The Age of Conversation - share your pricing strategy

About 8 weeks ago, Gavin Heaton and I conceived the Age of Conversation and put an ALL CALL out for chapter authors.  In less than 7 days, 106 people initially responded and 104 actually followed through and wrote a chapter.

We're shooting for an end of June release (we're knee-deep in editing, design and author wrangling as we speak) so we need to make some big decisions.  One of the biggest is price.

Here are the salient facts:

• 104 authors - all writing on their take/unique view of the Age of Conversation
• Remarkable content (you're going to be delighted)
• All original content (will not be released elsewhere for at least 6 months following launch)
• All proceeds donated to Variety, the Children's Charity (monies will be given directly to the countries that align with our authors when there's a Variety chapter there)
• Downloadable e-book
• Dedicated to the life and spirit of CK's mom, Sandra Kerley

So...help Gavin and me.  Tell us how much you think we should charge for the book and give us some rationale.  (We'll take it all in and then make a decision.)  So, show us some pricing strategy smarts.

We're listening and the comment box is open!

Here's the stellar cast of authors (To help you valuate the book and to give them their due credit.)

Gavin Heaton
Drew McLellan
CK
Valeria Maltoni
Emily Reed
Katie Chatfield
Greg Verdino
Mack Collier
Lewis Green
Sacrum
Ann Handley
Mike Sansone
Paul McEnany
Roger von Oech
Anna Farmery
David Armano
Bob Glaza
Mark Goren
Matt Dickman
Scott Monty
Richard Huntington
Cam Beck
David Reich
Mindblob (Luc)
Sean Howard
Tim Jackson
Patrick Schaber
Roberta Rosenberg
Uwe Hook
Tony D. Clark
Todd Andrlik
Toby Bloomberg
Steve Woodruff
Steve Bannister
Steve Roesler
Stanley Johnson
Spike Jones
Nathan Snell
Simon Payn
Ryan Rasmussen
Ron Shevlin
Roger Anderson
Bob Hruzek
Rishi Desai
Phil Gerbyshak
Peter Corbett
Pete Deutschman
Nick Rice
Nick Wright
Mitch Joel
Michael Morton
Mark Earls
Mark Blair
Mario Vellandi
Lori Magno
Kristin Gorski
Kris Hoet
Kofl Annan
Kimberly Dawn Wells
Karl Long
Julie Fleischer
Jordan Behan
John La Grou
Joe Raasch
Jim Kukral
Jessica Hagy
Janet Green
Jamey Shiels
Dr. Graham Hill
Gia Facchini
Geert Desager
Gaurav Mishra
Gary Schoeniger
Gareth Kay
Faris Yakob
Emily Clasper
Ed Cotton
Dustin Jacobsen
Tom Clifford
David Polinchock
David Koopmans
David Brazeal
David Berkowitz
Carolyn Manning
Craig Wilson
Cord Silverstein
Connie Reece
Colin McKay
Chris Newlan
Chris Corrigan
Cedric Giorgi
Brian Reich
Becky Carroll
Arun Rajagopal
Andy Nulman
Amy Jussel
AJ James
Kim Klaver
Sandy Renshaw
Susan Bird
Ryan Barrett
Troy Worman
S. Neil Vineberg
C.B. Whittemore

Comments

[Connie Reece]

My suggestion: an even $10.

1. That's approx. 10 cents per author -- an incredible bargain to get 400 words each from some of the top voices in marketing and social media. While I think the information is worth much more, a higher price will limit the number of sales.

2. $10 represents a small contribution to charity -- the kind most people would feel comfortable making even if they weren't receiving something valuable in return.

[rishi]

I think a price of around $15 would be appropriate.

[Ann Handley]

The number that jumped in my head was $9.95. But I like the "10 cents per author" suggestion Connie has, above.

[CK]

I like keeping it at or under $10 so that people can afford it (I'm hoping that $10 US dollars is indeed an affordable price for anyone who wants to access the book's teachings). It's an important piece to get into as many people's hands as possible (thanks again Drew & Gav!).

[David Berkowitz]

I'm all for keeping it on the low end, in the $10 range. I don't want to devalue it and I think at $100 it would be a steal (just a hunch, not having read every contribution), but I like the thought of making it affordable.

[Patrick Schaber]

Drew,
Typically, I'm a fan of pricing things like this a bit more expensive, but given it is for a charity, I'd say let's make it affordable. I'd vote for $15.

-Pat

[Copywriting Maven]

Part of the pricing strategy is who's doing the buying. If grads are buying, I'd go $9.95 ... parents/family, then I'd pop to $14.95 and push hard on the fact that all proceeds go to benefits charity.

Pay it now and your soon-to-be employed grad can pay it forward later.

[David Reich]

I don't know what cost is involved to actually produce the book. If all revenues go to the charity, I'd opt for something in the $15 - $20 range. That way, we can end up with a meaningful total contribution, although any total amount will be meaningful since it's from the heart.

[Nick Rice]

We can split the overall difference and go with $11.95. Is there a way to have an optional "Add Additional Donation" box that goes straight to the charity?

I know that proceeds already go to charity, but people may want to go above and beyond while still getting a great deal on the book.

Just my two cents...

[Pete Deutschman]

I agree with the 10.00 range. I assume we are talking US $ here? 10.00 has a higher percieved value than even 9.95 so stick with that.

Pete

[CK]

I guess my question is this: we want to definitely raise money for charity but what's the intent of the piece? I think it's to spread the message and engage more into this mindset/medium. So I think we can still raise great money for the charity by limiting any barriers (barriers being cost and time invested to read the great work). I want to be mindful of how much $10 US dollars is to other economies (thinking globally since we're a small slice of the world). Plus, I really want this book to be in the hands of many students. I think $10 doesn't present a large barrier, though I'm not sure. Many thanks for opening this to the crowd, guys.

[Joe Raasch]

I suggest we do what the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York) does:

"Suggested donation: $25.00". You can get in for free if you wish, or give them $50.00, or the suggested $25.00. This is a pay-what-you-can model.

[Bob Glaza]

This will really show my knowledge of pricing strategy & smarts...$10(USD) sounds good :) Excellent work everyone!

[mindblob]

Good point about the intent of the ebook. When thinking about charity, no price would ever be high enough. But when thinking about accessibility, worldwide, and to whoever might be interested inc. students, I'd say let's keep it low. $10 US is a decent price indeed (more or less €7 Euro and a half).

Then, hopefully the ebook will raise a lot of traffic to its home web page so I like Nick Rice's idea (optional "Add Additional Donation" box). Would it make sense maybe, to do it also the other way around: offer the ebook to whoever donates to Variety more than $10 US dollars?

[Tony D. Clark]

I like Joe's idea (it's what I was thinking, too). Musician Jane Siberry does this for her music:

http://www.sheeba.ca/store/letterSDP.php

Make 10 bucks the minimum (or suggested) then let folks decide if they want to pay more, since it all goes to charity.

[Toby]

I love Connie's idea of 10 cents per author along with an opportunity for additional contributions .. especially if one of our goals is to encourage multiple purchases.

Will there be a way to send a code to people for downloading if they "gift" the book?

[Mark Goren]

I'm liking the $10 to $12 range with the option to give more.

I think when people see what 100 people have contributed to, they'll get the idea and join in generously.

Or maybe I'm just an idealist..

[Shaping Youth]

I like the $10 tag for accessibility, and LOVE the concept of promoting the children’s charity in a ‘$10 or above’ donation category with ‘suggested check boxes’ ($15, $20, $25, Other) In the nonprofit world, we’ve found that people give more when they’re not mandated or strong-armed, and they often self-select out of ‘guilt’ not wanting to give at the lowest level!

As for furthering the blog dialogue, it might be nice to set up a UGC ‘blog back’ area positioned as a “penny for your thoughts” commentary for folks to weigh in on any of the chapters; agree/disagree, offer their own views or get to know the authors and their sites better.

One way we could do this is to run it through a free social networking site like Ning.com where we’re all globally connected to each other, yet also have our own customizable profile and ‘personal bulletin board’ if people are interested in a particular area of expertise etc. (we do this with Andy Carvin’s pbs crew of educators at the ‘Stop Cyberbullying’ Ning site, if you want to see how it works) Fun!

Thanks to you all for making this happen. Next step is to bind it via Lulu.com and sell it on Amazon!! Best, Amy

[Shaping Youth]

Oh! One more great resource for creating hardbound "blog books" with very cool software design if we don't want it all e-book downloads: Blurb.com (e.g. a 'coffee table' book format to keep out and about at Variety's Children's Charity headquarters)

[Carolyn Manning]

I like the idea of $10.00, so that makes it easy to go with the majority.

Keeping the price low not only makes it accessible and appealing, it makes selling easier next time around. Now, that's assuming there will be a next time, and this could (and maybe should?) very well become an annual thing.

[Janet Green]

Drew, Gavin and all, I personally am an impulse buyer and $10 US is an amount I'd spend without batting an eye. At $20, I'd think a little harder. I'd also take advantage of a "give more if you wish" option if it was a charity I wanted to support. (Which Variety certainly is.) So I'll 2nd or 3rd or 20th that suggestion - $10 base price, with option to give more if one should wish. Thanks for all your hard work putting this together - it was a joy to participate! Also, just wondering if the site will accept PayPal as an option for payment? This would allow credit cards to be taken without having to use someone's merchant account, and would likely increase sales, especially for my fellow impulse shoppers! :)
~ Janet

[David Armano]

I say 12.00 because anything under 10.00 feels cheap. I was originally going to say less so people would buy in large quantities—but the fact is that some folks may distribute digitally even if they aren't supposed to.

$12.00 seems right to me. Not too expensive and not cheap.

[Kristin Gorski (KG)]

After reading all the other comments, I vote for a perfect 10! ($10)

I like the idea of giving people the option to donate more. This entire project is about generosity and giving --- let's see how what amazing ripple effects are created by this.

CK made a really great point that I keep thinking about. In response to making this book more accessible worldwide, is there a way to provide an option for people who can afford it to buy a copy of the book for someone who cannot? $10USD can be a lot in some parts of the world.

I picture this: an additional button on the site that says "Buy A Book For Someone in Need".

I have no idea of how to distribute these extra copies or how to determine who should get them; this might be too complicated. Perhaps some organization has already done something like this, and we could see how they do it? (Hmmm, I'll start researching now...I'll be reporting back soon.)

[Faris]

10 bucks feels right for an ebook - as above I feel this will allow people to make an impulse decision, which will hopefully to much higher conversion of the noise we're all going to make about it once it launches ;-p

Possibly do a Seth G and give a couple of chapter tasters away for free?

But also really like the idea of higher donation thresholds - perhaps we can offer some additional benefit for higher donations. So, a blurb hard back edition might be one for a higher price point.

And then, if people, organisations whatever were willing to donate / purchase at a higher price point still, perhaps we can again offer some additional value - like say you can ask any of the authors a question and expect a cogent, thought out reply?

Or perhaps even a community built around the book that people could get access to, that includes all the authors.

Or something.

Because people are inevitably going to distribute some copies around their organisations, and perhaps that's a good thing - the further the idea spreads, the more people it touches, the more donations Variety should eventually see.

At least I hope that's how it works ;-p

[Kristin Gorski (KG)]

Another question: Is this price for the e-book or the print book? Usually the e-book is cheaper than the print book version. Then if there's a hard-cover version in addition to the paper-back version, the hard-cover is more expensive, etc.

How much does the book have to be in order to cover the cost of printing (at Lulu or another place, etc.)? The e-book can be less expensive because those costs don't have to be covered, but the print versions should be high enough so that printing/shipping costs are covered and so that Variety still gets a nice chunk for the donation! (For the print book, include the cost break-out of how much goes to the cost of printing/shipping and how much goes to the Variety donation on the check-out page).

Another thought related to Faris's comment: free = viral = good for getting the message out. I like the idea of a few free promo chapters (or some other incentive) to get this spread that Faris mentions above. It may drive traffic to purchasing the entire thing (in addition to it being for a great cause).

Since this is also a donation, will the site provide info for how much is tax deductible? It's an extra incentive to be able to deduct this as a charitable donation.

Alright, I'm done now. ;)