How To Make Money Selling eBooks This Year

If you’ve ever thought about becoming an author, or dreamed of making a living writing and selling books, the best time to start is now. With the internet, anything is possible, and that includes being able to make money selling ebooks!

If you’ve ever poked around social media, you’ve most likely seen how more and more self-published authors have been able to create side-hustle, and even full-time, income from the books that they sell online.

With hashtags like #booktube, #bookstagram, and #booktok continuing to skyrocket in popularity, and millions of people searching for their next best read for their e-readers, why can’t you be what they’re looking for?

Here’s what you need to know about becoming an ebook author and how you can make money selling ebooks this year.

Why Write And Self-Publish An eBook?

First, let’s talk about why you may want to write and self-publish your own eBook.

Maybe you dreamed of becoming an author when you were little. Maybe you enjoy writing and find the experience cathartic. Or maybe you just enjoy telling action-packed stories or think pieces that people can really relate to.

Whatever the case may be, many people just want to write and have their stories told and read. This is why the growth of self-publishing is so amazing! It allows you to tell your stories without having to follow the traditional publishing route, which can take a lot of tears, years, and nos.

But! Before you write your story and click publish, let’s go over how to properly prepare to write your next eBook.

Uplevel Your Skills

Of course your writing doesn’t have to be perfect for you to be an author. There are many traditional books that are published every year that aren’t perfectly written.

However, you should at least understand grammar, formatting, and how to tell a story that grips your readers. No one wants to pay for a book with typos and major plot holes that just don’t make sense.

In order to uplevel your skills and ensure you’re writing the best book that you can, you can use a site like Reedsy, which offers free tools and courses to grow your writing abilities.

You could also check out Skillshare, which has a ton of video-based courses that focus on grammar, editing, publishing, and more.

Whatever you’re looking to uplevel, there is bound to be a book, course, or even blog post that can help you.

Choose A Niche

Next up, you’ll want to choose a niche. There are so many genres and sub-genres for books.

For example, even within the romance genre you have sub-genres like historical romance, dark romance, “why choose” romance, and even paranormal romance (amongst so many other sub-genres)!

Luckily, you don’t have to stick to just one sub-genre, but it is important to pick a niche that you can grow in and/or have quite a few ideas for when it comes to writing eBooks.

It’s much easier to move through sub-genres than it is to switch from one niche to a completely new one.

Most authors, whether self-published or not, don’t jump from niche to niche. If you start writing non-fiction, suddenly writing a high fantasy book would most likely confuse your loyal readers.

So pick a niche, and focus on crafting stories that best fit what you want to say within that niche.

Don’t Be Afraid To Use Tools & Hire Out

Because of the soaring popularity of self-publishing, so many tools, products, and services have skyrocketed as well. You do NOT have to do everything alone!

For example, if you love focusing on your writing, you can hire out your eBook covers. If you enjoy illustrating, you can still use a tool to help you with the formatting so your book can be read on all different e-readers. And of course, you can hire out for editing, marketing, and more.

Here are just a few tools and services you can use:

• ReedsyStudio – To help you write your book from start to finish
• Vellum – To help you format your book for all types of e-readers
• Ebook Best Seller Bootcamp – To show you how to publish your eBook and make money from it
• Amazon KDP – To start selling your eBook via Amazon
• BookFunnel – To help you with marketing your eBook
• Fiverr – For help with little tasks that you may have, like numbering pages or creating a Table of Contents
• Upwork – If you’re looking to outsource for help in crafting and/or marketing your eBook
• ReedsyMarketplace – So you can find editors, designers, ghostwriters, and more

How Much Money Can You Make Selling eBooks?

Now that you know what it takes to craft your first eBook (and every eBook after that!) let’s talk about how you can actually sell it, plus how much money you can make.

The average self-published author makes around $57,000 per year when they utilize self-publishing as their main source of income and full-time job.

Now, this is not to say that every single author that self-publishes makes this amount. There are quite a few that are able to make 6-figures each year, and many who never make more than a few thousand each year. It varies.

Why? Because how much you make depends on so many different factors, including; how many books you publish, where you publish those books, how much your books cost, how much you spend on help, and so much more.

So, how can you ensure that you make money selling eBooks? Let’s talk about it.

Where To Sell Your eBooks

First, there are many different places that you can sell your eBooks. We’ve talked extensively about how to sell your eBooks on Amazon, but that’s not the only place you can do so.

For example, you could sell your eBooks via eCommerce sites like Squarespace or Sellfy. You could also try marketplaces like Etsy (although non-fiction may work better in this case).

You could also sell your eBooks right on your own website.

Should You Create Your Own Website?

But should you create a website as an author? Well, it can be extremely helpful! It can offer you a way to control your own prices and delivery methods.

It could also make it easier to build your audience, including building an email list of dedicated readers.

Is it mandatory to create your own website? No. But it can offer you a way to grow your eBook side hustle and readership, offer deals, and even earn you more income if done correctly.

Marketing Your eBooks

Of course, one of the most important things you can do as a self-published author is to market your books! It’s easier than ever to do this with the rise of social media, text lists, email lists, and so much more.

You don’t want to just market blindly. Instead, do some market research first. What are popular self-published authors doing right now? How are they marketing their books? Where are they?

Currently, TikTok and Instagram seem to be the most popular options for authors creating short-form content, but those aren’t the only places you can market your books.

You could also pay for ads, including on Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram. Of course, we highly recommend setting a budget and being sure that you know how to run the ads before you jump in.

Make Money Selling eBooks: FAQ

Selling your eBook is a much more involved process than just writing it and hitting publish.

However, the above tips can make it much easier to follow the process and get your first (and many after) eBook out there into the world.

Now let’s talk about some other things you may want to know about being an eBook author.

Can I write ebooks under different genres?

Technically, yes! However, many authors mention that it may be easier to do so if you write under different pen names, or stick to related genres.

For example, if you’re used to writing children’s books about animals, but want to write your first novel, maybe you can offer a middle grade book about them. That way, you’re still catering to children, but just slightly older children.

However, if you want to write romance and mystery books, this might be a time where a pen name is a better option. This is because most readers prefer specific genres. If they get used to you writing about one genre, but then you switch, they aren’t likely to follow or read it.

What if I want to write a series?

This is an awesome goal to have! Funnily enough, series tend to do better for self-published authors, especially on sites like Kindle Unlimited.

If your reader already liked your first book, they’re more likely to read the second, and so on.

Now, this is not to say that you have to write series. You can stick to standalone books if that’s what you prefer. But, if you’re looking for a way to earn more money on the books you already planned to write, offering a series can be a great option!

How else can I earn money from my eBooks?

There are so many different ways that you can make money selling eBooks. Here are just a few, outside of selling the eBooks themselves:

• Sell other items in your book – This could include products/services/courses (if you write non-profit) or even other books that you’ve written (if writing fiction). You’ve most llikely seen authors do this already!
• Create an email list or text list – This makes it easier to launch new books to people who already like your work, or sell items like merch, signed copies, etc.
• Publish other stories – This includes short stories, prequels, or novellas that pair well with your other books and/or series books!
• Offer sales! – You could drop your books to a lower price, bundle your series up and sell it for slightly cheaper than it would be for each book individually, etc.
• Sell on your own site – We already mentioned this, but it’s worth mentioning again. When you sell on a 3rd party platform, you usually don’t get to keep all the money. Selling on your own website means you do.

How To Make Money Selling eBooks This Year

There are so many different ways to make money selling eBooks, but the first step is to get started and write your book! Once completed, all of these other steps can fall right in line. So why not make a goal to become a published author this year?