E-Book Prices - Am I Missing Something?

[George Chernikov]

I was just looking through the classified ads section here on WF and was quite shocked to see a major discrepancy between e-book and article pricing.

Specifically, I see writers that charge $5 for an article request hundreds for 15,000 word e-books.

Now, don't get me wrong here - I am NOT criticising any content writers. I'm just wondering what the going rate for a ghostwritten e-book is.

Some maths to get us started:

- $5 for a 500 article translates into $1 per 100 words
- At $1 per 100, a 15,000 word e-book would cost $150

Now, of course, I know from experience that writing an e-book is not the same as writing 30 articles. You have to go into more detail, do additional research, etc.

In short, I can see an e-book going for $250 - $300 for 15,000 words maximum. Yet it seems that even this estimate is way below what appears to be the market minimum based on my research.

Am I wrong here? If you've ever used a ghostwriter, how much did you pay for a 15,000 word work?

Oh, and one last thing - let us please not getting into the whole subject of quality, the notion that you get what you pay for and that I shouldn't be working with article writers who charge under $15 per 500 words.

These are all very interesting points and are certainly worth discussing - in another thread.

[Gene Pimentel]

George, it's simply because a 400 or 500 word article can be whipped out in no time. But creating a 15,000 word ebook takes a LOT more time and effort. It's not (or shouldn't be) just a series of articles strung together. An ebook should be a well thought-out publication that provides rich content in a complete and coherent manor. 30 500 word articles can be produced in a day. A 15,000 word ebook (although equivalent number of words) would (should) take a good week or more to produce.

[Derek Pankaew]

Hmm, I disagree. I think it takes about the same effort to write an eBook as it does to write articles.

Think about it this way. With articles, you have to do a certain amount of research for each article.

For example, "causes of depression" "depression treatment" "depression drugs" etc may all be keywords a client requests and I'd have to do research for each one of them.

Furthermore, I'm usually doing work for multiple clients which means a ton of research on a variety of subjects.

On the other hand, if a client pays me $300 for a 15,000 word eBook, I only need to do my research once. I do my research, break out the chapters, read, take notes, map out my bullet points, etc. I outline all the chapters and the main points of the chapters just once and then I can just write and write and write.

In other words, it's easier for me to write an eBook than it is to write articles. That's why I charge basically the same rate for eBooks as I do articles.

My 2 cents.

- Derek