# As a reader, how does price factor in to your kindle shopping.



## Lynn Hardy (Sep 12, 2010)

Do you look at the 99 cent kindle books for a bargains, like at a second hand bookstore? 

Are you willing to spend 2.99 on an unknown author? 

What are the factors that determine what books you buy. 

I'm trying to wrap my head around this new kindle phenomena: I want to know what drives kindle folk! 

Is  the 99 cent section the buyer beware area of kindle?


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## Thalia the Muse (Jan 20, 2010)

I won't buy a book just because it's cheap. I would not buy a book for $2.99 if all I knew about it was the title and a plot synopsis -- but if I have recommendations or reviews that I trust, that price would be very attractive for sure! 

To get  readers like me, if you're any unknown writer, send free review copies/files to legitimate reviewers. Not necessarily pros, but at least people who are knowledgeable in your genre and review frequently on Amazon or Goodreads, who are willing to give negative reviews if they aren't impressed, and who are articulate and thoughtful review writers. If someone I trust says "I read this amazing book by an independent writer!" then that I will check out. 

I don't think there's a lot of correlation between price and quality in independent books, and $.99 is not offputting to me -- I believe Scott Nicholson's The Red Church (which I bought in paperback way back when it was in print from a major publisher and thought was excellent) is priced at $.99, or was at one point.

I have to say, I don't think that I'm a very typical reader and I'm pickier about editing and writing quality than many. If your book description isn't polished and clean and your Kindle sample doesn't wow me with your story-telling ability, I'm not going to bite at any price. But it's that word of mouth that will get me to download and read the sample in the first place.


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## history_lover (Aug 9, 2010)

Lynn Hardy said:


> Do you look at the 99 cent kindle books for a bargains, like at a second hand bookstore?


I don't specifically seek them out, no.



> Are you willing to spend 2.99 on an unknown author?


If the sample is good, absolutely.



> What are the factors that determine what books you buy.


If it's in one of the genre's I like, the synopsis sounds good and the ratings/reviews are mostly positive on Goodreads/Amazon (if there are any) then I'll download the sample and if the sample is good, I buy it.

Oh and I have to admit that good looking book covers do attract me - they don't determine if I'll buy it but if it catches my eye, I will check it out further.



> Is the 99 cent section the buyer beware area of kindle?


I have no idea - I have noticed a lot of 99 cent ones are old/out of copyright books which can also be found for free though.


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## Lynn Hardy (Sep 12, 2010)

History Lover,

Very organized... Thanks for that very thorough reply!

I'm glad to see Goodreads make an appearance.


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## akpak (Mar 5, 2009)

What I buy does depend somewhat on price. But I don't set a price and then go looking for books in that range. When I find a book I want to read, I will ONLY buy if the Kindle price is lower than the cheapest paper copy I could buy (new) from Amazon.

I refuse to pay more for an ebook with which I can do less than a paper book (loan, sell, trade, etc). Often I will have a list of books I want to read, but won't buy until the price drops to something "reasonable."

I use inkmesh.com 's Twitter feed to get notified of newly free Kindle books, and I do "buy" a LOT of those


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

When I first got my Kindle I was willing to try a lot of 99¢ books 'cause, after all, it was only a buck, how bad could it be?

The answer, sadly, was "pretty bad". 

Of course, there were also some bona fide gems among the rocks, but it left me a bit gun shy.  As a result, even for the really cheap ones, I now don't buy them unless I've either sampled or I am fairly confident I will like it based on reviews from other KB members.


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## Lynn Hardy (Sep 12, 2010)

Ann in Arlington said:


> When I first got my Kindle I was willing to try a lot of 99¢ books 'cause, after all, it was only a buck, how bad could it be?
> 
> The answer, sadly, was "pretty bad".


Yes, I was amazed at what was on kindle myself. I can totally understand being "gun shy!"


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## akpak (Mar 5, 2009)

Good advice: Make sure your sample actually *has* a sample of the book! A lot of "samples" are 5 pages of ToC and acknowledgments, with maybe a page of actual book.

I'll buy almost anything on the basis of a good, enjoyable sample.


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## Lynn Hardy (Sep 12, 2010)

akpak said:


> I refuse to pay more for an ebook with which I can do less than a paper book (loan, sell, trade, etc). Often I will have a list of books I want to read, but won't buy until the price drops to something "reasonable."


I totally agree! Since nothing is physically produced, then, hey, it should be less.


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## DianneS. (Sep 13, 2010)

What I'm finding is that the plethora of 99 cent books that are getting wonderful reviews are just not that good.  I imagine that these reviews are coming from people who have 'met' the author at one of the other forums and then feel compelled not to hurt the authors feeling by telling the truth.  I sit and wonder, have we read the same book?

What bothres me even more is that if I buy 6 or 7 of these bargains and I hate them all Ive just wasted the money that I could have used for something by an author I 'know' and already like.

Of course there is always  the chance that the  9.99 book may be a stinker too. 

As far as samples go, I've been noticing that the sample chapters on some books are wonderful, but the book quickly breaks down a few chapters after the sample ended.

I like an indie author who has confidence in their work and will charge a reasonable price -too cheap and I loose confidence that the book is going to be good.  Too expensive and I don't want to take a chance on a new author with no solid publisher behind them.
I seem to be in a mess with all the choices.


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## patrisha w. (Oct 28, 2008)

I seldom buy any books that are over $10. I have discovered that If I put a more expensive book in my wish list and check on it now and then, the price will come down...

Patrisha


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## Lynn Hardy (Sep 12, 2010)

DianneS. said:


> As far as samples go, I've been noticing that the sample chapters on some books are wonderful, but the book quickly breaks down a few chapters after the sample ended.


I've read some manuscripts where the author couldn't seem to tie it all together at the end, and I've even read some reviews of books that stated the like, but this is the first I've heard about bad sampling.. thanks for the heads up.

Tell me, does a quote by a big name, bestselling author help those fears?


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## Steph H (Oct 28, 2008)

Lynn Hardy said:


> Tell me, does a quote by a big name, bestselling author help those fears?


Not for me, I've seen them too many times on real stinkers. Just seems like the quotes are being bought-and-sold somehow, and the big name author really hasn't read anything. I'm sure that's not always the case, but I take them with a HUGE grain of salt.


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

Ann in Arlington said:


> When I first got my Kindle I was willing to try a lot of 99¢ books 'cause, after all, it was only a buck, how bad could it be?
> 
> The answer, sadly, was "pretty bad".
> 
> Of course, there were also some bona fide gems among the rocks, but it left me a bit gun shy. As a result, even for the really cheap ones, I now don't buy them unless I've either sampled or I am fairly confident I will like it based on reviews from other KB members.


This has been pretty much my experience, also. In fact, through the entire process of trying out inexpensive/indie books, I found only one author that I liked (through his posts here). There's a really high signal-to-noise ratio on inexpensive books.

Mike


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

Lynn Hardy said:


> Tell me, does a quote by a big name, bestselling author help those fears?


For me, not in the slightest.

Mike


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## MLPMom (Nov 27, 2009)

I do look at $.99 books as bargains, I have found a lot of great Indie authors that way.

I will pay $2.99 for an unknown author as long as it is in a genre I like and an author I have heard great things about and know I will like.

When deciding on books I look at recommendations here, I look for my favorite authors and I look for genres I know I already enjoy. I do look at reviews too and the synopsis. If it sounds interesting and the reviews aren't bad and the price is reasonable I will usually take a chance. Sometimes if I am hesitant still I will just download the sample and go from there, especially if the price is over $5.

I don't think the $.99 section is a buyer beware section at all. In fact, I have gotten a lot of _free_ books that I have absolutely loved and then searched the author and spent $9.99 on all their other books.


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## The Hooded Claw (Oct 12, 2009)

As I've said in other discussions, I simply won't buy fiction that's over $9.99, and I'm pretty Scroogish about buying it even at that price--I have to be really confident in the book and the author to pay more than five or six bucks for fiction.

At the lower end that we've been discussing here, for things that were under two dollars, if it was a substantially reduced price (as when publishers try to promote an author or series by slashing the price) for a long time I automatically bought anything I thought there was a remote chance I'd someday want to read.  I've pretty much stopped doing that, as I'm accumulating too many unread books that way!  And as someone else pointed out, buying several of these, when I may never get around to a good portion of them, costs the equivalent of buying one pricey book.  So I'm more conservative about paying a little bit now.  But I'm still fairly promiscuous about getting the free books (not free samples!) of anything I can conceive of myself ever wanting to read.  As my archives grow more unwieldy, I may discipline myself more on that eventually.


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## CaroleC (Apr 19, 2010)

I have only balked at the price for one book, Atlas Shrugged, because that particular book is not worth any more than $15 to me. 

I have several books that I did pay $15 for, though. I didn't buy my Kindle expecting to get cheap books. I love the vast number of titles available on Amazon at the click of a button.

I have a rule for myself: I can only have 3-5 unread books at a time that I had to pay actual money for. Whether the book was $5 or $15, it is counted in those 3-5 books. 

If I have 5 unread books that cost me money, I had better get busy and finish one before I can get a new book, even if I want it a lot. 
If I have 4 unread books that cost me money, I feel like I can get a book if I really want it, or wait if I am not sure. 
If I have 3 unread books that cost me money, I start spending time actively looking for new books to buy.

I still download plenty of free books (or nearly free). I do that whenever it appeals to me. Because of this my average book price right now is $4.59 . However, my backlog of unread free books is growing and I now have 15. I am currently wondering if I should stop downloading so many free books, but if so, why? My Kindle can hold them, they are free, and I only download ones that I really do want to read. I haven't figured out how I will handle this.


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## history_lover (Aug 9, 2010)

DianneS. said:


> What I'm finding is that the plethora of 99 cent books that are getting wonderful reviews are just not that good. I imagine that these reviews are coming from people who have 'met' the author at one of the other forums and then feel compelled not to hurt the authors feeling by telling the truth. I sit and wonder, have we read the same book?


Or even that the reviewers know the author in person. I suspected that might be the case for a lot of indie/bargain books, not just 99 cent ones. For that reason, I do take ratings and reviews for indie books with a grain of salt when there is only a few of them. I'll still check out the sample and possibly buy it but I do tend to think "with only 2-3 reviews, these people could just be the author's friends".



> I like an indie author who has confidence in their work and will charge a reasonable price -too cheap and I loose confidence that the book is going to be good.


I agree, I think pricing too low can actual discourage buyers - there is some truth to "you get what you pay for". But I don't completely rule out bargain books.


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## Jan Hurst-Nicholson (Aug 25, 2010)

Thalia the Muse said:


> I won't buy a book just because it's cheap. I would not buy a book for $2.99 if all I knew about it was the title and a plot synopsis -- but if I have recommendations or reviews that I trust, that price would be very attractive for sure!
> 
> To get readers like me, if you're any unknown writer, send free review copies/files to legitimate reviewers. Not necessarily pros, but at least people who are knowledgeable in your genre and review frequently on Amazon or Goodreads, who are willing to give negative reviews if they aren't impressed, and who are articulate and thoughtful review writers. If someone I trust says "I read this amazing book by an independent writer!" then that I will check out.
> 
> ...


I was about to start a similar thread asking what influences buyers. I had a good review for But Can You Drink The Water? from Publishers Weekly, but wonder if it is showing up properly. How does one go about getting a Kindle book reviewed, and what is Goodreads? 
Thanks


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## history_lover (Aug 9, 2010)

Jan Hurst-Nicholson said:


> what is Goodreads?
> Thanks


www.goodreads.com - it's a book community (like Shelfari, if you're familiar with that one), where people can rate and review books, adding them to their bookshelves to show off what they've read, plan to read and are currently reading. You can add friends and get updates on their activity, like a social networking site. There's also groups which work like book clubs. Unlike on Amazon, you can rate a book without leaving a review so you get a lot more ratings.


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## Lynn Hardy (Sep 12, 2010)

Jan Hurst-Nicholson said:


> .... and what is Goodreads?
> Thanks


Goodreads.com is a forum where you can go and join groups according what you like to read. There are even groups for writers and many other types of groups. They have thier own reviewing system. It seems a bit more honest then the Amazon one.

I hope to see you there!

Lynn


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## Guest (Sep 14, 2010)

Lynn Hardy said:


> Do you look at the 99 cent kindle books for a bargains, like at a second hand bookstore?


No. I don't look at price at all...unless it is something outrageously outside the norms of the genre.



Lynn Hardy said:


> Are you willing to spend 2.99 on an unknown author?


I spend more than that all the time. All authors are "unknown" to a certain portion of the reading community. The myth of the unknown author having to sell cheap is just that...a myth. The number of "household names" is ridiculously small really. A great many authors are only known in their little corner of the literary world. I'm always amazed when I come across people who don't know who Margaret Weis. She's revered by fans of high fantasy (Dragonlance, for those that need the reminder) but I come across a great many fantasy readers who don't know her name. I come across people who swear they are horror fans, but don't know the name Tanith Lee. So I think this idea of "unknown author" is detrimental to authors trying to market themselves.

Sorry, back to your questions...



Lynn Hardy said:


> What are the factors that determine what books you buy.
> 
> I'm trying to wrap my head around this new kindle phenomena: I want to know what drives kindle folk!


Quality cover. Yes, I do judge books by their cover. The cover is often an indication as to the care an author took in putting a project together. If a cover looks slopped together, I can almost be sure the book was slopped together.

Book blurb: is it clear? Is it concise? Does it give me a taste of what to expect? Since most indie authors write their own marketing material, a blurb that is poorly worded or all over the place is an indication of the quality of the book.

Preview: really self-explanatory



Lynn Hardy said:


> Is the 99 cent section the buyer beware area of kindle?


For some people it is. I don't specifically look for cheap books, so I can't say it is too me.


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## arshield (Nov 17, 2008)

Word of mouth is more important than price.  I have had several "friends" (either real, twitter or blog) that recommend something.  I will pick it up up to about $12.  If it is more than $12 I probably just won't buy it (either paper or kindle).  There are too many good books out there for reasonable prices.  I have read some really bad and some really good cheap books.  But much of the time I am buying around the $8-10 range.  That is just where most books I am interested in are priced.  (On the other hand I pick up almost everything that is free because I share the account with a number of people and figure someone might read it eventually.)


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## Lynn Hardy (Sep 12, 2010)

bardsandsages said:


> Book blurb: is it clear? Is it concise? Does it give me a taste of what to expect? Since most indie authors write their own marketing material, a blurb that is poorly worded or all over the place is an indication of the quality of the book.


Gotta say, I put together my fist back cover, back in the day when it was "Self," that was hard! Sales runs in my family blood, I'm told that my granddad could sell a refrigerator to an Eskimo... but summing up 500 pages into two paragraphs is not my strong suit.

So the small press I was with tweaked it for me. I was amazed what their careful grooming did for it!

Lynn


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## Jan Hurst-Nicholson (Aug 25, 2010)

Lynn Hardy said:


> Goodreads.com is a forum where you can go and join groups according what you like to read. There are even groups for writers and many other types of groups. They have thier own reviewing system. It seems a bit more honest then the Amazon one.
> 
> I hope to see you there!
> 
> Lynn


Thanks, Lynn. Have joined and will now have to learn to navigate my way round the site. Haven't quite completed my profile so will wait before posting.
Hope we'll eventually meet up.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Jan Hurst-Nicholson said:


> I was about to start a similar thread asking what influences buyers. I had a good review for But Can You Drink The Water? from Publishers Weekly, but wonder if it is showing up properly. How does one go about getting a Kindle book reviewed, and what is Goodreads?
> Thanks


Jan, your question about getting your book reviewed is probably best asked in the Writer's Cafe. . . . .


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## unknown2cherubim (Sep 10, 2010)

akpak said:


> What I buy does depend somewhat on price. But I don't set a price and then go looking for books in that range. When I find a book I want to read, I will ONLY buy if the Kindle price is lower than the cheapest paper copy I could buy (new) from Amazon.
> 
> I refuse to pay more for an ebook with which I can do less than a paper book (loan, sell, trade, etc). Often I will have a list of books I want to read, but won't buy until the price drops to something "reasonable."
> <snipped>


 Yep, that's me. If a book is too expensive I'll wait until it drops or get it from the library in paper.

The only one so far in my new ebook life I've been tempted to pay more for is Stacy Horn's The Restless Sleep: Inside New York City's Cold Case Squad because the first chapter sample I d/led was so readable. However I can get the paperback for $4.00 including shipping so I'm having a hard time considering paying $12.99 for the Kindle version.


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## Jan Hurst-Nicholson (Aug 25, 2010)

Ann in Arlington said:


> Jan, your question about getting your book reviewed is probably best asked in the Writer's Cafe. . . . .


Thanks. Still trying to figure out what goes where 
cheers
Jan


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## Richardcrasta (Jul 29, 2010)

I don't own a Kindle, but in my shopping for books, the quality of the book is the most important consideration. If I were to buy five third-rate novels for a dollar each when I could buy one second-hand good book, what am I going to do with the third-rate books, and how much they consume of my life and my time? You are what you eat, and you are also what you read--and I wouldn't read a bad book, even if it were given to me free. Because the value of my time--which I factor in as worth $20 an hour, though I don't always get $20 an hour, making four hours spent reading a book worth $80. So would I waste $80 of my time to save $3 off a book? No.

The only time the question of shopping for value arises is if I have five dollars in my pocket and two equally good books, one for $15 and the other for $5 competing for my money.  Then naturally the second one wins.

Quality is not always the consideration; sometimes, one reads a book because one knows the author, and has a personal connection with him/her. Because of some x factor that touched me, perhaps. I don't mean, by quality: big names. The writing has to prove itself. I dislike most bestsellers, think them poorly written. Well, that's me: that's my personal take. A book that makes me laugh, that is humble and self-deflating, that is human, is much better than a pompous book by a big shot.


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## pdallen (Aug 3, 2010)

As I'm waiting for the arrival of my new kindle, I can tell you that cost will certainly figure into my purchases. 

As a rule, I will not buy anything over $7. I will buy items priced $5 to $7 only if it is something I really want. Under five dollars, I will be more flexible in my purchases.

$2.99 is not too high a price for an author I like. For an unknown author, something would have to interest me.

At $.99, I'll take a chance on an author I haven't read before. There's a lot of good stuff in the $.99 bins. Of course, there is some schlock as well. But I don't mind taking a chance at that price. Of course, now that Amazon is offering the new royalty/pricing deal, a lot of books that were $.99 are going up to $2.99. At that price, I'd like to know the author's work first.

I don't care if it was written by the hand of god, I won't plunk down over $7 for an ebook.


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## Jan Hurst-Nicholson (Aug 25, 2010)

pdallen said:


> As I'm waiting for the arrival of my new kindle, I can tell you that cost will certainly figure into my purchases.
> 
> As a rule, I will not buy anything over $7. I will buy items priced $5 to $7 only if it is something I really want. Under five dollars, I will be more flexible in my purchases.
> 
> ...


The new royalty of 70% only applies to authors in the USA, so there is no point in the rest of us upping our price from 99c to $2.99. An author on the Amazon boards said her sales rocketed when she reduced her price to 99c, so I have reduced one of my books to see what happens. I have just uploaded a family saga at 99c and am waiting for it to go 'live.'


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## Lynn Hardy (Sep 12, 2010)

Jan Hurst-Nicholson said:


> Thanks, Lynn. Have joined and will now have to learn to navigate my way round the site. Haven't quite completed my profile so will wait before posting.
> Hope we'll eventually meet up.


Here's a link to my profile, look me up when you get settled:

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1363475.Lynn_Hardy


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## Jan Hurst-Nicholson (Aug 25, 2010)

Lynn Hardy said:


> Here's a link to my profile, look me up when you get settled:
> 
> http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1363475.Lynn_Hardy


Thanks, Lynn. I've had a look and plan to get started on Goodreads tomorrow. I see that The Breadwinners is now 'live', but it is not showing up yet as a Kindle. Will have to be patient.
cheers
Jan


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## DawnAllDay (Sep 19, 2010)

I'm a first-time poster to the KB..

I would have to say that the majority (98%) of the books I have downloaded were free or under $2.00.  All of the books were by authors that I had never heard of before.  

I have found that many of the free books are to get you hooked onto a series, but that is just fine by me because I love to read series.  Due to "hook" factor, the other 2% of my downloaded books are follow ups by those "new to me authors".  So to me, free does not equate to being bad. 

So that's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Dawn


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## Anne Victory (Jul 29, 2010)

Lynn Hardy said:


> Do you look at the 99 cent kindle books for a bargains, like at a second hand bookstore?


No - it's apples to oranges. Second-hand books are cheaper because they're second-hand. I haven't shopped for a lot of indie-authors, but my brain is telling me that .99 is no bargain, so therefore what's the deal? In the case of the Half-Orc series, I can see that while the first book is .99 the next books in the series are $2.99, thus it's an introductory price. That's cool, says my brain. Without some sort of "explanation", though, my brain tells me "You get what you pay for" so I'd actually be a bit hesitant to look at a .99 book.



Lynn Hardy said:


> Are you willing to spend 2.99 on an unknown author?


Yepper. Just from looking, my brain is starting to think that Kindle prices are this way:
$2.99 - Indie author
$6.99 - 7.99 for a traditionally published book that's out in trade paperback
$9.99 - 11.99 for a traditionally published book that's in hardback only

Besides - that's why there are samples.



Lynn Hardy said:


> What are the factors that determine what books you buy.


Genre, author, blurb / synopsis, cover



Lynn Hardy said:


> Is the 99 cent section the buyer beware area of kindle?


As I said above, that's how my brain looks at it. I figure you get what you pay for.


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## Labrynth (Dec 31, 2009)

I am less apt to pay more money for an author I am unfamiliar with.  The authors I buy frequently haven't really been effected by it, tho I will buy the cheapest option even if it's a DTB.  Now tho, I am less apt to spend more on an author I am familiar with if there is something out there in the same vein for less money... much more apt to give a new author a try that way.


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