When I can, I like to give readers looks inside about how the book world operates. I think most people who read this blog are aware I predominantly self-publish, and that gives me a different insight into the mechanics of publishing. I was just told someone out there has priced a copy of my first Shades book, Shades of Murder, at $287. That brought a laugh for sure.

Like any commodity, the market drives retail book pricing. Coffee table books with lots of images are always at the high end because those are the most expensive to produce. Thick books tend to come in next because the longer the book (even without images), the higher the production cost. Very specialized books can also be expensive because there are certain segments of the market that will pay specialty prices.

With that said, let’s talk about ordinary, everyday fiction or non-fiction. That leads us to format. Standard hardback is the most expensive to produce, the larger “soft cover trade” is the size I always publish in, then there is the standard paperback size. (While the larger soft cover is a paperback, the term “paperback” in general refers to the smaller size.) As anyone who buys books knows, all the best sellers come out in hardback, then are released in different formats. The whole point of not releasing them in paperback initially is to capture the market segment that doesn’t want to wait. This is also why the Kindle (and other e-book formats) price tends to be $12-15. When you’re a best seller, that automatically puts you in the higher price category.

So now we get to book sellers. Again, most people know Amazon has had a major impact on the book world, and with the advent of the large bookstore chains, the small, independent sellers face more obstacles than they used to. Store can only carry a limited number of items and how long they carry any individual book is reasonably based on sales. They may take a shot on a unknown (or have a special corner for local/regional authors), but they simply can’t afford to take up valuable space for “maybes”. By the way, when you walk into a store and see a big display about a particular book, there’s a very good chance the publisher has paid a premium price to the store. Other books are “spine only” display. In addition to all the well-known sellers, there are hundreds (and probably more like thousands) of re-sellers. They are everything from established companies to individuals and they can set whatever price they choose. During my research for the upcoming book we planning to release in February, I needed a source and the only copy of it I could find was around $300. Fortunately, when I mentioned this, an individual loaned me a copy.

You expect rare books to come at a hefty price, but in reality, people can decide to ask a high price for any book just to see if they get it. You never know why someone will pay extra. There are obviously many factors that go into pricing, but these are the basic elements.