All else being equal, most people agree that the longer a story is, the more you’re allowed to charge for it. A good barometer for all of this is a simple word count list (I borrowed and adapted this list from the Kindle forums):
- Flash Fiction – <1,000 words
- Short Short – 1,000 – 5,000 words
- Short Story – 5,000 – 10,000 words
- Novelette – 10,000 – 20,000 words
- Novella – 20,000 – 40,000 words
- Novel – 40,000 – 120,000 words
- Epic Novel – >120,000 words (I added this one, but I do think it should be there…)
There are plenty of places you can look to find common prices for these book lengths, and one of my favorites is from Dean Wesley Smith’s blog:
He lists some prices for different lengths and types of book, but it’s far from all-inclusive. You’ll need to do your homework here, but generally you probably already have a pretty reasonable idea of where your book should fall. If you absolutely must have a length/price list, here are my recommendations:
- Flash Fiction – $0.00 – $0.99 (maybe offer these for free on your blog, or bundle them to charge more?)
- Short Short – $0.00 – $0.99 (same)
- Short Story – $0.99 – $1.99 (I’ve spent as much as $4.99 in recent memory on short fiction, but I don’t like to very often)
- Novelette – $1.99 – $3.99
- Novella – $2.99 – $5.99 (now you’re getting into the “muddy” waters of length-based pricing)
- Novel – $2.99 – $7.99 (I collect books, so if I don’t get a hard copy in my hands to feel and touch and love, I have a hard time paying more than $7.99 for it)
- Epic Novel – $5.99 – $12.99 (if it’s really long, why not cut it up and serialize it?)
From http://www.writehacked.com/writing/the-definitive-guide-to-ebook-pricing/
Brick ONeil 