If you’ve always felt like you “have a book in you,” why not turn your idea into another revenue stream with your own ebook?
What are Ebooks?
Ebooks are electronic, reflowable, and non-editable books that are presented in formats that allow for reading on ebook readers, smartphones, tablets, computers, or other electronic devices.
How Do Ebooks Work?
There are five primary types of ebook formats.
- EPUB: Can’t be read on Amazon Kindle except for Kindle Fire tablet
- MOBI: Works on Amazon Kindle, but doesn’t support sound or video
- AZW3 and AZW: Amazon Kindle ebooks that support both sound and video
- IBA: Apple iBooks Author app
- PDF: Not reflowable (doesn’t adapt to screen size or user settings), not ideal for e-readers, supports links but not video or sound.
If using your ebook as a giveaway on your blog for growing your email list is your goal, you can turn your manuscript into a PDF for easy downloading.
If you want to publish your ebook for sale, we suggest using the format that’s supported by your publishing tool.
How Much Can You Make With an Ebook?
It’s difficult to calculate how much money you can make with an ebook because it depends largely on your reason for creating an ebook.
If you write your ebook as a giveaway for your email subscribers, your earnings are a part of your long-term passive income strategy.
Likewise, if the goal of your ebook is to establish yourself as an authority in your niche, the value of your ebook will reward you over time.
On the other hand, if you want to publish and sell your ebook, you could see a more immediate return.
If you sell your ebook on your blog via a sales page using a WordPress plugin such as Easy Digital Downloads, you get to keep 100% of the sales.
You can accept payment directly on your blog via Paypal, Amazon Pay, or another payment service.
You can also sell your ebook on platforms such as Podia or Gumroad.
Amazon Royalties
Here are some hard numbers on what you can expect to earn if you publish your book on Amazon with Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP). Amazon offers two ebook royalty rates:
- 70% royalty option (books priced from $2.99 to $9.99)
- 35% royalty option (books priced less than $2.99)
Here are some examples of how those royalties break down.
- An ebook sold for $0.99 cents will earn you royalties of $0.35 cents per sale.
- Books priced at $2.99 will earn you royalties of $2.09 per ebook sale.
- Your ebook priced at $9.99 will earn you royalties of $6.99 per sale.
If you give away your book for “free” on Kindle Unlimited, you earn money based on the number of pages your readers consume.
How Easy is it to Write and Publish an Ebook?
If the idea of writing and publishing an entire book is intimidating, just know that it’s much easier than you think.
You can take a series of blog posts and turn them into an ebook.
Also, working from an outline is extremely helpful when you’re trying to pull a book together.
There is a little bit of a learning curve for publishing an ebook, but mostly it’s just a matter of taking the time to educate yourself on the process.
Steps for Writing and Publishing an Ebook
- Choose your ebook title.
- Conduct research.
- Define your audience.
- Create an outline.
- Start writing.
- Hire an editor on Upwork or Fiverr. Even the best writers benefit from an expert pair of eyeballs on their book.
- Design and format your ebook yourself or use a publishing service.
- Develop your ebook.
- Create a beautiful and effective cover yourself or commission one on a marketplace such as Fiverr.
- If publishing to Amazon, review your ebook in the Kindle Previewer.
- Publish your ebook, whether for sale on a platform or via PDF for a free giveaway on your blog.
- Start promoting your ebook.
- Be active in the community you’re writing for.
Like many things, writing an ebook gets easier the more you do it.
As an example, this article is as long and comprehensive as some ebooks, and it took me a week to research and write it.
Why is Writing an Ebook a Great Monetization Method?
There are three primary reasons for bloggers to write an ebook:
- Earn extra revenue when you publish your ebook. When you translate your knowledge into an ebook, it’s like making money from your quality content twice.
- Give your ebook away to people who opt into your email subscriber list. Growing your email marketing list is one of the most important things you can do to grow your business, and people are more inclined to opt-in when they’re getting something in exchange.
- Establish yourself as an authority in your niche. If readers see you as an expert in your niche, you build trust and authority. This will inevitably drive more traffic to your blog, which stimulates your other revenue streams.
Any of these three reasons will earn you more money and can be a part of your long-term passive income strategy.
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