How To Generate Additional Book Revenue From Your Nonfiction Title

February 7, 2023

By Brian Jud -

Borrowing ideas from other industries can create new book revenue ideas for your nonfiction title, and your fiction titles, as well.

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

“At what price should I sell my book?” This is like asking “How much does a car cost?” Book-pricing discussions typically focus on simple price settings, like whether to charge $14.95 or $19.99 for a printed book. That myopic decision ignores the multitude of options for selling your information that can significantly increase your book revenue and income.

Table of Contents:
• Income opportunities
• Borrow good ideas
• For customers who want a good deal
• For customers with different usage needs

Don’t think of revenue as only coming from book sales; think of all the ways potential buyers can access your content. There are other vehicles to deliver your content and generate book revenue. Therefore, a more strategic and profitable question to ask is, “How can I maximize my revenue from all the products and services I offer — or could offer — to communicate my information?”

Income opportunities

Look at your income opportunities as you would a stool with multiple legs. The more “legs,” the sturdier the stool, and some may be wider than others, reflecting the amount of their revenue contribution. The main column may be book sales, but other columns could include income from non-bookstore sales, consulting, speaking, new products, product extensions, brand extensions, author extensions, and conducting seminars and workshops.

Reconsider your pricing strategy in ways that can generate recurring revenue from existing customers while simultaneously attracting new ones, thus boosting total revenue and profits. Most authors and publishers are so entrenched in traditional pricing practices that it is difficult to think of new techniques. One way to get a broader perspective is by looking to other industries for suggestions.

Borrow good ideas

Thomas Edison said, “Keep on the lookout for novel and interesting ideas that others have used successfully. Your idea has to be original only in its adaptation to the problem you’re currently working on.” Military designers borrowed from the art of Picasso to create more efficient camouflage patterns for tanks. The first person who looked at sawdust and water and thought of making paper did this, as did the person who looked at a burr and thought of Velcro. So did Gutenberg when he looked at a wine press and coin punch and thought of movable type.

Innovation often consists of borrowing ideas that are already proven to work in other ways. Apply this concept to rethink your pricing strategy.

Below are pricing models to consider, borrowed from various industries that have found them successful. They are grouped into categories based on the pricing goals you may choose to accomplish. Those objectives are not mutually exclusive, and some of the tactics deliver multiple benefits.

For customers who want a good deal

Volume discounts. Buyers in corporations, associations, the military, and other non-retail organizations can purchase books in large, non-returnable quantities. As the number of books printed increases, the unit cost decreases, so you can offer a better discount to the buyers.

Progressive pricing. Are you a speaker? Base your fees on the number of people in the audience. Then have the meeting planner use your book as the “early-bird special” so those who register in advance for the event get a free copy of your book (which the meeting planner purchases in advance).

Bundling. A bundle is a combination of items with a total price lower than that for each item purchased separately. For instance, sell your children’s book with a plush toy. Or create a good-better-best pricing option combining product/service elements into distinct pricing tiers (typically three) that encourage customers to decide which set of offerings makes sense for them.

Good: Your book at $19.95
Better: Your book plus a special report, plush toy, etc. at $29.95
Best: The “Better” alternative plus a one-hour consultation with you, the author ($250.00)

Mixed bundling. A publisher/retailer could offer buyers a choice of books from any three authors at a discounted price. Or make a “Buy X, get Y” bargain. Authors can do the same by offering people a choice of any mix of their books at a reduced price.

For customers with different usage needs

Unbundled pricing. Offer the incentives in your “Better” and “Best” options separately on your website. Permit people to purchase your book, reports, or consultation service separately.

Metering. Charge for your content by the sentence. Have a corporation pay you to send a “Daily Quotation” to its employees excerpted from your book. For example, ask a business with 10,000 employees to pay you $.01 daily per employee. That could yield $100 per day or $2,000 to $2,500 per month with minimal effort on your part.

Pricing by unconventional time increments. Instead of an hourly fee for your consulting service, charge in 15-minute increments or per day, week, or month. Similarly, many people will be unable to attend your workshops or seminars, so record them and sell the recordings bundled with any handouts.

All-inclusive plans. Conduct a seminar for an association or corporation with your book as the text and get paid for both. Reading Group Choices recommends and sells books to local reading groups. Authors can offer to make a Zoom visit to a reading-group meeting when club members discuss their book. Create a similar event when a school or business purchases your books through Collective Goods.

Split usage. Offer a bundle of products and services from you and non-competitive authors. Link with non-competitive authors to use your book as an incentive to attend their event, or pair their books with yours. Co-anchor/brand regular Zoom meetings or podcasts with other authors. You may not be a speaker, but you can still sell your books at the back of the room after an event. How? Search the National Speakers Association, Toastmasters International, or local groups to find speakers on a similar but non-competitive topic. Negotiate to have them sell your book after their events on a commission basis.

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Of course, not all of these ideas will work for you and your title, but you can borrow from some and adapt your own creative pricing structures. The point is, relying solely on individual book sales is not the only way to approach generating book revenue.