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source_url: "https://www.theoreads.com/docs/author/faq?utm_source=openai"
title: "Author FAQs — Theo Reads | Theo Reads"
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> **Original source:** https://www.theoreads.com/docs/author/faq?utm_source=openai

Pricing must balance two priorities—our guidelines reflect the sweet spot where those two values intersect. Low friction for readers: Pricing should feel intuitive, familiar, and fair. We call this reader-friendly pricing. Sustainable income for authors: Your craft has value — pricing should honor that while keeping discovery easy.

Every author should have at least one gateway story — a low-friction entry point that makes it easy for a new reader to fall in love with your voice. Stories with reviews often make ideal gateways because they already carry social proof.

**1\. The Free Story Rule**  
Free stories are a powerful discovery tool — but a catalog that's mostly free doesn't sustain the authors who write it. To keep Theo Reads a platform where your work earns, no more than 20% of your published stories on Theo Reads may be priced at free at any time. If you publish 10 stories, up to 2 may be free. If you have 5, 1 can be free.

This isn't a restriction on generosity but a guardrail that protects your income and the platform's ability to pay royalties. Readers who come in through a free story need somewhere to go — and that somewhere should be a paid story they're excited to buy. Every author should have at least one free or low-cost gateway story. The rule simply ensures it stays a door, not the whole house.

As a reminder, stories that are free elsewhere, on other platforms, may not be published as paid stories on Theo Reads.

**2\. The Baseline “Fair Market” Word Value**  
Across the indie romance and erotica ecosystem at the time of writing this guide (December 2025), full-length novels (80k–100k) are priced between $4.99–$5.99. This places the approximate value of a single word at: $0.00006 per word (see Pricing Case Study). This is not a literal pricing formula. It simply anchors the relative value of different story lengths so pricing stays fair, balanced, and aligned with digital fiction norms.

**3\. Why We Round to Reader-Friendly Price Points**  
Digital readers overwhelmingly prefer prices that end in: $0.69, $0.99, $1.49, $1.99, $2.49, $2.99, $3.49, $3.99, $4.49, $4.99, $5.49, $5.99. These numbers feel trustworthy, familiar, intentional and professionally calibrated. Prices like $0.47 or $1.12 feel accidental or low-trust, even when mathematically accurate. That’s why Theo Reads uses psychological price points — because they reduce friction and increase reader confidence.

**4\. The Law of Diminishing Returns**  
As stories get longer, the cost of writing increases — but the reader’s perceived incremental value increases more slowly. This is why: 5k → free | 5k–10k (free or $0.69) | 10k - 20k → $0.99 | 30k–60k → $1.49–$3.49 | 80k+ → $4.49–$4.99

Charging too high, too early makes discovery harder and slows your growth. Your goal is to choose a price that: honors your craft but keeps the door wide open for new readers. That’s why stories under 5k words are free on Theo Reads.

**5\. Theo Reads Standalone Story Pricing Table**  
These are our recommended prices for standalone stories, based on your story’s length, market norms, and reader psychology. These are strongly recommended, but not required as we understand that you may have these stories published elsewhere and consistent pricing is important.

Note that a story is published as a free story elsewhere, may only be published as a free story on Theo Reads as well.

Because of credit-card processor requirements, the lowest price we can offer on Theo Reads is $0.50.

Range - Word Count

Reader Friendly Pricing

1k–5k

Free

5k–10k

$0.69 ($0.50 is the lowest permissible)

10k–15k

$0.99

15k–20k

$0.99 - $1.49

20k–30k

$1.49–$1.99

30k–40k

$1.99–$2.49

40k–55k

$2.49–$2.99

55k–70k

$3.49–$3.99

70k–90k

$4.49–$4.99

90k–110k

$5.49–$5.99

110k–130k

$6.49–$7.49

130k–150k

$7.99–$8.49

150k–180k

$8.99–$9.49

180k+

Split into a series or duology

Read our [pricing guidelines](https://www.theoreads.com/docs/author/pricing-guidelines) for more.