Blue Light Special

An audio version of this post can be found at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8iXl38Z7mE&feature=youtu.be

   Cheryl set down her tea. "Ninety-nine cents?"
   I held a fork-full of hash brown potatoes in mid-air. "Yep ... I read in a blog that you re-energize sales of a book by offering it on Kindle for ninety-nine cents."
   "Who said that?"
   I paused to swallow the bite of food. "I can't remember ... but evidently, the current thinking is that if you are an unknown author, people are more likely to take a chance on your book if they can download it for ninety-nine cents."
   "Well, I should think so ... the books in the cut-out bin at Barnes and Noble are more than that." She took a bite of her egg.
   "I know ... it's amazing ... but, there is such an overwhelming number of books available on Kindle, that folks can be choosey and if they have to spend more than a buck, they are only likely to choose well-known authors."
   "I suppose I can understand that ... but, still, it seems like you really devalue Northern Cross by setting the price at less than dollar ... we used to buy forty-five rmp records for a dollar ... and that was in 1960."
   I held up my cup so the waitress patrolling with the coffee pot could fill it. "Amazing, isn't it?" I paused to let her pour. "Thank you," I said and continued with Cheryl. "But, it wasn't selling at two ninety-nine... so I figured that thirty-five percent of dollar is better than one hundred percent of nothing."
   Cheryl took a sip of her tea and ruminated for a few seconds. "Well, I can't argue with that logic ... but, still, it sure seems like they take advantage of indie authors."
   "Maybe ... but that's reality ... if you choose to go down that path, you have to be willing to accept whatever you run into ... and the volume of books available on Kindle is huge ... that's just the way it is."
   "Yes, but I don't like it." She took another bite of egg.
   "Me neither ... but let's see what happens ... maybe sales will pick up and we'll make it up in volume."
   "So, are you going to offer Headwind at that price, too?"
   "I haven't yet ... it is still too new ... I'm going to keep it in the two-ninety-nine bin."
   "Is it selling?"
   "A few here and there ... it's not exactly flying off the shelves, though."
   "Well, wouldn't you apply the same logic?"
   My face reddened. "Hard to deny ... but, I just can't bring myself to do it ... heck, it's a bargain at two-ninety-nine."
   Cheryl rolled her eyes. "That was my point."