How to Write and sell eBooks for Fun and Profit

 

Write and sell ebooks.

One of the most remarkable ways to transform your passion into a profitable business and monetize your valuable skills is to write and sell ebooks.

 

 

Everyone has an area of expertise that enables them to write Ebooks. There are a massive number of people out there who honor your knowledge and want to learn more. The most effective way to help these people is to write and sell ebooks.

 

Technology brings change

Technology advancement has changed almost all the things in our daily lives. As consumers, we use emails instead of snail mail letters. We enjoy Skype instead of spending our hard-earned money to make long-distance calls. And we prefer to shop online instead of struggling to find a parking space and dealing with people at the local shopping malls.

On the other hand, as entrepreneurs, we take advantage of blogging to market our services and products, Skype to arrange meetings, and earn a living selling online selling platforms like eBay and Amazon. However, one of the biggest industries that provide a great way to make money online for an entrepreneur is to write and sell ebooks.

A publishing house with enormous offices of writers, editors, administrative staff, printing presses, and distribution centers get your books out to the bookstores all across the country, hoping to sell them to your customers. But now it is possible to do all of that on the PC you have right now.

 

Advantages of self-publishing

Because of these enormous publishing houses’ insufficient marketing support, self-publishing is an excellent, much better, and more profitable way. There are some critical differences between traditional and self-publishing. For example, with self-publishing, you don’t have to deal with a printed book, which eliminates a lot of hassle and expenses of creating books, storing them, and then distributing them. Self-publishing means digitalization to turn your books into Ebooks.

The Ebooks can be read on smartphones, tablets, PCs, and other devices like Amazon’s Kindle. Ebooks now sell in millions in the United States alone, representing a significant share of the publishing market. It means there’re plenty of opportunities for ebook entrepreneurs to write and sell ebooks and turn their passion into a profitable business.

Now, let’s discuss how you can write and sell ebooks to earn a living!

 

What is an Ebook?

Ebook is a digital form of printed books. They are in a format where you can download or read them online. You can employ writers or use public domain content to write an ebook by yourself. Similar to a book, you can cover as many topics as you want. You can create a how-to manual, travel guide, romance, mystery, science fiction, technology, or any other subject ebook with a strong market ready of ready buyer.

PRO TIP: the best way to check is to scan the bestseller lists on Amazon, including the ones with categories and sub-categories.

When creating an ebook, you don’t have to rely on publishers to get your book published or bookstores to place your book on the shelves. You are your boss, and you have to control the entire process, from publishing to editing and marketing to selling yourself.

 

Why Should You Write an eBook?

Oh, there are numerous great reasons!

Ebooks Establish You As An Expert

Writing an ebook shows you are a thought leader in your niche. It gives you a chance to share your valuable knowledge with the world. If you can write an incredible ebook, it positions you as an expert who knows what they are talking about.

It’s Passive Income

We cannot forget this benefit, right? You only have to write the ebook once, and it will be your life-long asset. Writing and selling an ebook is also among the best ways to stop trading time for money.

Ebooks Do Not Need A Publisher

Unlike printed books, an ebook doesn’t need a publisher as you can publish it yourself. The self-publishing term is also referred to as “Indie Publishing,” and it is a growing trend. It is straightforward to do. You can also quickly found thousands of guides online that will you format your ebook.

Use Your Ebook as a Lead Magnet

It is a great way to offer a free ebook to get more people into your sale and marketing funnel. You can give away a free ebook in exchange for an email address. It will allow you to connect with the audience who is interested in what you’ve to provide.

Ebooks Do Not Have to Be Long

You are not writing a modern version of War and Peace. You can write an ebook as short as 10,000 words or around ten pages long.

Benefits of Ebooks

Here are the top advantages of ebook over the printed book:

One Device, May Ebooks

Ebooks are weightless and portable, which means you can carry them around wherever you go. An ebook reader can hold hundreds of ebooks rather than carrying the bulky printed book. You can read any number of ebooks you want using a single device. They are especially beneficial for students as they don’t have to carry a bag full of printed books every day.

 

 

Ease of Access

You can easily download and store Ebooks for later use. You can carry them around and read them whenever you want. It is convenient for those on the move. Some Ebooks have the option of offline accessibility, enabling readers to read them even when they don’t have access to an internet connection.

Shareable Content

You can easily share ebooks with others. The ebook’s social option enables you to share, and like the content, something printed books lack. While a book is shareable with one person at a time, you can share an ebook with as many readers as you like.

Read Aloud Feature

Ebooks are equipped with reading aloud or text to speech features. It enables users to listen to the Ebooks if they don’t have time to read it. This is an excellent feature for those with a learning disability or visual impairment. Moreover, it also helps readers to understand how a specific word is pronounced correctly.

Environment Friendly

Another fantastic benefit of ebooks is their environment-friendly nature as they eliminate paper use, print, and save printing costs. Each year, around three million trees are cut down to publish about 2.2 million books. If these printing books were replaced with ebooks, it could save trees from being chopped down.

More Engaging Reading Experience

An ebook includes interactive features to make the reading experience more engaging. You can embed an ebook with audio, video and include external links for additional information. You can also bookmark pages or find a particular word effortlessly. Besides that, there are plenty of other interactive features that you can embed to enhance the overall reading experience.

 

Below, you will learn how to write and sell ebooks.

 

So, how to create an ebook?

 

How to Write an eBook?

The creation of an ebook is the most challenging and the most rewarding part. Here the chief parameters that you should consider if you want to write and sell ebooks:

· Choose an Interesting Topic

First of all, you’ve to choose a striking topic for your ebook. Think about what you’re passionate about and what type of content would be appropriate and useful for your target audience. Like all the great Ebooks, it would also be great to share a personal experience or story. It is because including a personal experience or story makes your audience excited, curious and builds engagement.

PRO TIP: The most effective way to gauge what your target audience is passionate about is to look at your blog posts and social media updates with the most shares and comments.

Before you finalize a subject, make sure to conduct thorough research on the existing market. Observe your potential competitors selling Ebooks in the same category as yours on Amazon or any other online platform. Be creative and find ways in which your story can help you stand out from the crowd.

· Come Up with a Seducing Title

If you want to write and sell ebooks, you should know that using a captivating title can be a game-changer. It forms the base of your reader’s judgment about your ebook. Your ebook title is the first thing that your audience sees or hears – even before the cover. It means getting your ebook title right is the most crucial decision you will make.

In this regard, a perfect example is Naura Hayden’s book called “Astro-Logical Love.” She released the book in 1982, and it bombed. After that, she took the same book, changed a bit of its content with a whole new title, “How to Satisfy a Woman Every Time & Have Her Beg for More.”

The book stormed to popularity and became an enormous cultural phenomenon, making it the #1 bestseller. The point here is clear. Take your time to figure out the perfect title for your ebook. It will determine what people think about your ebook, and thus, your ebook’s success.

The title of your book should force people to stop and pay attention to it.

A saleable ebook title should be;

· Attention-Grabbing

The right title helps you make that first impression. There are plenty of ways to grab people’s attention. You can be controversial provocative, or exciting. The point here is you should use a title that helps you stand out from the crowd and pull others’ attention.

· Searchable and Memorable

It is easy to get attention out of someone and then be forgotten. Your aim should be to get attention and be memorable. If your ebook is recommended to a reader by their friend and cannot remember the title, they cannot find it on Amazon or in a bookstore.

So, the title of your ebook should be easily searchable. In today’s world, the search is how people find things. If the title of your Ebooks does not lend itself to easy searchability and memorization, that’s not good.

· Informative

This isn’t much important if you are writing a fiction ebook, but if it is a non-fiction ebook, make sure its title should be informative. Both the title and sub-title should give some idea of what the ebook is all about.

People will not do your work for you. The more comfortable you make the subject for them, the more likely you’re to draw in the people who would find your ebook interesting. Using a phrase or word that isn’t immediately understandable by your target audience or does not convey the book’s message, you are putting an obstacle in front of your success. Though your ebook title should be informative and easy to understand, you don’t have to spell out the whole ebook idea.

· Short

Shorter titles are the best because they aren’t only easy to say and memorable for your ideal audience; they also provide space and flexibility for a better ebook cover. However, make sure to stick to the core idea.  But, if you want a more extended title, leave that to the sub-title. If possible, try to keep the main title between three to five words. The sub-title can provide context and tell a bit more about what the reader will learn.

· Length of Your eBook

There’s nothing hard when it comes to the length of an ebook. I have read some creative and informative Ebooks, and the length was less than ten pages. Do not be constrained by preset word count. On the flip side, make sure to avoid including filler and fluff in your ebook to help it reach a certain length.

Be clear and specific. Say what you want to say in an organized, concise, and comprehensive way. Some writers equate the page numbers in an ebook to value, which is a false assumption. If you are writing an ebook of up to 50 pages and contains unique and thought-provoking content, that is great. However, if you can deliver the reader precisely what they want in ten pages, that’s impressive, too.

· Thought-Provoking Content

With the extreme level of competition in the ebook industry, packing your digital work with creative, unique, and thought-provoking content is crucial to your ebook’s overall success. Your dedication, knowledge, and passion for the topic you have chosen will enable you to provide essential insights to the reader that other Ebooks lack.

For instance, if you are writing an instructional ebook, research the competition. You may find other writers’ content impersonal, outdated, inaccurate, or not relevant to an average reader. Make sure to write it easier to read and understand, including real-life examples and first-person narratives. Writing unique and creative content to set yourself apart from the rest of the digital work plays an essential role in your ebook’s overall success.

Moreover, make sure to include essential sections of your ebook, such as copyright information, table of content, and about the author.

How to Format an eBook?

Another critical point to write and sell ebooks is formatting. When writing an ebook, make it easy to digest the content you are putting forward using a consistent format. It would be great to use a sans-serif font, such as Verdana or Ariel, at a size between 10 to 12.

Also, make sure to stick to a simple color scheme. Use two or three types of headers and a lot of lists and short paragraphs.

· Use High-Quality Images

The reason why Ebooks are so powerful is that the human brain prefers stories to lists of facts. At the same time, about 60% of people prefer visual learning and respond to visual content. That is why using great images helps you to create selling Ebooks. If you’re a creative person and enjoy photography, you can take photos with your phone or DSLR camera.

However, if you are like me and do not trust your photography skills, you have the option to buy them from an online image library. Make sure to pay close attention to the license of images. Another option is to use free images offered by tons of sites that do not require any attribution.

· Proofreading

Before you get a new pair of eyes on your ebook, make sure to proofread your digital work. Check for spelling and grammar mistakes and do some editing on your own. Remember that fixing minor errors may distract your proofread from the more significant task, such as how well you have communicated your ideas.

Grammarly Makes Proofreading Faster and Easier

I use Grammarly to help write, proofread, and edit. You can read my review of Grammarly here.

Moreover, reading your work aloud is an effective way to grab things that you otherwise miss. Your brain will help you to fix typos, fill in gaps, and ignore incorrect words. It will also give you a much better sense of the flow of longer sections.

So, you have poured your sweat and blood and have a finished draft now. Make sure to not give your ebook to your partner, mom, or any other family member for edits. Find someone outside your family that is not overly concerned about hurting your feelings. Do not offend if they suggest you to delete some paragraphs of your ebook.

 

REMEMBER: Simplicity, clarity, and readability are what matters the most to write and sell ebooks.

· Cover Design

Once you finish writing your ebook, producing an appealing cover design is another crucial factor in your ebook success. Remember, the prospective buyers will judge it by its cover. If your cover design is less than professional, readers may never see your book packed with unique content.

There’re plenty of websites that allow users to create ebook covers for free. However, I strongly recommend hiring a professional cover designer unless you are confident of doing a professional job by yourself. If you want to save some dollars, Elance is a great website, where professionals will design a cover for your ebook at incredibly cheaper rates than other websites.

Another good option that you can consider is KillerCovers. There, you will get custom-made covers with up to nineteen templates of your choice. If both of these sites do not appeal to you, 99desings is another option. It is a crowdsourcing platform, which means you will host a design contest, and a set of professionals will try to win the project. In a week or less, you will get your ebook cover design with a money-back guarantee.

How to Market and Sell Ebooks?

· Find Your Target Market

Some writers try to sell their ebooks to everyone, which isn’t a great approach. You should find a core target market to sell Ebooks. Make sure to tailor your marketing approach to a smaller subset of people. For example, if you have an ebook about landing your first job, you do not want to target and market retirement sites. Instead, you would like to target high school and college graduates.

Moreover, besides the demographic approach, you also need to find people who love to read Ebooks. One of the best strategies to promote and market your ebook is to use some free ebook download sites to reach out and hit the ideal buyers.

· Price Your eBook Very Competitive

If you are new to the write and sell ebooks world, make sure pricing your ebook low. Once you have had some success and made a name in the industry, you can set the price higher. Just like any other thing, people want to buy less expensive Ebooks.

In this regard, selling your ebook in a dollar or less is a great strategy. It will help you drastically increase the number of buyers and ebook reviews on selling websites like Amazon. Moreover, it will also enable you to break into the bestseller list within that specific book category while also boosting your word-of-mouth marketing potential.

· Create an Appealing Landing Page

A landing page means a single webpage that appears upon clicking on an advertisement. It specifically concentrates on whatever service or product you are offering, intending to sell the ebook to the customer. Make sure to create an incredibly focused and targeted landing page.

You want to hone in on what you’re offering, what people you’re appealing to, and why they should purchase while also offering easy and specific instructions on how to make a purchase.

Techniques to Market Your eBook

Make sure to include all the following techniques to market your ebook:

· Social Media

You should take advantage of plenty of free platforms to market your ebook. It includes social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, Digg, LinkedIn, StumbleUpon, etc. For example, an effective way to market your ebook for free is to use your Facebook page. You can also spark excitement by posting snippets of your ebook on Facebook.

· Start a Blog

Starting your blog is easier than it sounds, as you can find numerous self-help tutorials online that will guide you through the process. Once it is up and running, you can start posting articles relevant to your ebook theme and place a link to your landing page. But, you also have to drive more traffic to your blog. An effective strategy to do this is to use social media websites and post your articles there.

However, using multiple social media sites and logging into them individually to post your article consumes a lot of your time. You can take advantage of OnlyWire, a free service, and enable you to submit links to various social media sites at once. This is one of the most effective ways to drive traffic to your blog and sell Ebooks.

To learn to blog and how to build a website, consider joining Wealthy Affiliate. It’s FREE to join and has incredible benefits!

· Create Articles

Creating exciting and informative articles from the content you already have in your ebook to target your ideal readers is another great way to sell Ebooks. You can post these articles on different websites. Make sure to highlight your ebook within your article and insert links to your blog or landing page. Moreover, also make sure to include an author resource box containing the URL address of your blog.

· Search Engine Optimization

You want to rank your ebook website on search engines by modifying it. Your aim should not be just to break into the first page, but higher up on the first page as well. A top ranking on Google search engine gives a webpage up to 8x more traffic than a webpage ranked fifth. An effective strategy is to include free content relevant to your ebook’s theme on your website and rank keywords to attract the ideal audience. Also, make sure to use accurate page titles and relevant keywords in your content.

Find the Best Places to Sell Your Ebook

Though you can write and sell ebooks directly from your blog, there are plenty of other resources that allow you to do the same. Considering these websites also enable you to take advantage of better traffic results.

Here are some best websites that you should consider to sell Ebooks:

1. Amazon

Amazon is among the most popular platforms to sell Ebooks. Having access to Kindle Direct Publishing enables you to self-publish your Ebooks on the Amazon Kindle Store. The process is straightforward. You’ll be eligible for up to 70% or royalties from your ebook sales. Moreover, your ebook will be readily available on all Kindle apps and devices for purchase.

2. PayLoadz

PayLoadz is another excellent website to write and sell ebooks. The website lets you sell and provides you great tips on marketing, pricing, subject matter, etc. However, the website is not free, and the basic subscription costs $14.95 per month. There is also a transaction fee for every purchase ranging from $0.5 to 4.9% of the total selling price.

 

3. Free-Ebooks

The website enables you to upload your ebook for just $4.97. Though it is a free website and offers free content, you can ask for donations from the readers. You can link your PayPal account to deposit the funds you get.

Set Certain Benchmarks

Similar to any other business venture, it is imperative to set goals to track the progress of your ebook’s overall success. After releasing your ebook, set specific goals for the first thirty, sixty, and ninety days. If you surpass these goals, your strategy is effective.

However, if you fall short, you’ve to review your marketing strategies. Consider other avenues or modify the aspects of your selling strategy.

Wrapping Up, Write and Sell eBooks

Whether you want to write and sell ebooks to make a living, or you’re writing one to market a more detailed service to your audience, some factors are imperative to take into consideration. Creating an ebook takes work, but it is advantageous to explore your passion and share your knowledge with others and boost your passive income. So, when will you start your ebook journey? Tell us in the comments below.