How to make money selling ebooks on Amazon Kindle or other ebook marketplaces? step by step guide

The digital age has achieved virtually all methods of disseminating information. We can find almost anything on the internet as a source and One of the big changes is the digitization of books.

These files are known as e-books. and they are, as their name suggests, electronic books that are written in the same way as a physical book and can be sold on websites much more easily and start earning extra income online.

In the next few paragraphs, we will teach you everything you need to know on generating income through the sale of e-books and the steps you must follow to write your own e-book and distribute it.

What is an E-book?

An e-book is a digital format file written in a format called “epub”which is scheduled to be read through a touch screen device known as e-reader. Although they are designed for certain specific terminals, the reality is that the “epub” format can be read on almost any devicefrom computers to mobile phones, so the process only consists of buying them online, downloading them and reading them at any time.

How much money can be made selling ebooks?

The profits that can be generated by selling e-books vary greatly depending on many factors, among which are the theme of the book, its price and the platform on which it is distributed. An ebook, depending on the demand, can be sold for approximately €4 on platforms like Amazonso that the main factor is the diffusion and the number of people who acquire it.

Learn how to make money with an ebook

The person who writes an ebook can be considered a writer In all rules. The hard part, though, is get your books out therethe scope and quality necessary for them to generate income for you.

With this objective, we present below a general procedure that you can follow to optimize the process of writing a book, adapting it to your circumstances and the theme that it will develop:

find a niche

The first step for any type of writing is to decide the theme and purpose of your book. Because the only thing that changes is the presentation format, the number of goals your e-book can pursue is as varied as it is in any physical book. The first thing you need to decide is what your e-book will focus on. For this point, you can choose create a book dedicated to learning a skill either a novel dedicated to telling a storyadapting to the genre of your preference.

idea your book

We agree that The creation of a book is not a process that occurs easily. There is a lot of work to be done to kick-start the creative process required to develop a quality e-book. Once you have decided the central theme of your book and its objective, it is necessary to delve in the creative process that will allow you to organize the ideas to create the content.

Each one carries out their creative process in a different way, but in general, the steps of this can be summarized as described below:

• Preparation: This phase varies depending on how clear you are about the topic and objective of the book, but regardless of the case, during this phase you should soak up as much knowledge and references as possible, so that you can form a primitive idea of ​​the content of the e-book. .
• Developing: Contrary to what its name may denote, this phase is mainly about letting all the knowledge gained during the preparation phase sink in. Generally, it’s a good idea to relax while this is happening, staying on target and making sure to take notes of any ideas that occur to you to begin outlining the final idea.
• Finding: this phase can be described as the point of inspiration. That moment when while you are doing something else, the central idea appears in your mind in a clear and definite way. At this point you want to make sure you have somewhere to write down, you may need it at any time.
• Put into action: Once you have discovered the central idea of ​​the book, what remains to be done is a second phase of more exhaustive documentation, focused on the subject of the e-book and a profiling process to define the course of the process.

Write the e-book

By having a clear direction for your book, time to get to the interesting part. The next step is to start writing the book following a scheme that allows you to capture the ideas in an orderly and understandable way. You can use a wide variety of writing software for your computer, as well as online text editors. Either of these options will give you the tools you need to get the body of the book done.

In general, regardless of the theme of the book, the main outline can be defined as follows:

• Introduction: It is the initial section that works as a presentation method that the author provides to contextualize what you will see in the content of the ebook. Depending on the writing style they can be very formal, sticking to the point, or quite informal, interacting with the author.
• Contents: It is the central point of the book. Throughout the pages, the knowledge or the story that the author wants to share is captured in an orderly and understandable way. Depending on the length of the book, the content is usually divided into sections or chapters.
• Conclusion: It works as a kind of summary of what has been seen throughout the book, and it is a section that the author can use to increase interactions with the reader, taking up points started during the introduction, or asking questions that you can only answer once you have read the book.

model it

The process of layout a e book varies slightly from one text editor to another. However, the main essence remains, and the goal of the process is to add formatting to the text to give it an order within the file.

Regardless of the editing tool you use, the main guidelines for the layout of the e-book are the following:

• Paragraph and text justification: It consists of selecting the entire text and justifying it, to subsequently treat the sections that need it, such as spacing, indentations and line spacing, in order to give the file size and structure.
• Titles and subtitles: a very important step when making an index. It involves formatting titles and subtitles using the tools provided by your text editor. It is usually found in the formats of “Heading 1”, “Heading 2”, etc.
• page breaks: using the page break tool is a great way to avoid dragging unnecessary code from the text editor. For aesthetic reasons, it is best to adjust the editor page before passing that text to illustrator.
• Blank pages: This point is very important for the presentation of the e-book. It is about adding three blank pages at the beginning of the work, which will be assigned to the book cover, copyright and index, in that order.
• Marker: this step is added so that the device you read on can have the index of your work. In general, regardless of the text editor, this process is done through the “Insert” section and selecting the “Bookmark” option, where you are going to enter the word “Index” written exactly as it is in that section of the book.

Create a landing page

As soon as your book is ready, the next step is to create a landing page that includes the title, description and details of the workand to which customers can access to purchase the ebook. The most recommended platform for this type of work is WordPress, as it offers a large number of specialized templates for the sale of e-books, which have features such as e-book preview, author information and responsive design.

The procedure to create a landing page in WordPress is as follows:

• Login to WordPress using your user credentials.
• click over section “Pages” and select the option “Add new”.
• change the url of the page to one of your preference.
• open the section “Page Attributes” and change the selection to “landing page”.
• From here, you click “Preview” to check the status of the blank landing page.
• start building the page according to your requirements.

promote your book

There are thousands of techniques you can apply to make your book as popular as possible, and they from self-promotion through social networks to the use of SEM campaigns with Facebook Ads and Google AdSense, for example.

Some additional tactics you can apply are creating pre-launch offers e book, where you can offer great discounts for a limited time to those who buy the book or even involve your followers during the creation process. As a general rule, make sure to hire a professional editor and designer for the book cover. The cover is the first impression that your e-book will give, so it is essential that it is well done.

Sign it up on Amazon Kindle

For this process, it will be necessary to create an account in the Amazon KDP section (Kindle Direct Publishing), to be able to manage the upload of the book on Amazon quickly and directly.

To do this, follow the steps described below:

• Go to the official site of Amazon KDP and log in with your user credentials Amazon.
• Access the section “Setting” in your account Kindle.
• Enter your residence information to determine the collection methods and tax charges.
• Enter your author information.
• Enter your bank details for receiving payments.
• Enter the Tributary information.

One time set up the accountreturn to the main page of KDP.

At this point, you will have access to begin the file upload process. Upload your ebooks to Kindle using the following procedure:

• In section “Create a new title” select the option “Kindle Ebook”.
• Complete the form with the data and specifications of the book. You will be asked for information such as title, language, author, description, etc.
• In the section “Kindle ebook content”, You must upload the file with the ebook manuscript, indicate if you have rights management (DRM), upload the book cover and other information that will be requested.
• Define the price of the ebook, royalties, and whether you want the ebook to be exclusive to Kindle.

Once the requirements are met, all you have to do is wait a maximum of 72 hourss, after which the book will be on the platform of Kindle ready for your purchase. You will receive confirmation of this in your email associated with your account. Amazon.

Best tools to write an ebook

One of the best features of ebooks is that the writing can be done by almost any text editor with some tools that, honestly, are not that advanced and so that you can start with your ebook at any time. There are some more specialized text editors, which have features ranging from better spell checking, to tools entirely dedicated to ebook writingdelivering a final product in “epub” or similar format.

Let’s see below:

Google Docs

It is an online word processor belonging to Google’s suite of office applications. It is a very interesting tool in terms of editing and has quite interesting features for writing ebooks. In addition to the writing and text editing tools, Google Docs has the interesting advantage of be able to export your text files directly in epub formatmaking it a tool that you can use to create an e-book from scratch.

Microsoft Word

Microsoft Word is one of the word processors best known and most used in the world. belongs to the company microsoft Y is the default text editing tool of your Windows operating system in all its versions.

Yes ok only works with .DOC and .DOCX text format, It has very useful and quickly accessible tools for the layout of ebooks. Also, if the plan is to create a manuscript for platforms like Kindle, their file formats are perfectly acceptable.

LibreOffice Writer

LibreOffice Writer is the word processor that is part of the LibreOffice office suite. This open source tool is freely accessible completely free from its website and offers tools very similar to Microsoft Word.

While by default it only works with basic document formats, is it possible to install the epub extension for LibreOfficethrough which you can export a final document in epub format, perfectly laid out with the powerful text editing tools that this software has. Download the office suite that includes LibreOffice Writer through this link https://es.libreoffice.org/descubre/writer/.

BookCreator.com

It is an ebook creation tool that can be defined as a kind of “blank canvas” through which you can let all your creativity flow, both from a literary and artistic point of view. It is widely used in the educational sector thanks to the number of tools it has, which make it a very didactic work tool for students. All books created with Book Creator are in “epub” format and are compatible with any reading device.

scribus.net

It is an open source program used for the layout of web pages and has the feature of be one of the text editors organized available, which gives a solid structure to your works. Unlike other editors, this program does not export your files to “epub” or “doc”. You will only be able to save Scribus texts in pdf formatfrom where you will have to use an external converter to bring it to an acceptable format on Kindle.

pages

It is a powerful text editing and processing tool that allows you to create very successful documents in different formats. It is available for download online and is installed by default on most Apple devices.

One of its most interesting features is real-time collaboration, through which, if you are writing your e-book together with other people, they will be able to work on the same file simultaneously from anywhere. You can enter Pages from this link https://www.apple.com/la/pages/.

Apple Books

It is an exclusive Apple platform that is among the largest sellers of ebooks in the world. It is accessible through its own native app and supports all iPhone and iPad models.

It is aimed at authors and publishers, and designed for the distribution, free or paid, of electronic books, providing service in more than 50 countries around the world. One of its few drawbacks, however, is its compatibility, since to upload an ebook, you absolutely need a Mac. Access from this link https://www.apple.com/la/apple-books/

booksmart

More than a word processor, is a tool specially designed for the creation of ebooks. It has a series of tools that greatly facilitate the task and provide quite attractive aesthetics.

It has a lot of templates, fonts and editing functions that allow you to add a personal touch to each ebook you create, as well as quick design features to create illustrated pages with just a few clicks. Access the page by clicking on this link https://www.blurb.es/booksmart

canva.com

Canva is a powerful design tool that has a large number of very understandable functions that mean that you do not require in-depth knowledge of design to achieve incredible creations. More than in the body of the e-book, Canva focuses on aestheticsoffering hundreds of options for templates, structures, and features that you can experiment with to make sure your book grabs your readers’ attention.

Scrivener

It is a word processing program with layout functions designed for use by authors in writing books. Scrivener provides a solid referral management system which allows the user to save notes, searches and documents for quick access to any necessary information.

This software focuses its efforts on organization and adaptability to serve any type of writer. Basically it covers an entire ecosystem of functions and tools to give structure and solidity to any type of text. Click this link to access Scrivener https://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener/overview

Best niches to sell ebooks

Except for the technical details, an e-book is, for all intents and purposes, a book. And a book can deal with any topic, subject or objective that its author decides for it. It is entirely a matter of inspiration, taste and creativity. Having said this, there are genres and themes that generate much more profit when it comes to selling booksas they are considerably more popular with various demographics or offer information on in-demand topics.

The most popular topics on which you can focus your works to maximize your sales are listed and explained below:

modern fiction

Currently, modern fiction is one of the most popular literary genres. This genre can be considered as a derivative of science fiction, and focuses on stories that revolve around the impact of technological advances on society.

In recent times, the best-known works of modern fiction are books such as “The Three Body Problem” of CixinLiu and other works of the last decades. If you have knowledge on this topic and you are passionate about fiction in all its subgenres, this is an excellent niche in which to enter.

Fancy

Unlike science fiction, fantasy uses unreal elements, inspired by the folklore of various cultures and produced by the author’s imagination. There are countless works such as the sagas of “The Lord of the rings” by JRR Tolkien, Y “Harry Potter” by JK Rowling. The fantasy genre has given birth to some of the greatest literary works, making it an excellent starting point. to start researching and developing your own work with great potential for profitability.

Personal development

This category encompasses all whose central theme is to teach the reader a new skill, whether it’s money-making methods and sales tactics or lifestyle tips. books about “How to Win Friends and Influence People” of Dale Carnegie either “The 48 Laws of Power” of Robert Greene they are great examples of this genre of books, and the best thing is that it is a constantly changing niche that offers great opportunities to new authors.

Mystery

this genre owes its popularity to the constant curiosity of the human being. As soon as a puzzle is presented in a suitable context, the need to reach a solution is irresistibleand this is the characteristic that the authors of the best mystery novels like Christie Agatha in his acclaimed “Murder on the Orient Express” or, more recently, Joel Dicker in his book “The enigma of room 622”.

Making a satisfying mystery novel requires a great deal of creativity and research to get it right. and works best when mixed with other genres, like horror or drama policeresulting in an engaging story.

Religion

This genre can be applied in books in conjunction with narrative techniques such as stories or research, focused on stories where religion and faith are primary factors. You can focus on one or more of the large number of existing religions. Stories centered on religion appeal to the readers’ faith, so it is a very popular and possibly lucrative niche if you know how to create a story that can connect with the reader.

Romance

Romance has been the inspiration for some of the greatest literary works, both classic and contemporary, such as the classic “Pride and Prejudice” of Jane Austen and more recently titles like “Under the same star” of JohnGreen. It is a genre that appeals to the emotions of the author, making him empathize with one or several characters and enjoy or suffer the situations they go through. It takes a special talent to write stories in this genre, but if you have what it takes, it’s quite a popular niche.

Horror

In conjunction with genres such as mystery and other genres that arouse emotions, horror is one of the most popular niches to get into. The number of horror fans is huge all over the world. classic authors like Stephen King and his innumerable horror sagas, as well as other contemporaries such as William of the Bull with his book “The Hollow Beings” They are great examples from which you can guide yourself for the writing and publication of your e-book.

Science fiction

This literary genre uses the imagination in conjunction with scientific advances to describe very varied stories that range from space voyages to time travel. Great examples of this genre are “dune” of Frank Herbert, Y “Ender’s Game” of Orson Scott Card.

To write this genre a great deal of research into scientific concepts and theories is necessary, in order to apply them consistently and convincingly in the story. It has always been one of the most popular genres in the world along with fantasy.

Magical realism

Magical realism is a very popular literary movement in Latin America, and its appeal is, among other things, its quality of showing unreal situations and events as if they were everyday. The greatest exponents of this genre in Latin America are Gabriel Garcia Marquez, with his acclaimed “One Hundred Years of Solitude”Y Juan Rulfo with “Pedro Paramo”. Some skill with poetry is necessary, as magical realism has certain poetic and lyrical touches.

Non-fiction

non-fiction novels are based on real, documented or true facts, which are used as the basis for the development of a story that can be objective or subjective, depending on the approach that the author wishes to give to the story. To write this genre a great deal of planning and prior documentation is necessary to have the data, events or places on which to base the stories written. It can be an excellent source of income if you achieve cohesion in the story.

Best platforms to sell ebooks

When you have your ebook ready, the next step is to upload it to a specialized platform for the sale of these files. You have a wide variety of options with quite interesting tools and handling methods.

The most outstanding are mentioned below:

amazon-kindle

It is Amazon’s ebook sales and distribution platform. Covers about 80% of the e-book market, and is the most popular option for new authors who want to monetize their works. Enter to Kindle from this link https://www.amazon.com/Kindle-eBooks/.

CasadelLibro.com

It is the official website of one of the largest bookstore chains in Spain. Has great tools and plans for new authorsthrough which they can monetize their ebooks and generate profits through this website.

Kobo.com

Similar to Amazon, is a company that produces electronic readers as well as a web page through which you can distribute your ebook. The page has applications for computers and mobile devices, making it an excellent option for distributing your work.

Apple Books

It is Apple’s native book distribution platform. It is available on all brand devices, so it allows you to get great visibility for your ebook in a large number of countries around the world.

Google Play Books

It is the native application of Google for distribution of Books. You can access it from the Play Store, although to be able to download the books you will need the dedicated application. From the desktop version you can upload files by accessing with your Google credentials.