I usually like to stick to round numbers... but it's probably a decent test to check your book pricing against.
Good point! I would want to do some rounding rather than take the exact average price with change (e.g. $20 vs $19.80). But it's helpful to know whether you're close or far from the pack.
Thanks for the post. I don’t think indie creators should be using the big two as pricing comps, and I feel there is some tolerance (at the moment) for paying a higher price for indie books using crowdfunding. I was under-pricing my comics for a while so did end up raising them. Price per page is certainly helpful, but would love to see that differentiated by colour vs B&W as those have very different print costs.
I suspect most books are in colour, so it’s merely a suggestion for the future. Ultimately I think the price point is gonna come down to perceived backer value which is always gonna be hard to measure, so price per page is helpful for creators looking to align with mean/median prices of the market.
I am not very sure prices will come down on crowdfunding platforms. Why do I say that? Everything is getting expensive, as we all know, from the printing costs to the shipping and not to mention creator's art supplies like Bristol board (for those of us that still and will forever, use traditional art tools to create our ORIGINAL artwork comics:-)) and the fact that, as it appears to me from watching and observing the last years a multiplicity of comics projects on both Kickstarter and IndieGogo, supporters are enjoying and supporting indie creators like never before and do not mind spending a little more coin for truly unique comic mags that are low print runs, making them potentially even more special. And hopefully, with some economic growth, in the US and worldwide, in the next coming years, supporters will have more coin to spend on what they enjoy as part of their entertainment choices! AGL
This article confirmed a lot of what I already expected: I charge too little for my books. That said, my audience skews young - around 9+... that means I have so many other factors to consider if I want to make my books accessible to this demographic.
That said, I'm hoping to Kickstart a "grown up" book this year and I'll definitely charge accordingly - or at least closer. Imposter syndrome strikes again...
We indie creators can't compete with the big 2 on pricing since we have to cover all of our own costs. For me, I have to come out of pocket for all the expenses for printing, marketing, paying artists, etc.
It also depends if you are kickstarting the book or not, Im a comic artist and I do a lot of interviews on my podcast with artists. Im surprised that people can charge 10 bucks or more for even a pdf of the comic.
I didn't notice any campaigns that were purely ebook, but I wasn't looking for it either.
Taking a quick look, I'm seeing most of the PDFs are going for the $5-$7, although some of the books on the more expensive end have PDFs going for $10-$15.
Let me go through the info and see what else I can come up with!
Looks like I've been underpricing my comics as I'm doing it in Canadian dollars. I've been regularly going around that $0.31 USD a page once I factor in the conversion, which puts me squarely in the "lowest" price tier.
As a person who's bought a decent amount of your comics (albeit digitally, I haven't room for physical collecting) I too agree you probably should raise prices a bit closer to market. They're definitely fun enough and worth a higher per page reader investment.
Even in my own area of buying, while your prices aren't "indyplanet.com digital collection for $1" territory they've been extra fair to consumers for so long I'm quite sure most of us are gonna stick around for more of the stories still if you raise them closer to market.
I appreciate that! I've always tried to be fair with the pricing, but it makes it all a little precarious too.
I wouldn't want to take advantage of anyone in pricing, but I could see nudging it up a bit here or there to try and recoup more costs and keep this all going stronger.
And I'm with you regarding digital comics. As much as I love having the physical copies in my hand, they become another item to sort and find a home for.
That's just the comic. It's roughly double if I include shipping.
Shipping to the US is surprisingly cheaper than shipping within Canada. Shipping to most of the EU and the UK is similar to Canada. Everywhere else is a crapshoot. So far, it's mostly evened out though.
That average price is right around what I charge: $12 for a 34-page issue (and then I up it to $15 on my online shop). Marvel/DC prices are just not realistic for indie creators. Even printing 1000 copies in China is not going to get you a per unit cost that makes sense. And the vast majority of campaigns are not getting close to the number of copies sold that an average DC/Marvel single issue gets.
That's awesome! It's great to have more information about how fellow indies are pricing.
Without other indie books to compare to it's easy to see a comic book on a store shelf and think, "That's what comics should cost. That's where I have to be on price." (especially if direct market is the ultimate goal). But at the volumes we're printing, it was hurting us to try and match those prices.
Exactly. Fortunately I think a lot of Kickstarter backers are knowledgeable enough about the platform and indie comica that they are not turned off by the higher prices.
Hi, Supremes! A SUPREMELY written article and very helpful to any new comic creator that is planning a crowdfunding campaign online. I am, on Kickstarter. I have been debating the price per book since my initial intent to go via Kickstarter rather than Indiegogo about 2 years ago. I wasn't sure how much to charge per printed copy since it was not a standard 32-pages comic magazine rather - at the time - 64-pages. Unfortunately, I have delayed the project the last 2 years but will GO LIVE next several weeks BUT now, the page count is at 80-Pages (will be PUR binding, similar to a Graphic Novel but in a comic magazine format, non-standard comic size). I have settled on a price per comic mag for the PDF, Print Copy as well as for the additional covers and each in their own Rewards Tier. So, this article has validated (Yes! As a comic creator, an unknown at that, I am very continuous of how much I should charge for a comic magazine, despite being Triple the pages of a standard comic magazine but the artwork is in par with some of the popular comics art we all see in Marvel, DC and Image comics) and the stories are in the tradition of the Bronze Age era (AGL Presents #1 will be similar to the Dark Horse Presents or Marvel Presents comics and it will contain three back-up stories.) Validation for my pricing of my AGL COMICS, AGL Presents #1, at 80-pages, has been VALIDATED with your excellent article. Thank you. Maximus! AGL
Not having the page count listed on a campaign page is one of my biggest pet peeves. I'm not surprised 25% of the campaigns didn't have page count listed, but it's one of the first things I look for, and if it's not readily available, I won't back it (and if it's a page for a friend or client, I immediately suggest they remedy the matter).
Yes, especially if the art for the book is already complete. It's hard to know what you're getting without a page count.
Love the number crunching! Numbers are similar to what I was seeing last time I did a pricing spot check.
My gut tells me that relying solely on PPP to price books would probably get you some weird price points, and I usually like to stick to round numbers... but it's probably a decent test to check your book pricing against.
Good point! I would want to do some rounding rather than take the exact average price with change (e.g. $20 vs $19.80). But it's helpful to know whether you're close or far from the pack.
Thanks for the post. I don’t think indie creators should be using the big two as pricing comps, and I feel there is some tolerance (at the moment) for paying a higher price for indie books using crowdfunding. I was under-pricing my comics for a while so did end up raising them. Price per page is certainly helpful, but would love to see that differentiated by colour vs B&W as those have very different print costs.
That's a great point. I'll make an update later with what I see in terms of B&W vs color.
It might be something we have to come back to with more data as the number of B&W books was low.
I suspect most books are in colour, so it’s merely a suggestion for the future. Ultimately I think the price point is gonna come down to perceived backer value which is always gonna be hard to measure, so price per page is helpful for creators looking to align with mean/median prices of the market.
I am not very sure prices will come down on crowdfunding platforms. Why do I say that? Everything is getting expensive, as we all know, from the printing costs to the shipping and not to mention creator's art supplies like Bristol board (for those of us that still and will forever, use traditional art tools to create our ORIGINAL artwork comics:-)) and the fact that, as it appears to me from watching and observing the last years a multiplicity of comics projects on both Kickstarter and IndieGogo, supporters are enjoying and supporting indie creators like never before and do not mind spending a little more coin for truly unique comic mags that are low print runs, making them potentially even more special. And hopefully, with some economic growth, in the US and worldwide, in the next coming years, supporters will have more coin to spend on what they enjoy as part of their entertainment choices! AGL
This article confirmed a lot of what I already expected: I charge too little for my books. That said, my audience skews young - around 9+... that means I have so many other factors to consider if I want to make my books accessible to this demographic.
That said, I'm hoping to Kickstart a "grown up" book this year and I'll definitely charge accordingly - or at least closer. Imposter syndrome strikes again...
We indie creators can't compete with the big 2 on pricing since we have to cover all of our own costs. For me, I have to come out of pocket for all the expenses for printing, marketing, paying artists, etc.
It also depends if you are kickstarting the book or not, Im a comic artist and I do a lot of interviews on my podcast with artists. Im surprised that people can charge 10 bucks or more for even a pdf of the comic.
Yeah, for sure. Most of the PDF only tiers were around $5, but there were definitely a few that were $10 for just the digital pdf.
Interesting article. Thanks for sharing the legwork on these numbers.
13 dolars per book sounds reasonable. Did you find anything about PDF's? What was the avarage price on those? Were there any Ebook only comic sales?
I didn't notice any campaigns that were purely ebook, but I wasn't looking for it either.
Taking a quick look, I'm seeing most of the PDFs are going for the $5-$7, although some of the books on the more expensive end have PDFs going for $10-$15.
Let me go through the info and see what else I can come up with!
This is invaluable information.
Looks like I've been underpricing my comics as I'm doing it in Canadian dollars. I've been regularly going around that $0.31 USD a page once I factor in the conversion, which puts me squarely in the "lowest" price tier.
I'll be keeping this in mind going forward.
As a person who's bought a decent amount of your comics (albeit digitally, I haven't room for physical collecting) I too agree you probably should raise prices a bit closer to market. They're definitely fun enough and worth a higher per page reader investment.
Even in my own area of buying, while your prices aren't "indyplanet.com digital collection for $1" territory they've been extra fair to consumers for so long I'm quite sure most of us are gonna stick around for more of the stories still if you raise them closer to market.
I appreciate that! I've always tried to be fair with the pricing, but it makes it all a little precarious too.
I wouldn't want to take advantage of anyone in pricing, but I could see nudging it up a bit here or there to try and recoup more costs and keep this all going stronger.
And I'm with you regarding digital comics. As much as I love having the physical copies in my hand, they become another item to sort and find a home for.
Does that price per page include your shipping costs?
We didn't have many campaigns international campaigns in this group so we didn't have a good reference for international shipping.
That's just the comic. It's roughly double if I include shipping.
Shipping to the US is surprisingly cheaper than shipping within Canada. Shipping to most of the EU and the UK is similar to Canada. Everywhere else is a crapshoot. So far, it's mostly evened out though.
That average price is right around what I charge: $12 for a 34-page issue (and then I up it to $15 on my online shop). Marvel/DC prices are just not realistic for indie creators. Even printing 1000 copies in China is not going to get you a per unit cost that makes sense. And the vast majority of campaigns are not getting close to the number of copies sold that an average DC/Marvel single issue gets.
That's awesome! It's great to have more information about how fellow indies are pricing.
Without other indie books to compare to it's easy to see a comic book on a store shelf and think, "That's what comics should cost. That's where I have to be on price." (especially if direct market is the ultimate goal). But at the volumes we're printing, it was hurting us to try and match those prices.
Exactly. Fortunately I think a lot of Kickstarter backers are knowledgeable enough about the platform and indie comica that they are not turned off by the higher prices.
Hi, Supremes! A SUPREMELY written article and very helpful to any new comic creator that is planning a crowdfunding campaign online. I am, on Kickstarter. I have been debating the price per book since my initial intent to go via Kickstarter rather than Indiegogo about 2 years ago. I wasn't sure how much to charge per printed copy since it was not a standard 32-pages comic magazine rather - at the time - 64-pages. Unfortunately, I have delayed the project the last 2 years but will GO LIVE next several weeks BUT now, the page count is at 80-Pages (will be PUR binding, similar to a Graphic Novel but in a comic magazine format, non-standard comic size). I have settled on a price per comic mag for the PDF, Print Copy as well as for the additional covers and each in their own Rewards Tier. So, this article has validated (Yes! As a comic creator, an unknown at that, I am very continuous of how much I should charge for a comic magazine, despite being Triple the pages of a standard comic magazine but the artwork is in par with some of the popular comics art we all see in Marvel, DC and Image comics) and the stories are in the tradition of the Bronze Age era (AGL Presents #1 will be similar to the Dark Horse Presents or Marvel Presents comics and it will contain three back-up stories.) Validation for my pricing of my AGL COMICS, AGL Presents #1, at 80-pages, has been VALIDATED with your excellent article. Thank you. Maximus! AGL