How To Make Money Selling Ebooks: A Step by Step Guide
Help for self-publishers
During this modern era, it’s hard to imagine how rare and treasured books used to be. It wasn’t uncommon to find books chained to shelves in medieval “libraries” for the public to read during the Middle Ages. Learning to read was a privilege, and sharing information depended on many circumstances.
Today, we have the world wide web at our fingertips. Information is now on-demand and delivered in seconds. As everything becomes more modernized, so are books.
Ebooks are quickly becoming the new way to share information, whether a business or educational resource or a hobby among those who enjoy fiction. You can find ebooks online of just about anything!
Because ebooks are growing rapidly in popularity, ebooks are also a great way to make money online. Many people choose a writing career from stay-at-home parents to those who love to travel and work on their terms.
Here are five common reasons why people choose to make ebooks:
1) Flexibility — work when and where you want.
2) Low start-up costs — don’t have to worry about inventory or copies.
3) Simple task to learn — formatting and practice.
4) Potential for growth — there are no limits to potential success.
5) Express creativity or share information — do what you enjoy.
The Steps You Need To Know When Writing Ebooks
Writing an ebook is the writing process with a couple of additional steps. As an author, you will find your rhythm as you write. Here are the general steps you need to know when writing your ebook.
- Brainstorm — What is your topic? Write down possible titles for the book.
- Plan — Decide how long your book should be and who your target audience will be.
- Research — Do all your research and write down any sources you will quote from in your book.
- Outline — Create a general outline of what you want to cover in each chapter. Write down headings for each section.
- Write — Start writing! Complete a second draft, and sometimes a third; as many as you feel you need. Don’t worry as much about spelling or grammar mistakes while working on your first draft. You can always go back and edit later on.
- Proofread — When finished with the first draft, read through it and make any corrections as necessary. Read it out loud to catch anything that might not be clear when reading silently. Edit any mistakes.
- Format — Download a free copywriting software such as Microsoft Word or Google Docs (or equivalent), save it as a PDF file, and use online tools like Jutoh or Scrivener to format and compile it into an ebook document for purchase on popular websites such as Amazon Kindle.
- Publish — Once you are comfortable with your completed work, of course!
Choosing Your Topic
The first thing you want to do is choose a topic for your ebook. The topic will determine the type of information you should be including in your ebook and who your target audience is. To write an ebook, you first need to decide what type of content you’ll be providing.
Writing Your Ebook
Once you decide on a topic, outline the material that will go into the ebook by writing down points on paper or in a document on your computer. Now comes the fun part, turn those points into fully developed sections of text and create headings to break up those sections.
As all great ebooks have in common, you want to make sure it’s well-researched and provide the reader with value. A healthy ebook should be anywhere between 10,000 and 20,000 words depending on your content.
Online Tools To Make Writing Your Ebook Easy
Various online tools can help you create a professional ebook. These tools have become more popular among people who want to write an ebook, but are unsure where to begin. You can use these tools to make the process easier and faster.
Scrivener
If you are writing an ebook, especially a lengthy one, then there is a good reason you should use Scrivener at some point. The software has all the features that make writing easier and more efficient. It is more than just a word processor. Scrivener has all the features needed to stay organized and on target.
Learn more about the benefits of using Scrivener, here.
Grammarly
Grammarly is an online tool that checks for grammar mistakes and helps you write correctly. Grammarly checks for more than 200 grammatical mistakes, common word problems such as subject-verb agreement, and helps with basic sentence structure and phrasing. Grammarly is utilized by professionals and everyday people who want to improve their writing skills.
Learn more about writing with Grammarly, here.
How To Format Your Ebook
An ebook is a document that contains digital media, including text and images. It can be read on computers or on tablet devices like the iPad. There are various formats available for ebooks, and you should decide which one you want to use before you begin writing.
Many people choose to format their ebooks as PDFs because they retain the original formatting of the document without being distorted by software. This is great if you’re publishing a textbook or lengthy novel. However, if your goal is to sell an ebook on Amazon, then MOBI is the preferred format because it will work with Kindle devices. You can also publish your ebook in EPUB format, which works well with Apple products such as iPhones and iPads.
Resources On The Internet For Self-Publishers
Crowdfunding
Many authors use crowdfunding to fund their books on platforms such as Kickstarter or Indiegogo. You could also use these platforms to help sell the books you’ve already published.
Amazon (Kindle Direct Publishing)
Amazon has been huge in the publishing industry for a long time and it’s very likely that your book will be sold there without any marketing or promotion on your part.
If you want to self-publish on Amazon, you will need to create an account which is easy to do. Once you’re in it, click the “add new title” button and start the process by filling out the form.
In order for your book to be sold on Amazon, it needs to be formatted in their Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) format. It’s very easy to convert your manuscript in KDP format but if you have a professionally designed book layout, it should be fairly easy as well.
Once you’re done with formatting or designing your book, make sure that your book is complete before finalizing submissions. When they approve your submission, they’ll post the product on their site and any other sites they sell books on. You’ll then get paid royalties every time someone buys your book from Amazon or partnered stores.
Social Media Platforms
Social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc., are easy ways for you to share links with your followers. This way they can purchase your book without having to leave the platform where they’re connected with you.
How To Market Your Ebook
Once you have written and published your ebook, it’s time to market. The number one rule is to be consistent. You want your book to gain momentum so that people know you are an authority on the subject. If they see your book as a resource, readers will be willing to read your work.
Find your target audience
Getting to know your target audience is one of the most important steps you can take in marketing your ebook. You should know who would be interested in buying the book. For example. If you have a business that offers dog walking services and the book is about training dogs, it’s probably not going to interest people who don’t own dogs.
Get the word out
Once you have published your book, there are many different ways to market it. The simplest way is the most effective. Tell people about your book. Email all of your contacts and tell them what you’ve accomplished or write a blog post on your website. If you really want to get creative, set up a booth at a local event or advertise it in your store window! You never know who might walk by and be interested in what you have to offer.
Advertise on social media
Social media is one of the most popular ways to market your ebook these days. You can create posts on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc., telling people about your ebooks and promoting them on social media sites with followers and friends who might be interested in buying your products too.
You can also write guest blog posts or do interviews with other bloggers who have similar audiences as you do. This will give them more exposure for their blog or podcast and help spread the word about your book to new potential readers at the same time!
