The Pricing of Success
Children’s Books on Amazon
When your first children’s book is published, you’re absolutely on cloud nine! You just can’t believe your good fortune! Not long after that you find the creativity to produce a second, then even a third book. And just when you think things can’t get more exciting, you find your books are available to a mass audience through sites like Barnes & Noble, and worldwide outlets such as Amazon … and suddenly it’s another adrenalin rush! Wow!
But wait a minute … what are your readers going to pay to enjoy your children’s books, the very fruit of your labors? It may be more than you think!
Country by Country Comparison
Amazon has an agreement and the capacity to sell and distribute in 13 countries around the world. I’ve been told by my publisher that my books are available to 7 of those countries, because of a portal Amazon has with the European market and another in the Australian market. A good friend in Sydney, Australia wanted to buy a copy of Topo and the Second Chance Circus, and asked when it would be available on Amazon … I told her it was available now and it shouldn’t cost too much to her because of Amazon’s agreement. I went to Amazon.AU to check the price for myself, and found the book retails for $55.79! I told her to forget buying it, I’d send her an autographed copy and pay the postage myself. Heck, the postage to send a book to my cousins in Sicily was $27 so Australia should be about the same, right? Wrong! The postage alone would have been $71.95! So what now?
Cost Breakdown
I decided to investigate with some country by country comparison shopping, and here’s what I discovered:
Topo and the Second Chance Circus retails on Amazon.US for $29.99.
On Amazon.UK (United Kingdom) it lists for £29.54 pounds, or $39.96
On Amazon.IT (Italy) it lists for €17,26 euro, or $20+
On Amazon.ES (Spain) it lists for €17,56 euro, or $21+
On Amazon.FR (France) it lists for €22,17 euro, or about $25
On Amazon.AU (Australia) it lists for $55.79
On Amazon.IN (India) it lists for ₹5,009 rupees, or $65+
So why does the price vary so much from country to country? And why does my book cost the most in Australia and India? I may never find an exact answer, but when I Googled my query here’s what several sources had to say:
“In a nutshell, it seems publisher’s production costs in Australia are higher than in say, the USA. and local copyright laws prohibit Australian booksellers from ‘parallel importing’~ importing the same books at cheaper prices.”
Now you know as much as I do … and I’m still puzzled! My only goal is to educate and entertain my readers but it seems I have absolutely no control over how much they may have to spend to be entertained!
Epilogue
Since beginning this blog, my publisher has made contact with a printer in Australia who is willing to print and distribute my books throughout Australia without the high cost and fanfare of Amazon.AU. See? Sometimes the magic does work!
More to come on this subject in a future blog! Grazie!
