The 24 Proven Ways To Sell An Ebook From Top Online Authors

Sell an ebook? Sometimes we just need to know, tell it to me straight, what to do.

So here are the 25 most proven/ effective ways to increase ebook sales. We have scoured online and checked out how different authors have either used them all or just some of them.We have gone through a lot of authors...like a lot. And over time you will notice that some tips repeat.

We have figured out that there are 24 ways that seem to be the most common. Sure there are variants but these are the og, the originals that work.

What else? Oh yes. We also noted that implementing one well then moving onto the next is a good idea. All of the authors worked on one tactic well and then once mastered, moved onto the next.

They didn't spread themselves too thin. They knew what they liked, they knew which ones matched what they wanted to do. So many writers did content marketing then moved onto email/ newsletters. These would be obvious choices for a writer right?

It is also a good idea, if you are an affiliate, to find out how these authors went out to sell an ebook as it will help your cause as well.

First part of the techniques used by top online authors to sell an ebook

1. Email marketing. One of the most tried and true forms of marketing. You sign up people- who want to hear from you, nurture the list and then apply sales and content to that list. It is how Noah Kagan grew businesses quickly and effectively- also cheaply. As always, it is always a good idea to sell to people who already know you.

2. Content Repurposing: So you can create ebooks from popular blog posts. Create videos from blog posts. Create ebooks from videos. Create pictures from popular blog titles. The list is endless to what you can do with the same content. It also hones in your audience to build traffic to the same subject

3. Partner with Influencers: Influencers will only appear to you when you can offer them something. The best influencers actually help you with your product and then they become the ambassador. Million follower influencers are sometimes not the best to find either. Finding lower 10k follower influencers are usually the more receptive

4. Free. We have talked about free a lot. It has its ups and downs. Making content specifically for being “free” is helpful. If it is your main product then there has be to some way to backend the monitorization

5. Social media. Find the one that you like and then start knowing the ins and outs of that platform. When you have done that, figure out the next platform your customer could be on then move onto that. Sign up to all of them but don’t start with all of them or else you just wont have enough time or effort and you’ll get minimal results

6. Video. Is really helpful if you can start it up. You don’t need to show your face or voice (however AI voices are being stopped on Youtube). But a nice small video of 5 tips with background music is good.

7. Webinars. They are helpful if you have a topic that people might not know, or you have people asking lots of questions. They need to be run efficiently, have people who bought your book on there as well as hosts, and have questions done before you start with a quick Q&A at the end.

8. Collaborate with authors or brands. It is if you can find some non-competing authors/ brands that would be helpful. If you audience is good for them and vice versa. It is only helpful if you are known or able to promote yourself well to how you can help them. I did it once by asking someone related to my topic to answer some questions. They were happy to do so as they got exposure and I found a way to plug up an area where I was missing in content.

9. Outreach. Similar to influencers and authors. This is to find places which can help you promote you. So like Tim Ferris you try to figure out what websites your audience would be at then try to get an article or guest post/ interview. Lower trafficked sites are better for new comers and high trafficked sites for known people

10. 360. Most online people forget offline. If you are doing anything about gardening then local garden centres would be happy to have you do a Q&A for their audience. Most have websites and they promote you through that. You also now can use their testimonial as a reference if they allow it to try an sell an book.

Give your eyes a break, here's the second part of how to sell an ebook- as said by online authors

11. Landing page. Not many people will create a landing page, or sales page, for their ebook or newsletter. This is a must because if anyone searches for your book/ product they have somewhere to go. It also explains what your product is about and gives people a trust factor that they might be able to contact you or at least have further info

12. Pre-launch. We have chatted about pre-launching before. Works well when you have someone to tell- so followers or newsletter subscribers. But it needs to be planned. So set a date and work backwards noting on a calendar what you are going to do.

13. SEO. Got to mention it. Get the low hanging fruit from search engines onto your website by writing articles that people are searching for

14. Podcasts. Seem all the rage now. They are OK if people do something with them. It is mainly an associate affect- you were on a Podcast or X. With enough interest and interaction you can get some decent traffic to your site from these. The Podcasts also get placed on websites further promoting you.

15. Paid ads. If you are willing to spend, willing to figure out costs, willing to change it up and tweak then paid ads might be a good way to promote your ebook. Just be careful.

16. Book reviews. Some sites offer reviews for free and many authors have interacted with these to a good extent. Goodreads is the main one. Reedsy is another.

17. Affiliate. Affiliate your product is a good way to increase more sales. You give a percentage of the sales price. It can work if you have access to affiliates willing to promote your product. But it can lead to increased refunds if your product is not being sold as it should be. Amazon has its own affiliate program and many associates attached to it.

18. External distribution. Companies like Smashwords can offer your ebook to other places like Kobo and Apple. They take a small percentage but for free application and little effort it is a no brainer.

19. Trailer. Like the movies and pre-selling, people have made book trailers or pre-book videos or articles which have stoked the curiosity and increased suspense of what is coming out. Works well with products that are a need, can help, or is part of a series

20. Subscribers. Subscribers are like gold. MrBeast knows this- why do you think he interacts with them so much? So treat your subscribers like gold. Offer them subscriber only bonuses, chat to them etc. This will give them a sense of being part of a group and also will increase subscribers.

21. Launch. When you launch your ebook, make sure that everyone knows about it. Make it an event. Make it so that people who have not participated in it feel like they have missed out, but they are still enjoying the fun of the launch.

22. Mobile. Most websites are now mobile aware. Some are not. Make sure that your site and product are mobile aware because a lot of sales are now through mobile devices.

23. Track. You need to start figuring out how to track your website. Where do people come from, where do they go, what sites did they visit after yours. Why didn’t they buy, what links brought them to your sales page. How many people bought out of how many who didn’t. Tracking and tweaking is an art but one that will increase ebook sales by simple monitoring of movement.

For more info about how to sell an ebook, check out our ebook article hub here. Jasonera blog can be found here.