Kickstarter has given many authors and indie publishers the motivation that they have needed to turn a project from an idea into a reality. For Linda Formichelli, a freelance writer that teaches courses in magazine writing, the site also taught a lesson in the pay-what-you-want pricing model.
In a blog post on Copyblogger.com, Formichelli explains how by offering her courses at various price points via the Kickstarter model, she was able to sell more of her content and get more people interested. Instead of getting three people to sign up for her basic course at $120 a pop, she got 128 people to pay a minimum of $30 a pop. She then opened up her course to a pay-what-you-want model and found that people paid more than was expect.
Formichelli explains in the blog: “I’ve now offered the course with this payment model three times for a total of $10,134 from 228 students. That’s an average of $44.45 per student. Which means students paid an average of $14.45 over the minimum asking price.”
Formichelli’s story is just one example of how content can prosper when customers are given a choice in what they want to pay. Have you tried a pay-what-you-want pricing model to sell your book? Please share your story in the comments below.