Page counts on eReaders vary.
A 225 page story on one eReader
might be a 200 page story on another eReader.
Whenever a reader asks me
how long a story is,
I tell her the lower page count
(the 200 pages).
Why?
Because I’d rather she be pleasantly surprised
than feel cheated.
One of my writing buddies
tells her readers a range.
The problem with this strategy is
readers fixate on the high page count.
They’re expecting 225 pages
and if the story is shorter,
they feel cheated.
This is the same issue
with quoting a range of prices.
“You want to appear
reasonable and flexible,
so you tell a prospective customer
that the kind of project they’re looking for
will run somewhere
between $20K and $30K.
Here’s why the range is a bad idea:
The customer only hears the low end
— they’re thinking $20K.
You hear the high end
—you’re thinking $30K.
You might think that ending up
right in the middle
would make both parties happy,
but in fact,
both parties feel dissatisfied.
The customer feels like
she overpaid by $5K,
and you feel shortchanged by $5K.
A far better strategy is
to quote a specific price
—one that has a little wiggle room built in
if the customer wants
or needs to negotiate.
If you quote $26K
and let the customer work you down
to $25K,
then you’re satisfied
and the customer can feel like
they got a great deal.”
Don’t quote ranges.