The Two Small Changes I Made That Helped Me Earn $171,000 From My E-Books In 18 months
They Are Completely Free and Take Less Than 5 Minutes To Implement
I remember the notification email popping into my inbox.
YOU MADE A SALE!
I waited for over a year for this moment. Finally, it’s happening to me!
Here I am, staring at the screen, doubtful yet trying to embrace the moment. I still couldn’t quite grasp how someone had picked my book from the abyss of online content and actually paid for it. After all this wait, something I created was finally wanted. Yay!
This marked the beginning of something extraordinary for me. It was a dream come true that enriched my life in many ways I never thought possible.
After struggling for twelve months to give my e-books away for free, I finally crossed over to the other side, where, to date, over 12,000 people have paid for my content.
So, how did I go from being a complete reject to making close to $15K a month selling ‘How to’ tutorials? (the kind of content anyone can write)
(Not a Medium member? You can read the full story here)
Being At The Wrong Place At The Wrong Time
I published my first e-book with Amazon KDP in 2019 at the same time another 1.4 million self-published books also appeared on the platform.
After spending a great deal on formatting, ads, SEO and writing a decent sales copy, twelve long months went by until I finally realised I had jumped on the wrong ship.
Amazon is often the go-to place for new authors and back in the day, I was one of them.
Who hasn’t heard the success stories of Miss X, who made $450,000 from her best-selling novel or Mr Y, who makes over a million from self-publishing books on the platform?
Everyone is living the dream of hosting their treasured content on Amazon except that the harsh reality is that it’s really hard to get your books noticed without spending thousands on advertising, and that’s before you even make a sale.
Unfortunately, back in 2019, I was not in a financial position where I could afford to splash out even the tiniest amount on ads, so I looked for an alternate way to promote my first e-book.
After searching far and wide, I found a new emerging platform that ticked all the right boxes.
There’s Always A Story Behind Everyone’s Stats
It was late 2020 when I decided to pull my books off of one of the world’s biggest publishing sites, AMAZON, walking away feeling foolish and defeated, questioning what on earth I was even thinking.
After spending a couple of months nurturing my wounds, I finally built my confidence back enough to convince myself to give self-publishing another go.
And finally, I found a new home for my e-book. This place back then was a little-known heaven for aspiring self-published creators. Today, the platform is 13 years old and has over 53 million monthly visitors.
It’s called Gumroad.
Work On Your Values And Everything Else Will Follow
I wanted my books to reach a larger audience, and as big names like Ali Abdaal and other YouTube sensations like Aurelius Tjin were promoting Gumroad, it was only a matter of time before it became the go-to platform for creators to not only host their content but also for the general public to look for good content.
So there you have it.
Making two small changes completely changed the course of my e-books. (and my life)
Remember:
Just because something didn’t work out the first time around doesn’t mean you should stop trying.
Had I stayed trying to sell on Amazon, I would probably still be struggling.
However, Gumroad cost me nothing to start, and with a little free promotion from the platform itself and my personal blog, I was able to create a full-time income from my e-books on this one platform alone.
OVER TO YOU!
Do you have an e-book or are you thinking about creating one? Share your experience, I’d love to know.
P.S:
Never let self-doubt stop you from living your best life.
Are you serious about making money from writing on the internet? If so, check out my ‘ULTIMATE GUIDE TO MAKING MONEY WRITING ON THE INTERNET’ bundle. It has already helped 12,000 happy content writers turn their passion into a profitable income stream!
