BookRiff

Selling Books By the Chapter

Among the few websites offering sales of books by electronic chapters, pricing varies greatly but is usually dependent upon two factors:

1. length of content
2. price of the print book

Lonely Planet is the only site to price PDF chapters differently within one text, maybe  because of the variety in length of chapters in LP books. Although the product they are selling is different from chapters BookRiff users will be purchasing (because LP offers each chapter as an individual printable download), their pricing standards may provide useful hints for pricing your own content on BookRiff.

Here are a few observations about the pricing models used by Lonely Planet, Random House, and other sites selling books by the chapter.

LONELY PLANET (based on original prices of study sample of 33 books)

• Chapters are generally priced based on: 1) the price of the print book, and 2) # of pages… although other factors like illustrations come into play.
• First chapter, and final chapters containing directories/supplementary material tend to be priced at the minimum (usually $2.00 USD)
• Discount of 20% is offered with purchase of 3 chapters; discount of 35% on 5+
• Whole books cannot be purchased in PDF
• Some free content is available for download, usually Introduction/ TOC/ extras
• Avg. cost of purchasing all chapters is 56% more than cost of paperback.
• Illustrated chapters are more expensive, i.e. full-color activity guide

Some specifics:

Southeast Asia on a Shoestring: 988 pp./ 13 chapters/ US $25.99

• Price range per chapter: $2.00 to $9.50; average: $4.35
• Price of book PDF (sum of all chapters): $56.50
• Difference in PDF & paperback price: $30.51
• Average price per PDF page: $0.06

Africa: 1184 pp./ 52 chapters/ US $35.99

• Price range per PDF chapter: $2.00 to $6.50; average: $3.38
• Price of book PDF (sum of all chapters): $176.00
• Difference in PDF & paperback price: $140.01
• Average price per PDF page: $0.15

Canada: 912 pp./ 14 chapters/ US $26.99

• Price range per chapter: $2.00 to $8.50; average: $2.75
• Price of book PDF (sum of all chapters): $38.50
• Difference in PDF & paperback price: $11.51
• Average price per PDF page: $0.04

Havana City Guide: 232 pp./ 9 chapters/ $19.99

• Price range per chapter: $2.00 to $5.00; average: $3.22
• Price of book PDF (sum of all chapters): $29.00
• Difference in PDF & paperback price: $9.01
• Average price per PDF page: $0.13

Eastern Europe: 956 pp./ 22 chapters/ $28.99

• Price range per chapter: $2.00 to $7.00; average: $3.75
• Price of book PDF (sum of all chapters): $82.50
• Difference in PDF & paperback price: $53.51
• Average price per PDF page: $0.09

Other Sites Selling Books by the Chapter

RANDOM HOUSE

• Only one book (Made to Stick) so far available to buy in chapters
• Book is also available in whole e-book format
• Introduction and Index are free with chapter purchase
• Chapters not priced according to length
• Cost of purchasing all chapters is 17% more than cost of e-book, but 16% less than cost of hardcover.

Made to Stick: 352 pp./ 6 chapters + Epilogue/ $25.00 US

• Chapters range in length from 19-50 pp.
• All PDF chapters priced $2.99
• Price of e-book: $17.95
• Cost of book when purchased by chapter: $20.93

ICHAPTERS.COM (CENGAGE LEARNING)

• Web site for purchasing textbooks and study guides only
• Books are also available in whole PDF (e-book) format
• First chapter and TOC are free for all textbooks
• Price of chapters varies some with length, but all chapters in one book are priced the same.
• Based on study sample, cost of purchasing all chapters is on average approx. 58% more than cost of e-book, but 21% less than cost of printed textbook.

Accounting, 23rd Edition: 1328 Pp/ 26 Chapters/ $185.95 Us

• All chapters priced $5.99
• Price of e-book: $92.99
• Cost of book when purchased by chapter: $149.75

Global Business, 1st Edition: 640 pp/ 18 chapters / $168.95 US

• All chapters priced $6.49
• Price of e-book: $84.49
• Cost of book when purchased by chapter: $116.80

WROX.COM

• Web site for purchasing software-related texts
• Whole e-books not available
• All books paperback, and vary greatly in page count, but are priced similarly
• Chapter 1 and additional material are free
• All chapters priced at $4.99, no matter the length or price of book

Beginning ASP.NET 3.5: In C# and VB: 768 pp/ 18 chapters/ $44.99 US

• All chapters priced $4.99
• Cost of book when purchased by chapter: $89.82
• 99% increase in cost when book is purchased by chapter

DotNetNuke Web Sites Problem Design Solution: 360 pp/ 10 chapters/ $49.99 US

• All chapters $4.99
• Cost of book when purchased by chapter: $44.91
• 10% decrease in cost when book is purchased by chapter

Professional Visual Studio 2008: 1032 pp/ 58 chapters/ $59.99 US

• All chapters $4.99
• Cost of book when purchased by chapter: $284.43
• 374% increase in cost when book is purchased by chapter