But, I digress.
How I Started Writing and Selling Ebooks Online
When I first waded into the self-publishing waters, I had no idea what I was doing ? and my sales reflected it. For years they sucked!
But I didn?t quit -- primarily because self-publishing was never something I had as a career goal. I published my first ebook because I ran an editorial staffing agency at the time in New York City. I hired a lot of editorial professionals ? and many of them had questions about how to land more gigs (basically how to freelance). So, I put together a simple word file that contained the answers to all of the questions I?d been asked over the years. That was my first ?ebook? back in 2004.
Fast forward to 2008/2009. I?d written several more ebooks and was starting to see a steady increase in sales. That?s when I delved into self-publishing in earnest and made it one of my primary income streams. Following are three mistakes I?d been making over the years that I immediately set to work correcting ? because it was costing me a lot of money.
3 Things I Did that Increased My Self-Publishing Income
I. Professional Ebook Covers: For years, I sold ebooks with no covers. Then, I got ?fancy? and used Inkwell Editorial?s logo (my freelance writing website) as the cover for all of my ebooks. Finally, in 2010, I started creating professional covers for all of my ebooks.
I noticed a jump in sales. And it makes sense. Self-publishing has increased to the point where it definitely does cost you sales if you don?t have not only a cover ? but a professional-looking cover. It separates you from the ?novices.? Even though this is what most self-publishers are, it doesn?t mean that you have to present like that.
II. Signed Up with a Digital Download Service Provider: If you sell ebooks online, buyers expect to get their purchase(s) immediately. When I first started selling ebooks online, buyers had to wait 24 hours (sometimes more) for me to manually email them the ebook after they made their purchase.
I sold ebooks online this way for years.
Then, I ran across e-Junkie. I went from barely making weekly sales to making almost daily sales. This was without a doubt one of the best things I did to increase my self-publishing income.
III. Create Lines of Ebooks: What I mean by this is, write several ebooks on similar subjects ? IF it?s something your audience is clamoring for.
For example, I wrote my first ebook on SEO writing (How to Make $250+/Day Writing Simple, 500-Word Articles) in 2008. I?ve since written three others on this topic ? on various niches within it that subscribers to my newsletters and blogs have told me they want to know about (directly and indirectly).
How to Write an Ebook That?s a ?Hot Seller?
So listen to your audience. They?ll clue you in on potential hot sellers. How?
Do certain posts on your blog/website receive a lot of comments/questions? Do certain links on social media get shared a lot? Are you asked the same questions about a particular topic over and over again (in various formats)?
These are all clues that your audience is clamoring for certain info ? info you may be able to pull together in a best-selling ebook.
Author Bio:?
Yuwanda has written and self-published over 50 ebooks. If you found the info here insightful, ?get more in the complete self-publishing package -- which will help you not only write an ebook in a few days, but learn how to market it and start getting sales within a week ? really! Also, feel free to contact her with your ebook writing and self-publishing questions.?
You may also like to check out this free eBook by E-junkie.info:
Publishing Your First eBook
Source: http://www.e-junkie.info/2012/11/self-publishing-secrets-from-successful.html
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