How To Make Money Selling EBooks – A Complete Guide

If you’re thinking about writing an eBook and selling it, you’ve probably wondered how to make money selling it. The good news is that it doesn’t have to be as difficult as you might think. You can create your own website to publish your eBook, or you may sell it on many popular online marketplaces, including Amazon. You’ll have to do some marketing to attract customers, but the process is completely automated. Once you set up, you’ll be able to control the whole process and make more money on each sale.

How Much Money Can You Make From EBooks?

You can easily earn a significant income by writing and publishing an eBook. You can do this with a minimal investment. Most people prefer to write short ebooks rather than full-length novels. In order to minimize the time and money that you need to spend on creating your book, you can also outsource the writing process. A well-written eBook can make you a healthy amount of cash.

The exact amount of money you will earn through selling eBooks depends upon the sales you generate, the Marketing strategy you implement, Niche you choose, and many other factors.

A Ziprecruiter report shows that an Ebook Writer makes an average yearly salary of $72,649 in the United States.

How much money can you make from eBooks

Based on a simple salary calculator, that works out to approximately $34.93 per hour. That’s the equivalent of $1,397/week or $6,054/month.

How To Sell Ebooks – Step By Step Guide

The popularity of eBooks has increased over time, and this business model generates plenty of revenue for its authors. The eBook market is becoming more competitive, and there are numerous ways to make a profit with an eBook. 

Using technology and digital marketing has made selling eBooks and generating passive income much easier. Here I’m sharing everything you need to know about making money selling eBooks.

Step 1: Choose A Popular Topic

If you’re writing an eBook, it’s important to choose the right topic for it. You should select a topic that matches the interests of your audience. There are many different types of books, but you should always choose the category that will have the largest audience. By choosing the right genre for your eBook, you can increase your chances of reaching best-seller status.

Here are the top 10 Compelling eBook Ideas for Starters

  • Write How To Guide
  • Write Case Study Book
  • Create an Illustrated Storybook
  • Write The Life Lessons Book
  • Write The Study Guide/Tutorial
  • Develop seasonal resources
  • Write The Compilation/Curation Book
  • Religion and Spirituality 
  • Business and Money
  • Biographies and Memoirs 

Step 2: Write Your EBook

If you’ve ever wondered how to write an eBook, you’re not alone. There are thousands of other people trying to figure out the same thing. However, if you follow these tips, you’ll be well on your way to publishing your very own eBook. Even if you’re not yet a published author, this article will show you how to make your first ebook an instant bestseller.

# Start With Outline

As a general rule of thumb, when writing an ebook, it is recommended that you outline it. This means taking the time to think about what you want to talk about in the book, so you know where you are going. An outline will help you keep your ideas organized.

Your ebook should begin with an outline, just like any other long-form content. It doesn’t matter how long your ebook is, you need an outline to make sure you cover everything you should and to make it easier to read. 

Tips for creating an eBook outline

  • Write an introduction explaining what the ebook entails and how readers can benefit.
  • Prepare a list of the chapters you will need. Use the main topics as headings. Make sure each chapter flows into the next logically.
  • The chapter should be divided into three to five sections using subheadings. Include stats and sources if possible.
  • Show where graphics or images should appear.
  • Finish your eBook by summarizing your main points and including a call to action.

# Write Your EBook Content

The next step is to write the book. Write the content based on the outline. You are supposed to write what you know, right? However, you still have to do a fact check. In order to prove the accuracy of the statements you make, back them up with expert quotes, research links, footnotes, or proof of your personal or professional experience.

Don’t use too much technical jargon and keep it concise. Make sure you do enough research to provide your readers with useful information. Make sure you fact-check everything and cite your sources.

Give examples of possible situations that relate to what you’ll be sharing when giving advice or tips. If possible, use real examples, but you can change the names for anonymity. Provide case studies and examples of previous experiences to demonstrate the effectiveness of your advice.

Before your jump to the next step, make sure to check:

  • Do you have a clear flow from opening to closing?
  • Do you find the introduction interesting and inviting?
  • Is the content progressing from one topic to another?
  • Is the content supported by all the visuals?
  • Is there a logical transition between sections?
  • Does the conclusion provide a comprehensive picture of the topic?

Step 3: Organize Your Content

After you’ve written the eBook, you should organize it by moving its various parts into logically-arranged sections. If you’re doing this properly, you’ll be on your way to selling your eBook! With a little effort, you’ll be well on your way to earning more money with your eBook.

Choose parts of the text that can be broken up into bullet points. Identify informative sentences that can be made into an infographic. Make a note of any sections that would be suitable to be captions or quotes. This can help the reader scan content before reading it by breaking up long blocks of text in an entertaining way.

Look at the overall structure of your ebook. Look for any sections that are too long or too short. For example, if your ebook contains too many lengthy paragraphs, your readers will lose interest. So, make sure the paragraphs are short. You should also use white space and break them into smaller sections. Don’t forget to include page numbers, headers, and footers. This will allow your reader to focus on your content.

Step 4: Proofread And Edit Content

The most important part of an eBook is its editing process. Some authors skip this step and think their work is done when it’s only the beginning. This is not true. The process of proofreading and editing your eBook is what separates a professional eBook from an unprofessional one.

Though this may seem like a tedious task, it is an essential step that will make your eBook stand out from the crowd. The editing can be outsourced if you don’t have the time. This will keep you from having to spend too much time and energy on it. 

The process involves correcting typographical or grammatical errors. Grammar mistakes and typos will make the content seem unprofessional, even if well written. Use online editors like Grammarly, Ginger, Hemingway, or Prowritingaid for help.

Before you submit your eBook, you should make it look as professional as possible. Read it aloud a few times so you can see if you can spot errors. It’s also a good idea to get someone else to read your eBook. That way, they can point out any mistakes you might have made. 

Step 5: Design Your EBook

The next step is to design your ebook. Try to break up the content with visuals. By doing so, you will enhance the reader’s experience and add visual value. The placement of the visuals is critical to creating a pattern that is easy to read. Check out some magazines and get inspired! 

 # Make It Look Attractive

The value of a piece of content is judged by the way it looks. You can make your ebook more appealing, credible, and readable by using some of the following techniques:

  • Your ebook should have a branded cover, as well as contact information at the footer and on the last page.
  • For all subtitles, use the same font, size, and color.
  • Keep the font, size, and color of the body text consistent.
  • Avoid placing images behind the main body of text. To make reading easier, use a white or light background.
  • Separate text and images with spaces.
  • Format all visuals in a similar way. Do not use unnatural drop shadows and excessive borders.
  • Be sure to include page numbers. Make sure they appear on all pages, except the title page. They should be the same size, font, and color.
  • Shapes, colors, and contrast are useful for creating visual interest and attracting attention to important messages. 
  • Match your color scheme to your brand’s colors.
  • Break up your text with headings, graphics, and images to make your topic easier to understand.
  • Highlight important points and phrases by bolding them.
  • Make the text more interesting by using large-font quotes and statistics.
  • Line length should range from 50 to 80 characters so that readers can easily identify where the next line begins.
  • Make sure the reader can easily locate different sections by adding a table of content pages.

Step 6: Design An Eye-Catching Ebook Cover

Create an awesome and clever cover design for your ebook based on your target reader. Create visually appealing and relatable images. Cover designs will not only be used in the ebook, but also in marketing mockups for the ebook.

Include The Following Elements On The Cover Design:

  • Title of eBook
  • Subtitle
  • Author
  • The company name/logo
  • Brand Colors and Imagery

Organize content using a visual hierarchy as in the example below.

Eye-Catching Ebook Cover - how to make money selling ebooks (1)

Step 7: Download & Publish Your Ebook

If you’re confident that your book is ready for publication, you’ll need to export it to the appropriate file type. Make sure to choose the right one for you. Below are a few tips regarding your options.

When creating an ebook, it’s important to choose the right file type. For example, a PDF file is the most common format for an ebook. But you can also create your eBook in various other formats.

The process of choosing the right eBook format can be challenging, especially if you’re not familiar with some of the technical jargon. It can be a bit confusing. However, choosing the right file format is part of the process of publishing an eBook.

You should consider a few things when it comes to choosing a format for your eBook:

  • Who will read the eBook? 
  • How will you distribute the eBook? 
  • How is the eBook structured? 

Based on your answers, you will be able to narrow down the file types based on your needs. To make it easier, Please find below a guide specific to your device and what file type you should use for it:

devices and recommended eBook file format

Step 8: Price Your EBook

The best way to sell an eBook in huge quantities is to set its price below the market average. This will increase sales, but it’s unlikely to be profitable in the long run. You may also raise the value of the product or offer a bonus gift. In this way, your eBook will be more enticing to customers. If you’re just starting out, you’ll likely want to sell more eBooks and reach a larger audience faster. Therefore, you’ll need to be flexible when setting the price. 

You may have seen the price of most books like this: $5.16, $19.81, and $31.82. Pricing psychology is at play here, and consumers perceive a decimal price as less than the whole number.

Step 9: Promote Your EBook

Once you’ve published your eBook, you’ll have to promote it. This doesn’t have to cost money, but it’s important to promote it widely. There are many ways to get popular and market your eBook. You can choose to spend money on marketing your book or do it for free on social media sites. This way, you can get exposure and increase your chances of earning. You should also consider selling your eBook to book clubs.

Here are some quick ways to promote your eBook

  • Social media posts
  • Social media ads
  • Newsletters and email blasts
  • A popup on your site
  • As a footer or sidebar ad on your blog posts
  • Google adwords

# How To Promote EBooks To Generate More Sales

Following are some techniques you can use to promote your eBooks to generate more leads.

Use Your Email List 

Give your email audience a preview of your Ebook, share exclusive content to entice new subscribers, and, most importantly, sell your Ebook to them. By providing early access to your Ebook for subscribers only, you can get them interested and feel like it’s worth their while. Exclusive content is very appealing to many potential customers.

Use Social media channels

You can use social media sites to boost your visibility and reach; you can use social media sites like Twitter and Facebook to share teasers of your eBook. This will spread positive word-of-mouth about your new book. You can even offer a special discount or early access to your eBook. 

Promote your eBook early

You should start your marketing campaign early to ensure your Ebook launches successfully. Your audience needs to know what you’re selling and when it’s available. Build some interest in your Ebook by posting on social media channels. Engage your audience and pull them in so that they’ll be there when it’s time to sell.

Use various publishing platforms

The benefits of publishing your eBook through any publishing platform are obvious – you get to be published with little hassle, and your book will get noticed by people looking for information. For example, you can publish your eBook with Smashwords, Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing, Apple iBooks Author, and other similar platforms. If you’ve been successful with one of these platforms, consider publishing more books with them and getting a better understanding of how to make money from them.

Offer Discounts

Using a discount on one book can result in more sales and also result in follow-on sales of other books. Thus, to drive a high volume of downloads from both new and existing readers, you should offer discounts on your ebooks. This will boost sales of your eBooks.

Blogging to promote your eBooks

Once you’ve created your ebook, you should start promoting it using digital platforms. Use a republishing site like Medium to share the eBook and blog posts that support it. Remember to use relevant tags and place your CTAs on the landing page. This will allow you to attract the targeted audience. This method will help you create a better conversion rate because you’ll be targeting the right people.

Using Google Adwords for eBook marketing allows you to reach millions of people monthly. If you want immediate conversions, this is the best way to start. With the help of Google, you can target your audience by age, gender, and location. You can also target based on the interests of your audience. For example, if your eBook is about social media, you can specify that interest. Additionally, you can define your audience by language. By executing these techniques, you will reduce your costs.

Create a Giveaway

Make your audience even more interested in your content by hosting a contest or giveaway. These types of freebies can introduce your brand to new audiences who may be interested in the opportunity.

Sell on own website

Selling ebooks on your own website sounds like an easy way to make some extra money with eBooks. It’s a very simple and profitable method, But you have to decide how to sell them before you can actually get started so that you can make sure that your readers want to buy them. To do this, You have to create an awesome landing page. Also, you need to focus on the overall SEO of your site.

Get Feedback and Reviews from Readers

Reviews play an important role in increasing Ebook sales. Encourage your customers to leave reviews and feedback on your eBooks. Promote your book reviews on your website, blog, and social media to let potential customers know what people are reading. 

10. Track Your Sales

The tracking of ebook sales performance is crucial for determining whether to use promotional strategies or create more ebooks in the future. 

Best Platforms To Sell EBooks

If you’re an aspiring author, you may be wondering what’s the best platform to sell eBooks. The truth is, there are many options. But most new authors will probably use Amazon to sell their books. More experienced writers tend to say no. Fortunately, there are several options for new writers to consider. While some sites charge a small subscription fee and allow you to publish your eBooks, some are completely free to publish your ebooks.

Listed below are the top 5 eBook selling platforms you can use to sell your eBooks and maximize your revenue. It will be easier for you to sell your ebooks if you use these sites. The tracking of sales, audience targeting, marketing, etc., can all be automated on these sites, so it is not very time-consuming. You can sell your ebook on any one of the websites below or on all of them. Since each site has its own terms and conditions, be sure to read each one carefully before you start.

  • Tradebit – This site offers a free storefront for your books. Tradebit enables you to sell and publish various digital products. As with other paid platforms, Tradebit lets you set your own prices. It’s a good idea to look at the customer’s point of view while setting your prices. You can also get 10 GB of free storage for your books when you sign up for a free account. Moreover, it offers marketing tools to help authors reach their target audience. 
  • Smashwords – If you’re looking for a free eBook publishing tool, Smashwords might be right for you. The Smashwords platform has grown tremendously since it was first launched and has received a lot of attention from publishers, authors, and readers. The website offers a wide range of options that will help you reach a wider audience and make money.
  • Gumroad – Gumroad is a very flexible platform for setting up your online store. It gives you the freedom to customize your store and has amazing selling opportunities. 
  • Lulu – While it’s free to use, it’s a good option for all who want to make money selling ebooks. Lulu also offers a step-by-step guide to creating perfectly formatted ebooks and then converting them into EPUB and PDF formats. Alternatively, Lulu provides a personal service of doing it for you for a small fee if you don’t want to do it yourself. 
  • Amazon Kindle Direct Publish – Amazon is the world’s largest online store, and here you can easily publish your ebook for free. With Amazon, you’ll get a great deal of exposure, and you’ll get to keep 70% of the sale price.

Tips For Making More Money From Your Ebooks

The most important thing to remember about how to make money selling eBooks is to choose a topic you’re passionate about. If you’re an expert on cooking,  you should try to write cookbooks or books that focus on cooking. However, if you’re a freelance writer, you should focus on hot topics. If your book is geared towards any specific niche, you’ll find that it’s easy to sell.

Here are some easy tips that you can follow to get a massive profit from your eBook business.

  • Cover popular topic: The first tip to get success with your eBooks is that the eBook should be about a popular topic. The most important part of becoming famous for an ebook is to keep yourself on top of the latest trends. Keeping up with trends is vital to generating a large amount of passive income.
  • Design attractive cover: Second, your eBook should have an attractive cover. Its cover is the first thing that buyers look at when they want to buy it. 
  • Market your Ebook: Once you’ve created a compelling eBook, the next step is to market it. As with any product, you need to attract customers to make your eBooks profitable. To do this, you need a targeted audience. You may choose paid promotion or promote your eBooks for free through various social media channels.
  • Add value: The most important thing to remember when creating your eBook is to make sure that it is of high quality. The reader should enjoy it. If they find it valuable, they will want to purchase it and share it with their friends too, which will directly affect your sales.
  • Research: Before publishing your eBook, research the best publishing platform for your eBook. This is the first step to promoting your eBook. While there are numerous resources for marketing your eBook, it’s important to decide on a platform that suits you the best. You can submit your eBook to all of these platforms. Once you’ve selected a platform, you can start marketing it. This will increase your chances of selling your book.

Summary

One of the best ways to make money selling eBooks is to become well-known in the niche you’re writing about. It doesn’t matter if you’re an aspiring writer or have extensive experience. You can write and market your ebooks for any niche, and you can easily become a famous author through this method. As long as you’re passionate about the subject, the world will find your book!

Leave a Comment