Author Topic: Making Money from Ebooks ?  (Read 67501 times)

stashing_it

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Making Money from Ebooks ?
« on: August 30, 2015, 12:57:01 PM »
I was wondering who has successfully made money selling ebooks on kindle or another platform, and if you have any advice you can offer or your own story to tell

From googling, it certainly seems there are people out there making decent money, but it is hard to separate those stories from the "buy my product and I'll show you how to make money" kind of stories

sparkshooter

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Re: Making Money from Ebooks ?
« Reply #1 on: August 30, 2015, 03:16:04 PM »
Back in 2010, I worked as a student digitizing obscure, out-of-copyright books for my university's library. That inspired me to take some of the interesting/obscure books, format them for kindle, and offer them as $.99 downloads. It took me about an hour of work/book and I listed about 20 books.

For each digital download, I receive about 30% of the sale price, so $.30. My average income now is approx. $130/month with some months that are inexplicably high ($200+). One of the 20 books is the major seller by far. The money is directly deposited in my chequing account once a month. I get a 1099 at the end of the year.

Not big money, but it was easy and at this point, zero work. I see it going on indefinitely.

protostache

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Re: Making Money from Ebooks ?
« Reply #2 on: August 30, 2015, 04:48:20 PM »
I wrote what is effectively a long-form programming tutorial in 2013 and sell it for $30-$60 each. It's been bringing in a steady $1200-$2000 every month since launch with very few updates, for a total gross of just over $55k. I self-publish on my own home-grown platform. I do not sell on any third party platforms. Here's a great read on why I don't:

https://medium.com/@thomasfuchs/5-rules-to-sell-thousands-of-copies-of-your-ebook-cd2a23c6662

Kris

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Re: Making Money from Ebooks ?
« Reply #3 on: August 30, 2015, 04:59:16 PM »
I make four figures a month from three romance novels, plus a back catalog of erotica shorts that only sell a handful of copies a month. Have been doing it part time for two years.


You can make money if you hit the right genres. It's a nice little side hustle.  I put everything from writing in a separate account and I'm on target to clear $100,000 in principle by my FIRE date in 2018.

Note: Edited for clarity. 
« Last Edit: August 30, 2015, 05:20:30 PM by Kris »

homehandymum

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Re: Making Money from Ebooks ?
« Reply #4 on: August 30, 2015, 05:16:24 PM »
I just started doing this.  Not sure if it's going to be a major or minor side-hustle, but you've gotta be in it to win it :)

Start by downloading all the free kindle books you can find on 'writing and publishing ebooks'.  There are quite a few out there, and you can glean useful information from all of them.

My guidelines that I've made for myself (I write non-fiction so far)

Make it at least 5,000 words, preferably heading towards 15,000
Write three or four related books so they promote and market each other
Upload a print-ready version to create-space as well, to create an apparent 'discount' for the ebook compared to the print version
Take care of formatting and editing - get someone good at it to do it for you if you aren't great at grammar, punctuation etc.  People don't mind typos etc in free books, but will be justifiably snarky about paying for what is obviously a poorly written first draft.
If there are ZERO other books on your topic already, it may mean that there is only a tiny market for it.  A bit of competition is not a bad thing.

My book has been 'live' for less than a month and I've sold 6 copies :)  I think at least one of those might even be to someone I don't know.  (cue wild applause).

stashing_it

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Re: Making Money from Ebooks ?
« Reply #5 on: August 30, 2015, 07:16:53 PM »
I wrote what is effectively a long-form programming tutorial in 2013 and sell it for $30-$60 each. It's been bringing in a steady $1200-$2000 every month since launch with very few updates, for a total gross of just over $55k. I self-publish on my own home-grown platform. I do not sell on any third party platforms. Here's a great read on why I don't:

https://medium.com/@thomasfuchs/5-rules-to-sell-thousands-of-copies-of-your-ebook-cd2a23c6662

A couple of questions

-  How did you pick your topic?   Did you do market research, or just pick something interesting to you and have the good fortune that it is selling well
-  How do you market it ?    Mailing list ?   Google adwords ?

Thanks !

Tom Bri

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Re: Making Money from Ebooks ?
« Reply #6 on: August 30, 2015, 11:16:48 PM »
I wrote a fantasy novel a few years ago and put it on Amazon. It made me about $2K the first year, and still sells a few every month, with no advertizing. It is only a bit confusing the first time you try Amazon, takes some effort to figure out, but very doable. I have my second novel about 90% done. Too bad I am a very slow writer, or I could make a living at this.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00C8E9692?*Version*=1&*entries*=0

Monkey Uncle

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Re: Making Money from Ebooks ?
« Reply #7 on: August 31, 2015, 04:27:34 AM »
Posting to follow.  Carry on...

lizzzi

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Re: Making Money from Ebooks ?
« Reply #8 on: August 31, 2015, 05:29:44 AM »
Following.

protostache

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Re: Making Money from Ebooks ?
« Reply #9 on: August 31, 2015, 05:59:45 AM »
A couple of questions

-  How did you pick your topic?   Did you do market research, or just pick something interesting to you and have the good fortune that it is selling well

It grew directly out of some problems I was having at work, and so I figured it was a more global problem than just that. A few blog posts was enough to prove demand for the topic.


-  How do you market it ?    Mailing list ?   Google adwords ?

Thanks !

I built a mailing list via my blog and Twitter, then sold into that list. My experiments with paid advertising were complete failures, except for a little remarketing on Facebook that seemed to at least have a slightly positive ROI.

limeandpepper

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Re: Making Money from Ebooks ?
« Reply #10 on: August 31, 2015, 06:18:22 AM »
Also following, this is something I'm quite interested in doing. For those who make money from e-books, how much marketing do you have to do? I've gotten the impression from some that it takes some ongoing work to keep people buying, but it seems like some people also just set and forget. Also, do you hire someone to put it together, or do you find it easy enough to do it yourself?

stashing_it

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Re: Making Money from Ebooks ?
« Reply #11 on: August 31, 2015, 06:32:09 AM »
I wrote a fantasy novel a few years ago and put it on Amazon. It made me about $2K the first year, and still sells a few every month, with no advertizing. It is only a bit confusing the first time you try Amazon, takes some effort to figure out, but very doable. I have my second novel about 90% done. Too bad I am a very slow writer, or I could make a living at this.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00C8E9692?*Version*=1&*entries*=0

It's a good looking cover

I have wanted to write fiction, but have never really finished anything.   Non fiction I have written, but nothing that has successfully sold.

asauer

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Re: Making Money from Ebooks ?
« Reply #12 on: August 31, 2015, 06:48:27 AM »
Yes- I published my novel on KDP which is Kindle's platform.  I took this route rather than take the pittance that two publishers offered.  I've done better than what they've offered.  Don't misunderstand- I'm not quitting my day job anytime soon but it paid for two vacations this year!  I'd recommend the KDP platform mainly b/c it will link directly with Amazon and you get to participate in promotions, etc.  This equates to LOTS of exposure.  Additionally, there is quite a bit more royalty margin in ebooks vs. print.

Here are the downsides to KDP: you need to actually read the entire guide they give you for formatting etc. especially if you have charts/ graphs in your book.  It can be tricky to get it formatted properly.  Also, as is the case with print books, Amazon can randomly decide to discount your book for a period of time and there's nothing you can do about it.  This happens to me about twice a year for two weeks at a time.

Take note of genres that tend to do well online: non-fiction (how to type stuff), fantasy, sci-fi, erotica, romance, speculative, adventure.

I'd strongly recommend reading the guide and joining the forums.  Both were very helpful to me in getting my novel formatted and published properly.  Aside from the online piece, get a good book cover designer.  People DO make judgments about your book based on the cover.
« Last Edit: August 31, 2015, 06:51:48 AM by asauer »

thd7t

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Re: Making Money from Ebooks ?
« Reply #13 on: August 31, 2015, 06:54:17 AM »
following. 

cautiouspessimist

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Re: Making Money from Ebooks ?
« Reply #14 on: August 31, 2015, 07:09:55 AM »
arebelspy's wife has published several ebooks. There's a thread kicking around somewhere about it.

KMMK

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Re: Making Money from Ebooks ?
« Reply #15 on: August 31, 2015, 07:16:46 AM »
Following

Johnny Aloha

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Re: Making Money from Ebooks ?
« Reply #16 on: August 31, 2015, 08:36:52 AM »
Following

Workingmomsaves

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Re: Making Money from Ebooks ?
« Reply #17 on: August 31, 2015, 09:01:54 AM »
Time will tell how profitable my ebook will turn out.  I published about 6 weeks ago and have sold a few copies. I am going to write another ebook, because I enjoyed writing the first.  Any extra cash is just a bonus.

Telecaster

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Re: Making Money from Ebooks ?
« Reply #18 on: August 31, 2015, 09:08:21 AM »
following

NearlyThere

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Re: Making Money from Ebooks ?
« Reply #19 on: August 31, 2015, 10:09:10 AM »
Very timely post - I have just finished my first book

Took me three days to dictate and I am passing this over to my wife for editing and proofing. Cover design is done and I'm very happy with that.

Struggling with the title though. Just not sure what people want. It's currently

Small Business Success: 100 cheap and easy ways to increase sales in your business

Would appreciate your thoughts

KMMK

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Re: Making Money from Ebooks ?
« Reply #20 on: August 31, 2015, 10:50:01 AM »
Very timely post - I have just finished my first book

Took me three days to dictate and I am passing this over to my wife for editing and proofing. Cover design is done and I'm very happy with that.

Struggling with the title though. Just not sure what people want. It's currently

Small Business Success: 100 cheap and easy ways to increase sales in your business

Would appreciate your thoughts

I think I'd remove the first part - shorten it down a bit:

Increase Your Business Sales - 100 Cheap and Easy Ways
100 Cheap and Easy Ways to Increase Your Business Sales

NearlyThere

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Re: Making Money from Ebooks ?
« Reply #21 on: August 31, 2015, 10:54:01 AM »
cheers KMMK

Lis

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Re: Making Money from Ebooks ?
« Reply #22 on: August 31, 2015, 11:31:45 AM »
Bumping to follow!

AllieVaulter

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Re: Making Money from Ebooks ?
« Reply #23 on: August 31, 2015, 11:44:19 AM »
Following

DK

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Re: Making Money from Ebooks ?
« Reply #24 on: August 31, 2015, 12:01:52 PM »
follow. (peer pressured into it, everyone else is)

totis531

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Re: Making Money from Ebooks ?
« Reply #25 on: August 31, 2015, 12:11:12 PM »
A couple of questions

-  How did you pick your topic?   Did you do market research, or just pick something interesting to you and have the good fortune that it is selling well

It grew directly out of some problems I was having at work, and so I figured it was a more global problem than just that. A few blog posts was enough to prove demand for the topic.


-  How do you market it ?    Mailing list ?   Google adwords ?

Thanks !

I built a mailing list via my blog and Twitter, then sold into that list. My experiments with paid advertising were complete failures, except for a little remarketing on Facebook that seemed to at least have a slightly positive ROI.
Do you follow Ramit Sethi? That's nearly exactly the strategy he recommends.

Sent from my XT1096 using Tapatalk


jhess002

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Re: Making Money from Ebooks ?
« Reply #26 on: August 31, 2015, 12:18:21 PM »
following - thanks for the great discussion everyone!

zinethstache

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Re: Making Money from Ebooks ?
« Reply #27 on: August 31, 2015, 12:35:35 PM »
following as well!

protostache

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Re: Making Money from Ebooks ?
« Reply #28 on: August 31, 2015, 12:37:43 PM »
A couple of questions

-  How did you pick your topic?   Did you do market research, or just pick something interesting to you and have the good fortune that it is selling well

It grew directly out of some problems I was having at work, and so I figured it was a more global problem than just that. A few blog posts was enough to prove demand for the topic.


-  How do you market it ?    Mailing list ?   Google adwords ?

Thanks !

I built a mailing list via my blog and Twitter, then sold into that list. My experiments with paid advertising were complete failures, except for a little remarketing on Facebook that seemed to at least have a slightly positive ROI.
Do you follow Ramit Sethi? That's nearly exactly the strategy he recommends.

Sent from my XT1096 using Tapatalk

I like Ramit's stuff but I followed Nathan Barry's process that he documented in Authority, which was probably largely inspired by Ramit.

Philbert

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Re: Making Money from Ebooks ?
« Reply #29 on: August 31, 2015, 01:49:24 PM »
I self-published a romance book under a pen name last September. All in, I spent around $600 to publish the ebook and print version. To date, I've made around $10k. Like another poster mentioned, romance is a great genre for kindle. I've spent $0 on marketing, but people keep finding my book. Have you lurked in the KBoard forums yet? http://www.kboards.com/index.php?board=60.0

I can't speak much to non-fiction publishing, but some bits of advice that've worked for me:

1) Make sure your cover and blurb are really great. They're the best advertising for your book. I picked up a fantastic cover at goonwrite.com for $45. He'll even create the front and back covers for createspace for an extra fee. I also recently heard about this new program called canva where you can make your own cover for free. https://www.canva.com/create/book-covers/ Whatever you decide, make sure your cover and blurb are as kick-ass as can be.

2) Write all of your books first. My big mistake was writing and publishing one book at a time. I'm not a fast writer, and I can't pump them out like many romance authors can. Now I have readers waiting over a year for the next book, which kills momentum. The best marketing you can do is to publish another book. Frontlist sells backlist. If someone likes your new book, they'll want to read your older books. Make sure you have a backlist they can buy. If I could do it over, I would have 3 books completed, then publish them 3-4 months apart.

3) Start a mailing list. Free on mailchimp. Put a link in the backmatter of your book. Build up your list.

4) Don't be afraid to give away your book for free, and I don't mean making it free on Amazon. I've heard very mixed results from making a book free on Amazon. You'll get lots of downloads, but will anyone actually read? Instead, I searched out bloggers and reviewers and readers in my genre. I offered them a free copy in exchange for a review. That started the word-of-mouth that still continues for my book.

This is just what I've learned from my experience and is probably different for other authors. Advice is not one-size-fits-all, so YMMV. But overall, I've loved self-publishing and I highly recommend. It's helped me tap into this entrepreneurial side of myself I didn't know existed.

AllieVaulter

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Re: Making Money from Ebooks ?
« Reply #30 on: August 31, 2015, 02:47:34 PM »
Thanks Philbert, and to everyone who's contributed.  There's a lot of great information here, it's very inspirational. 

stashing_it

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Re: Making Money from Ebooks ?
« Reply #31 on: August 31, 2015, 08:08:08 PM »
Very timely post - I have just finished my first book

Took me three days to dictate and I am passing this over to my wife for editing and proofing. Cover design is done and I'm very happy with that.

Struggling with the title though. Just not sure what people want. It's currently

Small Business Success: 100 cheap and easy ways to increase sales in your business

Would appreciate your thoughts

I think I'd remove the first part - shorten it down a bit:

Increase Your Business Sales - 100 Cheap and Easy Ways
100 Cheap and Easy Ways to Increase Your Business Sales

I like this one
100 Cheap and Easy Ways to Increase Your Business Sales

tardis

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Re: Making Money from Ebooks ?
« Reply #32 on: August 31, 2015, 10:58:05 PM »
Following.

TheBuddha

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Re: Making Money from Ebooks ?
« Reply #33 on: August 31, 2015, 11:12:43 PM »
Hella following.

limeandpepper

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Re: Making Money from Ebooks ?
« Reply #34 on: September 01, 2015, 10:47:40 AM »
Great post, Philbert!

I've spent $0 on marketing, but people keep finding my book.

Just wondering if you have to spend much time and effort on marketing? Regardless of whether money is involved, I find marketing myself to be one of the tougher things, because I'm not the outgoing type at all.

begood

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Re: Making Money from Ebooks ?
« Reply #35 on: September 01, 2015, 11:25:47 AM »
I just started doing this.  Not sure if it's going to be a major or minor side-hustle, but you've gotta be in it to win it :)

Start by downloading all the free kindle books you can find on 'writing and publishing ebooks'.  There are quite a few out there, and you can glean useful information from all of them.

My guidelines that I've made for myself (I write non-fiction so far)

Make it at least 5,000 words, preferably heading towards 15,000
Write three or four related books so they promote and market each other
Upload a print-ready version to create-space as well, to create an apparent 'discount' for the ebook compared to the print version
Take care of formatting and editing - get someone good at it to do it for you if you aren't great at grammar, punctuation etc.  People don't mind typos etc in free books, but will be justifiably snarky about paying for what is obviously a poorly written first draft.
If there are ZERO other books on your topic already, it may mean that there is only a tiny market for it.  A bit of competition is not a bad thing.

My book has been 'live' for less than a month and I've sold 6 copies :)  I think at least one of those might even be to someone I don't know.  (cue wild applause).

As an editor, I agree 100% with homehandymum. Amazon reviewers, in particular, tend to be a persnickety crowd, and typos will get you poor reviews faster than just about anything else. Maybe it's a little sad that they get so bent out of shape about the occasional you're/your discrepancy, but I've seen it happen time and again.

A good editor doesn't rewrite your material - a good editor polishes what's there so your voice comes through as clearly as possible.

Unionville

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Re: Making Money from Ebooks ?
« Reply #36 on: September 01, 2015, 11:31:36 AM »
I make about $200-$300 a month pretty regularly.  I have about 5 short ebooks.

AllieVaulter

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Re: Making Money from Ebooks ?
« Reply #37 on: September 01, 2015, 04:27:04 PM »
I make about $200-$300 a month pretty regularly.  I have about 5 short ebooks.

What genre do you write?  About how long are your books?  Where are you selling them?  At what price?

(I'm in the information gathering stage...  can you tell?)

Unionville

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Re: Making Money from Ebooks ?
« Reply #38 on: September 01, 2015, 05:18:38 PM »
I make about $200-$300 a month pretty regularly.  I have about 5 short ebooks.

What genre do you write?  About how long are your books?  Where are you selling them?  At what price?

(I'm in the information gathering stage...  can you tell?)

I write on the craft business.  I sell at amazon between .99-2.99

Brilliantine

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Re: Making Money from Ebooks ?
« Reply #39 on: September 01, 2015, 05:26:55 PM »
Following. Thanks for the info, everyone.

Malaysia41

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Re: Making Money from Ebooks ?
« Reply #40 on: September 01, 2015, 07:29:31 PM »
Very timely post - I have just finished my first book

Took me three days to dictate and I am passing this over to my wife for editing and proofing. Cover design is done and I'm very happy with that.

Struggling with the title though. Just not sure what people want. It's currently ...

A) I suggest you demonstrate SERIOUS appreciation for your wife's efforts.  You did the easy bit.  She's suffering the hard bit.
B) You're likely far from done. A polished manuscript is born from multiple revisions, beta reader rounds, editing. 

Offer to help her, please please please, do not treat her as if she's "just cleaning it up." Perhaps I'm finding glibness in your post when none exists - but even if not, go out of your way to help her.   I'm both the writer and publisher of my ebook-in-progress and by far, the editing/ cleaning up/ proofing bit is more arduous. 

I too struggle with my title.  It's getting there, but still dialing it in.   Good luck. I, along with the other posters agree - shorter is better.

Megma

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Re: Making Money from Ebooks ?
« Reply #41 on: September 02, 2015, 07:10:51 AM »
Make it at least 5,000 words, preferably heading towards 15,000

Oh good, I have one in progress that is currently ~13,000 words and I was worried it was too short. It will probably be between 15,000 to 20,000 words when it's finished.

Has anyone put their book in the Kindle Owners Lending Library? Tom Bri, it looks like maybe you have? I am wondering what kind of success you've had with it. From my understanding, people with Prime accounts can borrow your book for free and you receive a royalty (~$2) from Amazon. I would think this would help to get the word out, especially if you have a back catalog of other books they could then buy or borrow. Can anyone report?

Kris

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Re: Making Money from Ebooks ?
« Reply #42 on: September 02, 2015, 07:25:31 AM »
Make it at least 5,000 words, preferably heading towards 15,000

Oh good, I have one in progress that is currently ~13,000 words and I was worried it was too short. It will probably be between 15,000 to 20,000 words when it's finished.

Has anyone put their book in the Kindle Owners Lending Library? Tom Bri, it looks like maybe you have? I am wondering what kind of success you've had with it. From my understanding, people with Prime accounts can borrow your book for free and you receive a royalty (~$2) from Amazon. I would think this would help to get the word out, especially if you have a back catalog of other books they could then buy or borrow. Can anyone report?

Actually, they recently changed this, and are now paying per page read. The current rate is $0.005779 per page.  At that borrow rate, short books don't really add up. Longer works can do well under this system, though, as long as they are page-turners.

Cookie78

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Re: Making Money from Ebooks ?
« Reply #43 on: September 02, 2015, 08:17:08 AM »
Awesome info. This is something I want to start doing after I'm not wasting all my time in an office. :D

thd7t

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Re: Making Money from Ebooks ?
« Reply #44 on: September 02, 2015, 08:30:47 AM »
Make it at least 5,000 words, preferably heading towards 15,000

Oh good, I have one in progress that is currently ~13,000 words and I was worried it was too short. It will probably be between 15,000 to 20,000 words when it's finished.

Has anyone put their book in the Kindle Owners Lending Library? Tom Bri, it looks like maybe you have? I am wondering what kind of success you've had with it. From my understanding, people with Prime accounts can borrow your book for free and you receive a royalty (~$2) from Amazon. I would think this would help to get the word out, especially if you have a back catalog of other books they could then buy or borrow. Can anyone report?

Actually, they recently changed this, and are now paying per page read. The current rate is $0.005779 per page.  At that borrow rate, short books don't really add up. Longer works can do well under this system, though, as long as they are page-turners.
Do you think with short works it would be a good way to get reviews?  It seems (based on what I've read so far) that getting lots of reviews is important.

Philbert

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Re: Making Money from Ebooks ?
« Reply #45 on: September 02, 2015, 10:03:21 AM »
Great post, Philbert!

I've spent $0 on marketing, but people keep finding my book.

Just wondering if you have to spend much time and effort on marketing? Regardless of whether money is involved, I find marketing myself to be one of the tougher things, because I'm not the outgoing type at all.

I hate marketing, too! I have a Facebook page and put my books on Goodreads. But even then, I'm not posting that much. Maybe 2-3 times a week. (This is true with my real facebook profile, too. I just don't have anything worth statusing about! My life is not that interesting.) Most of my marketing effort comes around book launches. I also try to publish an email newsletter once a month.

When I do post, I try to interact with fans and readers in a genuine way. I'm not a marketing expert by any stretch, but I believe in quality over quantity. Carpetbombing social media with posts about your book won't build your audience. I prefer to focus on creating 1-to-1 connections with fans and readers, building up my 1,000 true fans. I always respond to reader emails and FB messages, and I'll like their FB statuses. Put out quality content, and people will come. That can be a great book, insightful social media posts, links to cool articles. Something of value.

In my monthly newsletter, if I don't have a new book to promote, I'll talk about what I'm working on. I'll recommend other M/M romance books I've read. I'll link to cool, relevant blog posts I've read. That way, people don't think I'm selling to them all the time.



Take care of formatting and editing - get someone good at it to do it for you if you aren't great at grammar, punctuation etc.  People don't mind typos etc in free books, but will be justifiably snarky about paying for what is obviously a poorly written first draft.


I second this. I paid for copy-editing and formatting, and don't regret a cent I spent.

limeandpepper

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Re: Making Money from Ebooks ?
« Reply #46 on: September 02, 2015, 10:57:05 AM »
Thanks for giving us a glimpse of what it takes, Philbert. Great insight, and glad to know hectic ongoing marketing isn't always necessary.

Villanelle

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Re: Making Money from Ebooks ?
« Reply #47 on: September 02, 2015, 12:32:16 PM »
Great post, Philbert!

I've spent $0 on marketing, but people keep finding my book.

Just wondering if you have to spend much time and effort on marketing? Regardless of whether money is involved, I find marketing myself to be one of the tougher things, because I'm not the outgoing type at all.

I hate marketing, too! I have a Facebook page and put my books on Goodreads. But even then, I'm not posting that much. Maybe 2-3 times a week. (This is true with my real facebook profile, too. I just don't have anything worth statusing about! My life is not that interesting.) Most of my marketing effort comes around book launches. I also try to publish an email newsletter once a month.

When I do post, I try to interact with fans and readers in a genuine way. I'm not a marketing expert by any stretch, but I believe in quality over quantity. Carpetbombing social media with posts about your book won't build your audience. I prefer to focus on creating 1-to-1 connections with fans and readers, building up my 1,000 true fans. I always respond to reader emails and FB messages, and I'll like their FB statuses. Put out quality content, and people will come. That can be a great book, insightful social media posts, links to cool articles. Something of value.

In my monthly newsletter, if I don't have a new book to promote, I'll talk about what I'm working on. I'll recommend other M/M romance books I've read. I'll link to cool, relevant blog posts I've read. That way, people don't think I'm selling to them all the time.



Take care of formatting and editing - get someone good at it to do it for you if you aren't great at grammar, punctuation etc.  People don't mind typos etc in free books, but will be justifiably snarky about paying for what is obviously a poorly written first draft.


I second this. I paid for copy-editing and formatting, and don't regret a cent I spent.


Would you mind sharing who you used, anything of note about the process, and a basic fee structure?  My goal is to have book #1 finished and ready for a copy edit by January.  I won't publish until I have at least the second, if not also the third, done, but I figure I can be working editing on #1 while I write #2.  I've got some editors that I found through their sponsorship of NaNoWriMo, but I'd love a personal recommendation. 

jwilliams0215

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Re: Making Money from Ebooks ?
« Reply #48 on: September 02, 2015, 02:44:18 PM »
This thread comes at great timing. My wife just finished writing a book and is looking to self-publish via e-books soon. What have you guys used for cover art / creative for websites? We just received a quote for $2,400 (and from a friend!). I'm not 100% sure what this involves, but I'm 100% sure we won't be paying that much!

homehandymum

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Re: Making Money from Ebooks ?
« Reply #49 on: September 03, 2015, 01:40:09 AM »
^^ Wow.

Covers can be anywhere from free to hella expensive.  That's the hella expensive end of things.

I just used CreateSpace's free cover creator, but I'm doing little how-to non-fictions (link in my sig if you want to have a look).

Spend some time on KBoards, like someone upthread mentioned, lots of good advice on how to use your cover to position your book in the market.  They also have a marketplace where people advertise their skills like editing, cover designing etc.  Lots of people advertise kindle cover design on Fiverr, too. 

Have a look on Amazon at books in the same genre and use similar designs - there are conventions that readers will be subconsciously using to decide if your book feels like the type of book they like to read.

Personally, I'd pay $100 max for a first novel, but I don't know diddly about this, so read more widely!