Today’s “Fun With Numbers” is brought to you by my least ardent fans, the ones who complain about my publishing model and think I’m somehow ripping them off (the ones who don’t visit my website and who won’t see any of this).

I’ve blogged at length about the numerous benefits the Wool series brings to readers (reduced wait between reads, cheaper samples, more cover art, wider variety of POV and tone), and also the numerous costs to myself (I make less money, it requires far more work, I risk losing someone based on a limited reading sample).

Here’s the math:

For titles UNDER $2.99, I make a 35% commission. Amazon has a minimum price of 99 cents (if you see prices lower than that, it’s because they are price-matching Smashwords or some other retailer who might be having a sale).

That means I make 35 cents for the first 4 books in the series. Total: $1.40.

For titles $2.99 or OVER, I make a 70% commission. So if the four books were sold as a single title for $3.96, I would make $2.77.

That is right at DOUBLE the commission (1.98). Which means I’m making HALF as much as I would if I just priced the first four books (over 100,000 words or a 300 page novel) at $3.99.

Let me repeat that: I’m making HALF as much as I would if I packaged this together, saved myself the trouble on the cover art, the extra formatting, the uploading, the creation of a KDP entry, etc. HALF.

More evidence of my lack of business savvy (I think of it as my generosity, but whatever).

When the omnibus edition becomes available later today, it will contain all five Wool stories for $4.99. Purchased individually, these would cost $6.95. You save right at two bucks. How much do I make? NOT ONE PENNY MORE.

Here’s the math:

For the individual books: (Books 1-4 = $0.35 X 4 = $1.40) + (Book 5 = $2.99 * .70 = $2.093) = Grand Total of $3.49

Three fifty for five books of stellar quality. Wow. Crazy to see it spelled out like that.

For the Omnibus Edition: $4.99 * .70 = $3.49

Exact same amount of money to me while saving you $1.98!! And you keep your Kindle de-cluttered.

This, friends and dear readers, is why people asked for a Paypal button. They understand that I’m being an idiot with my pricing. If you feel bad, make up for it by gifting a copy, spreading the word, writing a review. I’m simply doing what it takes for me to sleep well at night, which is something you can’t put a price on.