Now, look at this chart that compares book sales to price. This data isn’t perfect (it’s gathered by Smashwords), but our experience, and our data watching hundreds of authors in business and personal development, maps very closely to this chart. As you can see, there are basically three tiers: • Maximize copies: $0.99–$3.99 • Middle ground: $4.99–$6.99 • Maximize perceived value: $7.99–$9.99 There are some shocking data points on there. For example, there is no difference in sales between $7.99 and $9.99. And perhaps most shocking, books at $0.99 sell less than books priced at $3.99. This actually brings me to my next point, which is a very import- ant factor for pricing business and personal development books: credibility. Books are, within certain ranges, Veblen goods. This means that 306 · ThE SCriBE METhOD