Why sell eBooks online
eBooks have gained immense popularity, with approximately 21% of book sales being attributed to digital downloads. The advantage of eBooks lies in the fact that you don’t need to be a bestselling author to transform your eBook into a triumph.
There is a wide range of books available in the eBook market, allowing for different types of books and subjects. To sell your eBook effectively, the crucial aspect is the marketing, which will be discussed further later on. It is not necessary to depend on a renowned publishing company to handle the marketing aspects for you.
eBook creation is a great option for ecommerce businesses because it allows you to manage all aspects of the process yourself, from writing and self-publishing to promotions. It is a true solopreneur venture for selling eBooks online.
Why eBooks are good for passive income
Passive income is currently one of the most desired income sources as it allows individuals to generate revenue with minimal effort. In simpler terms, it entails working less and earning more, a concept that is appealing to most people.
When it comes to passive income strategies, ebooks are a valuable asset. The initial effort is essential, but afterwards, the focus shifts to sustaining sales and marketing.
If an ebook is created, marketed, and shared, it has the potential to sell itself without further involvement. To earn money from writing ebooks, a considerable amount of effort is required to produce valuable content. Additionally, establishing a reliable brand that leads your ebook to success cannot be achieved instantly.
When properly set up, ebooks have the potential to generate long-term income. The durability of your ebook increases with content that remains relevant and consistent promotion and updates.
Interested in more reasons to be convinced that ebooks are an excellent source of passive income?
They’re relatively easy digital products to make
Creating an ebook requires effort and publishing it might be challenging, but it is still simpler compared to developing a multi-lesson online course. Additionally, you may already possess the necessary content from your blog posts, which can serve as a fundamental basis for crafting the ebook.
Using templates for ebook creation is much simpler than starting from scratch. For instance, Visme provides a wide range of pre-designed multipage templates tailored to various industries and designs.
Once you have the content, putting the ebook together is a straightforward process. If you have a team within your company, it becomes even easier. Utilizing collaboration tools adds accessibility and inspiration to the ebook building process.
The reason why it will be easier for you to create more ebooks, even if it takes a long time to make your first one, is because you can learn from both the failures and successes of your last ebook (or ebooks) and ensure that your future works become best-sellers.
They make for great lead magnets
One crucial step in the marketing funnel is to gather leads for your business. A valuable method of attracting leads is by offering ebooks as incentives, as this allows you to obtain the person’s email while providing value. Since numerous individuals produce free ebooks in return for sign-ups, it is imperative that your paid ebook offers greater value compared to the free ones.
The ideal ebooks, particularly those ideal for generating passive income, are those that provide evergreen content. An excellent illustration of evergreen content is a subject that will not go through fast changes or developments once it is written.
They help with link building
To create and promote an eBook, it is important to have a landing page on your website to generate leads. Ensure to include the landing page URL in relevant blog posts and other content on your site. Additionally, others can incorporate your link into their content, while you can directly share the landing page on social media.
Creating an ebook that sells
To begin the process of distributing your ebooks and earning money, it is necessary to first create your product. Follow these steps to effectively create an ebook that generates sales online.
Choose an interesting topic
Before starting, it is crucial to meticulously consider the topic of your ebook as it determines its profitability. The key lies in selecting a topic that captures the attention of readers and compels them to purchase your book.
To rephrase the text while maintaining the same meaning, step by step thinking is recommended. Select a topic that has not already been explored by other writers or businesses. If you are writing a non-fiction ebook, aim to provide added value or educate readers about something new. To accomplish this, it would be beneficial to share personal experiences that distinguish you from other writers.
When writing a book about starting a blog, it is best to refrain from providing generic advice readily available through a simple online search. Instead, delve into intricate details of your personal blogging experience, highlighting the lessons learned and the challenges faced along the way.
If you are planning to write a fiction ebook, it would be beneficial to explore platforms such as Amazon Kindle in order to observe the genres and themes of books that have been successful in terms of sales.
If you want your novel to stand out, you should strive to generate innovative plot ideas and refrain from imitating popular dystopian teen fiction, despite its widespread popularity.
Come up with an awesome title
Following that, you should attempt to brainstorm a heading that will captivate the reader’s interest and motivate them to acquire your book. In case you are authoring books related to the world of business, titles incorporating monetary values have a tendency to yield good results.
If you’re struggling to come up with a title for your book, consider that using a more attention-grabbing title such as ‘How I Made $100,000 From My Blog’ would be a better choice compared to a generic title like ‘A Step-by-Step Guide to Blogging’. If you need assistance with creating impactful headlines, refer to this helpful guide on enhancing your headline writing skills.
If you are an author writing fiction, it is important to come up with captivating and mysterious titles. Fortunately, there are resources like Fantasy Name Generators and Adzing Book Title Generator that can assist you in generating titles for various genres.
Draft the content
Writing the actual content is likely one of the most challenging aspects of selling ebooks online. It can be time-consuming and if you lack experience in writing, it might be difficult. Nevertheless, it is important not to let this discourage you from pursuing the idea.
If your preference is to write the book yourself, outline each section of your book and establish a schedule for its completion.
If this is your first time writing a book, avoid overwhelming yourself by aiming for a super long book. Ebooks can be of any length, so it is advisable to select a more manageable length for your initial attempt.
If you do not consider yourself a writer, you can opt to enlist the services of a ghostwriter to compose the content on your behalf.
Hiring a ghostwriter is a straightforward and reasonably priced process. Explore freelancing platforms such as Fiverr or Upwork to find writers who possess expertise in your specific field.
Add high-quality images and visual elements
If your ebook discusses complex subjects in great detail and falls under the non-fiction category, it is highly recommended to incorporate visuals whenever feasible.
Visual elements such as images, graphs, and tables can be used to divide your text and enhance its understandability for the reader. These elements also serve as a useful addition to your ebook, elevating its quality and professionalism.
Including images in fiction books is not a very common practice, and besides enhancing your story with illustrations, you can likely skip this step.
How to sell ebooks on your website
Step 1: Choose a plan and create your store
To begin the process of creating your ebook store, visit Sellfy.com, select your preferred plan, and click on the “Get started” button.
First, you will need to think step by step. After that, you will have to create an account and password and provide some information about your store. At this point, you have the option to either embed products on another site or create a Sellfy storefront. Once you have made your choices, click on Start 14-day free trial. Afterwards, you will be redirected to your Sellfy account dashboard.
Step 2: Add your digital products
Afterwards, you can proceed to generate product pages for your ebooks and include them in your store. To achieve this, navigate to Products > Digital products located on the sidebar and subsequently press the option to Add new product.
To upload your ebook files on the new product page, you have two options: you can either drag and drop the files or browse your computer to select them. In addition, you can provide details about your ebooks, including a description, title, price, and product preview. Once you have finished creating your product page, simply click on the Save product button located on the top right-hand side of the page.
Step 3: Make changes to your store settings
To customize your store settings when building a new store with Sellfy, follow these steps: 1. Click on Store settings in the sidebar. 2. From the opened tab, you can customize the appearance of your store by making changes to the themes and layouts.
If you need to purchase a domain, you can refer to a list of the best domain name registrars to buy from. Additionally, you have the option to point your store to a custom domain. Typically, we use Namecheap for domain registrations.
By using the Store settings area, you have the option to link your store with both PayPal and Stripe. This integration will ensure the safe acceptance of payments from your customers. Additionally, within this settings area, you can configure various important elements of your site including email settings and embed options.
After going through all the mentioned steps, you will be prepared to commence the promotion of your ebooks online and generate sales.
Sites to help you sell ebooks
Amazon kindle direct publishing
Amazon is a huge online platform that allows the sale of digital ebooks. One of the most common methods to earn money on Amazon is by publishing your own ebook, which has the potential to generate over $1000 per month.
Ebooks published on Amazon utilize Kindle Direct Publishing, where you will be asked by KDP to submit your manuscript that must fulfill specific criteria. You have the option to upload Microsoft Word files, EPUB, and the designated Kindle file format, KPF.
After carefully considering the options, you can decide to publish your book as an ebook, paperback, or both. Once Amazon has approved your publication, readers from around the globe will be able to access your ebook.
Smashwords
Smashwords is an ebook publisher and distributor that offers lots of solutions for new and experienced ebook writers. You can upload a Word document or an EPUB file. They turn it into a digital ebook product and distribute it to all major ebook consumer platforms.
Rakuten kobo
Rakuten Kobo is an additional ebook publisher and distributor that provides the option to sell your ebooks on their platform as well as other distribution sites. To publish with Rakuten Kobo, you just need to follow the instructions on their website. You have the flexibility to upload various file formats including Microsoft Word and EPUB. Additionally, they offer services for selling audiobooks and even have their own digital readers available for purchase.
Sellfy
In addition to websites that focus solely on ebooks, there is Sellfy, a digital product marketplace that allows you to sell any type of digital product for download. You have the option to sell your products directly through Sellfy or by providing a link on your website.
Payhip
Payhip is another digital download platform that requires your ebook to be in a specific file format before it can be sold. If you choose to sell your ebook on Payhip, it is recommended to use EPUB as the file type. You can sell it by providing a Payhip link or incorporating the link into a button on a landing page.
