Summary

Jenn Leach, an experienced ebook author, has successfully sold nearly 500 copies of her two ebooks on Gumroad, detailing her insights and earnings, and emphasizing the importance of action, outsourcing, quality, marketing, and strategic planning.

Abstract

Jenn Leach has achieved significant success in self-publishing, selling over 400 copies of her ebooks on the platform Gumroad. Drawing from her past experience in writing and selling ebooks, she embarked on a journey to create a sustainable passive income stream. Through her recent venture, she has learned valuable lessons, including the importance of taking prompt action on ideas, effectively utilizing outsourcing, exceeding customer expectations by overdelivering, not rushing the creative process, and recognizing the power of marketing in sales success. Leach has priced her books at just under $20 and has set a goal to reach$ 25K in sales this year. Her ebooks are based on her expertise in website flipping and managing faceless Tik Tok accounts, both of which have been profitable ventures for her. Her marketing strategy includes subtle plugs in her Medium stories, Twitter, and other social media platforms, leading to monthly earnings of up to $2,000 through Gumroad. Leach plans to continue writing and publishing more ebooks in the future.

Opinions

Leach values taking swift action on ideas to avoid procrastination.
She advocates for outsourcing aspects of the book creation process, such as writing and design, to streamline production.
Leach emphasizes the significance of overdelivering on customer expectations to ensure reader satisfaction and encourage positive word-of-mouth.
She believes in not rushing the book creation process to maintain high-quality content.
Leach acknowledges the critical role of marketing in the success of her ebooks, using both passive and active strategies to promote her work.
She is transparent about her financial goals and earnings from her ebooks, setting a clear target for her sales and sharing her achievements.
Leach chooses ebook topics based on her personal knowledge and experience, ensuring authenticity and authority in her writing.
She has a casual approach to marketing, integrating promotions into her existing content channels rather than employing aggressive marketing tactics.
Leach is committed to updating her ebooks to maintain their relevance and value, indicating a long-term vision for her published works.
She encourages others to consider selling on Gumroad, suggesting it as a viable platform for independent creators.

I’ve sold over 400 copies of my ebooks on Gumroad — Here’s what I’ve learned

I’m so happy that I pulled the trigger on my ebook project. I wrote and published 2 ebooks and today, I’ve sold nearly 500 copies.

If you’re curious about how I did it including:

How long it took me to create them
What tools I used
How much I’ve made
My marketing mix and more

Then, keep reading.

5 Things I Learned from Selling Ebooks on Gumroad

Before I dive into my lessons learned from selling on Gumroad, here’s some background on these books that came to fruition.

First, I had experience writing and selling ebooks in the past.

I wrote a few books many years ago and they did ok. They didn’t sell hundreds or thousands of copies but I did sell some copies and more importantly, I had experience under my belt in creating, publishing, and distributing the books.

This time I wanted things to be different.

I wanted to build a real income stream for myself, passively and I decided to go a different path with launching my ebooks.

I decided to go with Gumroad, which was a new platform for me.

And, it paid off!

Here’s what I’ve learned from the process…

1. If you have an idea, take action

I can procrastinate sometimes.

I didn’t want this ebook venture to be that. So, when I had the idea to write an ebook, I took action, fast.

My first ebook was launched and then a few months later my second ebook was launched.

I want to write more books but, I haven’t picked a topic yet.

Once I have my topic in mind, I’m going to keep this same thinking, taking action right away so I don’t procrastinate.

2. Outsource

You don’t have to do it all yourself.

There are tools that can help.

I used:

Canva
Google Docs
Gumroad

You can also outsource the book writing process, frankly.

Hire a ghostwriter, give them your ideas and then publish a book or a dozen books!

Make things easy on yourself by outsourcing.

3. Underpromising and overdelivering is huge!

Nothing sucks more than investing your money into something you’re excited about, only to be let down.

This has happened to me more than once.

So, I took my time outlining each book, making sure to cover all the angles and leave no questions unanswered, best I could.

I wanted the books to be beefy with no fluff.

There’s not going to be that moment where you feel sparks with every ebook or course you come across. I know that but, at the end of the day, I want to exceed the expectations of the reader.

Both books are a work in process and I plan on updating them with revisions in the future, to continue to make them the best possible.

4. You don’t have to rush the process

I knew the material of both books very well so it didn’t take me long to create. But, if it does take a bit longer, that’s totally fine.

You don’t want to rush the process and bring to market a poor product.

5. Marketing makes a difference

Take every opportunity to plug your book, where you can.

Your email signature
Your tagline at the bottom of Medium stories
Twitter bio
Your linktree link you use on social media

And these are just some quick examples of how to market your ebook in a passive way. If you want to be more active with it, you can do:

Social media marketing
Email marketing
Influencer marketing
A JV partnership
Marketplace site selling on Amazon, AppSumo, etc.

How long did it take to write the books?

It usually takes me up to 1–2 weeks to write an ebook.

The faceless Tik Tok book I wrote lightning fast, in a weekend.

I built a 5 figure income stream in a weekend — Here’s how

I created a new five-figure income stream and it only took me a weekend to create. Let me tell you how I got the idea…

medium.com

That was probably a little too fast, to be honest. It was a chaotic weekend.

In the future, I plan to take a few weeks to outline, write, and publish an ebook.

How much have I made selling ebooks?

Nearly $10,000.

The books are priced at just under $20.

I have a goal of trying to hit $25K this year. I’ll write an update at year-end or the top of 2023 to share if I was successful or not.

How did I come up with the ebook topics?

I wrote about stuff I was knowledgeable about.

First, website flipping, which I’ve been doing since 2016.

I have a lot of experience with it so, I wrote a book that teaches people how to get their foot in the door and flip starter websites.

I make $100/hour with tiny no-income WordPress websites

Here’s how I learned this high-income skill

bettermarketing.pub

Next, another thing I had experience with: faceless Tik Tok accounts.

One of my most successful faceless Tik Tok accounts has surpassed 100K followers in its first year and is expected to hit $100K in revenue this year.

I started a faceless Tik Tok account — 6 months later

What’s my follower account, how much do I make and more

bettermarketing.pub

How do I market my books?

First, I mention them in my Medium stories.

Not every single story but in at least one story a week, if not more. I also plug the books in the tagline of my stories at the very end.

I have a pinned tweet on my Twitter account as well.

And, that’s about it.

I don’t really do much and I’ve made up to $2,000/month with the books through Gumroad.

Plans for the future

Publishing more books definitely.

I don’t have any hard goals for the number of ebooks published this year or in the future but, I know I’d love to write and publish more in the future.

If you want to check them out, here’s my website flipping book and my faceless Tik Tok book.

Do you sell products on Gumroad? Would you?

Want to read more stories like this? Check out my Substack where I talk about side hustles, social media, content creation and business.