Discuss Latest WCI Blog Post: Book Review: The White Coat Investor’s Guide to Asset Protection

[Larry Ragman]

Perhaps surprisingly, a lot of people do. 45% of the copies purchased today were the Kindle version.

I can’t say I am truly surprised. A lot of people prefer their content by kindle. I do. In this case the topic just didn’t interest me enough to pay full price. Obviously many others are more interested. Ain’t capitalism grand?

[xraygoggles]

Yea, that's an experiment too. I'm worried that Kindle sales are cannibalizing our paperback sales. If it turns out they are, you'll likely see $25 pricing on the Kindle version of all the books soon.

You know Amazon screws over authors on Kindle versions, right? Basically, the author's royalty on a Kindle sold for $9.99 or less is 70%. For anything $10.00 or more, it's 35%. So there's no point to selling anything on Kindle between $10 and 20. They basically force authors to sell books for less than they're worth and that figure hasn't even been adjusted for inflation in the 8 years since I first published. At $9.99, I'm getting paid 2+ times as much to sell a paperback as a Kindle version.

So the question is do people look at the $25 Kindle price and just buy the paperback instead? Or are we just losing Kindle sales? We'll find out soon I'm sure. Fun with business/entrepreneurship!

Still running a for profit business here....

Interesting - didn't know Amazon price gouges Kindle book sellers.

As one who reads a lot, and almost exclusively on Kindle, I will prolly still get it, despite the hefty price tag.

[The White Coat Investor]

Interesting - so at $30 for paperback any more than the 9.99 kindle -- along with the carrying cost of production, unless the publisher covers?

Not sure exactly what you're asking, but the paperback version of the books pays us more than the kindle version (even if we charged the same price for Kindle) and the audible version. It's a weird business self-publishing a print-as-you-go book.

At any rate, I think the information in the book is a great value at $30. If I packaged the same exact information up into an online course I'd charge $1000 for it. From a business perspective, people who aren't willing to buy a $30 book from us probably aren't going to be any kind of a customer for us. That doesn't mean we don't like them nor want to serve them. We're not JUST here to make money, but no margin, no mission.

The book is # 1 in three different Amazon categories today and # 2 in another. In fact, in a relatively large category (Law) it is # 4, besting Michelle Obama's book, William Barr's book published last month, and even Getting to Yes. It's even up to # 25 in the huge category of "medical ebooks" (3 spots behind When Breath Becomes Air.) Don't know how long it'll stay there, but I'm pretty happy with the launch today.

[The White Coat Investor]

Is it possible to buy the book directly from you and not go thru amazon.

As mentioned, via the WCI store. Sometimes the store will be cheaper (particularly for bulk purchases) but sometimes it won't. But if you want to avoid dealing with Amazon or get a WCI shirt or something at the same time, that's an option.

[The White Coat Investor]

No issue with you running the business the way you think best. But by the same token Amazon author compensation policies are not my concern. I was just answering Lithium’s question. I don’t have much interest in a kindle version for $25.

Perhaps surprisingly, a lot of people do. 45% of the copies purchased today were the Kindle version.

[Tangler]

Looks good. Thanks for the hard work! I will get it!

[Hatton]

ordered it

[zlandar]

Amazon is $4 more than WCI but the free shipping makes it $3 less and likely arrives at my doorstep sooner.

I normally buy the Kindle version but I can think of a couple people I can pass this book around to once I'm done reading.

[Larry Ragman]

Yea, that's an experiment too. I'm worried that Kindle sales are cannibalizing our paperback sales. If it turns out they are, you'll likely see $25 pricing on the Kindle version of all the books soon.

You know Amazon screws over authors on Kindle versions, right? Basically, the author's royalty on a Kindle sold for $9.99 or less is 70%. For anything $10.00 or more, it's 35%. So there's no point to selling anything on Kindle between $10 and 20. They basically force authors to sell books for less than they're worth and that figure hasn't even been adjusted for inflation in the 8 years since I first published. At $9.99, I'm getting paid 2+ times as much to sell a paperback as a Kindle version.

So the question is do people look at the $25 Kindle price and just buy the paperback instead? Or are we just losing Kindle sales? We'll find out soon I'm sure. Fun with business/entrepreneurship!

Still running a for profit business here....

No issue with you running the business the way you think best. But by the same token Amazon author compensation policies are not my concern. I was just answering Lithium’s question. I don’t have much interest in a kindle version for $25.

[VagabondMD]

Is it possible to buy the book directly from you and not go thru amazon.

Yes.

https://shop.whitecoatinvestor.com

[StarTrekDoc]

Interesting - so at $30 for paperback any more than the 9.99 kindle -- along with the carrying cost of production, unless the publisher covers?

[Hatton]

Is it possible to buy the book directly from you and not go thru amazon.

[The White Coat Investor]

The list price for the paperback didn’t matter to me, but I did raise an eyebrow at the $25 kindle price. I would have bought it on kindle at $10 (the price of the original investor’s guide) but not $25. Of course, the topic is merely interesting to me, not mandatory.

Yea, that's an experiment too. I'm worried that Kindle sales are cannibalizing our paperback sales. If it turns out they are, you'll likely see $25 pricing on the Kindle version of all the books soon.

You know Amazon screws over authors on Kindle versions, right? Basically, the author's royalty on a Kindle sold for $9.99 or less is 70%. For anything $10.00 or more, it's 35%. So there's no point to selling anything on Kindle between $10 and 20. They basically force authors to sell books for less than they're worth and that figure hasn't even been adjusted for inflation in the 8 years since I first published. At $9.99, I'm getting paid 2+ times as much to sell a paperback as a Kindle version.

So the question is do people look at the $25 Kindle price and just buy the paperback instead? Or are we just losing Kindle sales? We'll find out soon I'm sure. Fun with business/entrepreneurship!

Still running a for profit business here....

[Larry Ragman]

The books are a great value, especially compared to other content offerings. No argument there. But you could raise the price to over $100 and that would still be true. I suspect there’s a reason you haven’t priced it that high. I’m not really comparing it to the courses and the conference though. I’m comparing it to other books I could pick up from the library or purchase. That’s where $30 becomes a factor. You can dismiss that as irrational if you like. I’m not sure how many others have similar thoughts.

The list price for the paperback didn’t matter to me, but I did raise an eyebrow at the $25 kindle price. I would have bought it on kindle at $10 (the price of the original investor’s guide) but not $25. Of course, the topic is merely interesting to me, not mandatory.

[The White Coat Investor]

The books are a great value, especially compared to other content offerings. No argument there. But you could raise the price to over $100 and that would still be true. I suspect there’s a reason you haven’t priced it that high. I’m not really comparing it to the courses and the conference though. I’m comparing it to other books I could pick up from the library or purchase. That’s where $30 becomes a factor. You can dismiss that as irrational if you like. I’m not sure how many others have similar thoughts.

We'll find out! It's easy to lower it and do an experiment to see if we make it up on volume. Or raise it and see if it doesn't affect the numbers sold. It's entirely possible we should be selling it for $100.