I’ve heard many readers squawking about the price of eBooks. Some have said $1.99 is too high and that they will only consider buying a book if its 99 cents or free.
We know readers love reading books and authors love writing them. But there is something a reader might not know. And that is the time & tears involved in writing that book. Here are a couple of questions to consider.
How long does it take for a builder to build a wall?
What does he need before he arrives at the site?
Here are a few bricks that make up that literary wall.

Character Biography: An author needs characters and each character must have a biography. For instance: When was the character born? What do they look like? Rich, poor, or middle-class? This helps to draw a deep portrait of the person and make him/her more convincing. Motivations, arc, and struggle are also major components in forming this character. Remember Shakespeare’s Henry V? Which character do you recall the most. Falstaff. From The Catcher in the Rye? Holden Caulfield. Same with Sherlock Holmes, Atticus Finch, and Hercule Poirot. Characters stay with readers even if the story is forgotten. This takes blood.
Plot: A plot delineates the primary struggle in the novel. Each manuscript must consist of rising action, climax, falling action and conclusion of the story. Brainstorming – writing down a few ideas – doesn’t take a matter of minutes. It can take hours, weeks, months to connect concepts & ideas, and to create the setting. This takes imagination.
Rewrites: Slinging out a rough draft is easy enough; turning that incomprehensible mess into something readers would want to read takes time, patience and practice.
Tighten Up: An author will take out words and passages that aren’t absolutely crucial to the story. This takes heartache.
Editing: Most writers don’t have the critical distance to edit their own books properly. They use a group of BETA readers and a professional editor to review the manuscript if they can afford one. This takes tears.
Are you getting my drift?

Here’s what author Seumas Gallacher has to say on his Facebook page. I think it says it all.
The book in your hand is full of heartache, rewrites, edits, and more rewrites.
A book sold for 99 cents on Amazon nets the author only 17 cents, please consider this when saying $1.99 is too much.
Amazon will only recommend a book if it has at least 25 reviews posted. The 3-5 minutes it takes to post a review is the life or death of that book and determines if it is a suggested read. No matter how great a book is (or isn’t) Amazon will let it die a slow death without reviews.
4. Not every self-pubbed author has an editor. Most of us aren’t rich and can’t afford $5000 to edit a book, so be kind.
Thank you Seumas!
My heartfelt thanks to anyone who has bought and reviewed books. I appreciate you.
Author
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