[ad_1] Selling ebooks is big business for many people. According to the Association of American Publishers, 2019 saw 335.7 million ebook sales in the United States alone. And according to Amazon, thousands of indie authors made $50,000 or more in 2019 — on Amazon alone. Ebook sales for 2020 have gone through the roof, mainly due to the pandemic. As you can see, you can make money selling ebooks. The ebook publishing process has been simplified as much as possible by aggregators and the retail giant Amazon, but it still takes some know-how. Without guidance and resources, you can easily spend hours groping around in the dark trying to write and publish a book people will buy. And, in fact, it’s best to start your research before writing your book. Luckily, guidance is just what I’m here for. I’ll take you through the whole journey, step by step. And for the purposes of this article, I’ll stick to publishing on Amazon, since it currently holds much of the ebook market. So, read on to find out how to make your first $1,000 selling ebooks. How to Create Your Ebook Many people start their ebook selling journey with a story they want to write. They pour hundreds of hours into the book, throw together a cover, write a blurb, and hit publish. Then, they wait for the sales to roll in. Unfortunately, this rarely works. Mainly because most people write for a nonexistent or oversaturated audience. Don’t get me wrong, you need to like what you’re writing. But other people need to like it, too. And you need an existing market that’s hungry for books like the one you’re writing. Whether you’re writing non-fiction or fiction, you need to do a few things before you can start making money selling ebooks. Research a Bestselling Idea To make money selling ebooks, you need an ebook to sell. And people must want to buy it. There must be a market for the book, which is why this pre-step is so important. It’ll help you determine whether the idea you have is worthwhile. And if it’s not, you can move on to the next idea. And the great part is, many people come up with great ideas in the research phase. If you’re absolutely sure your book has a hungry market, you can skip this and move on to step one. But if you’re not sure, answer these questions to validate your book idea: Is there an existing market for your ebook? Is the market actually willing to pay for the book, or is it information they can get online for free? Is the competition so stiff that your book will be lost in the fray? Not sure how to answer these questions? Here is some software that can help. Ensure You Create the Different Parts of an Ebook Even before writing the book, it’s good to know the different parts of a book. You’ll want to have a copyright page, a table of contents, acknowledgments, etc. Some formatting tools set these up for you, but you might need to do this yourself. The front and back matter of an ebook are excellent places for email opt-ins and a list of any other books you’ve written. But more on those later. Write and Format the Book Since this article isn’t a “how-to” on actually writing a book, I’ll keep this section brief. There are plenty of resources for writing your book. Once you’ve written your book, format it so that it looks professional on e-readers, phones, and computers. Here’s a handy article about book formatting for you that takes you through each step of the process. Also, you might want to look at getting book formatting software like Atticus. This helps you make both ebooks and books, and ensure they look professional. Get a Book Cover You must have a book cover to sell ebooks. And the cover needs to be professionally done. Or, it needs to at least look professional. Luckily, there are plenty of ebook cover creators out there, and many of them won’t break the bank. From Fiverr to EbookLaunch.com, you’ve got plenty of options. Upload Your Ebook to Amazon Once you have a written, formatted book and a cover, it’s time to upload them both to Amazon. To do this, you must have a Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) account. If you already have an Amazon account, this will be a breeze. It’s absolutely free and they walk you through the steps. But, before you hit publish, read the steps below for tried-and-true tips on making your first $1,000 selling ebooks! Your Guide to Selling Ebooks Okay, here’s where the fun begins. You have a flawless ebook (or nearly flawless, anyway), a professional book cover, and you know there’s a market. But knowing there’s a market and tapping into it are two different things. That’s what these steps are all about: tapping into your market to make your first $1,000 — and beyond. The best way to sell ebooks is: Selecting the right keywords Selecting best-selling ebook categories Creating a special launch Enrolling in KDP Select and KU Setting up a book promotion push Contacting book review sites Setting up Amazon Ads That’s it. So, with that, let’s begin… Step 1: Select the Right Keywords Keywords are key to making money selling ebooks (see what I did there?). They can mean the difference between obscurity and daily sales. The right keywords tell Amazon when to show your book to shoppers. There are three important areas where you’ll use keywords when publishing ebooks on Amazon. 7 Kindle Keywords: Amazon allows you to fill out seven keywords of 50 characters each when publishing your book. Title and/or Subtitle: Having choice keywords in your book’s title or subtitle can help you gain visibility and sales. Subtitles are more important for non-fiction but can also be helpful for fiction, on occasion. Book Description: Keywords in the book description can help customers find the book.
