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by GuiA 3393 days ago
The fact that you can't buy the book alone for $20 or so - but instead have to buy some sort of premium package that starts at $179 - is a definite put off for me, and also makes me wonder whether the content of the book is that deep/interesting, or if it's a trick to get the buyer so involved emotionally with the purchase that they'll end up believing it was absolutely worth it.

I get that by selling $300 book bundles, he only needs to sell 1/15th of what he'd need to sell if the book were $20; and that of the people who would buy the $20 book, there are probably more than 6% of them who will buy the $300 book; but it's still pretty offputting.

I'm certainly glad that I didn't have to buy K&R's C book as a $200 package complete with "file templates" and an "audio book" and "an exclusive skype session with the authors who will give you personal feedback on your C program"!

3 comments

Here, $29: https://www.amazon.com/Authority-Become-Following-Financial-...

I read it in 2013, and it's probably earned me at least $100,000. That's being veeeery conservative.

Not everyone will have that experience, of course. I had an existing book series, and Authority gave me an idea for how to repurpose it into a larger business.

As for the package on his site: he probably wants to avoid support. You get a lot of it with a $20 price point, and as he wrote in the article, he's focussing on converkit. Whereas with the amazon listing, amazon handles all customer support.

(I learned that lesson with my own books. My amazon royalties are smaller than my overall business, but I'm still very glad to get them, because there's basically zero admin work required.)

Heh, I found your comment from 2013: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5746020
Wow, thank you! Literally a life changing comment/purchase.
I ordered the book on Amazon after reading your and a few others' comments.

I'm also interested in the 90 day plan. Unfortunately, it is only available through the $299 package, which I don't feel comfortable paying for.

In your position, I'd get the book, read it, evaluate, and then consider whether to get the larger package.

Basically, if it seems likely to lead to a profitable idea, then $299 is trivial. If it doesn't, then just the book will be fine.

For me, it was clear from reading the book that I had an idea I should pursue. You'll probably either get that from the book, or not. If you do have something to launch, then you'll have a better idea if the rest of the package is worth it.

Weird, it isn't available for Kindle.
Ironically that's covered in the book. Raise prices until a drop-off - although I always thought that rule was for B2B not B2C - consumers are far more picky over the price.
I got it for $79 in July, 2015. Not cheap also.