Ways to Market your E-book as an Entrepreneur

Ways to Market your E-book as an Entrepreneur

What is an e-book?

As the name implies, an e-book is the electronic version of a printed book. Therefore, if your favorite novel has a digital version that you can read on your phone, you can call it an e-book.

From a young age, Vida has always been an avid reader. Even when she goes to the mall with her mum or friends, she always has a book. Her book choice usually ranges from novels to motivational books and much more. She loved reading and aspired to be like some of her favorite writers.

As she grew, she started combining reading paperback books with e-books. So, yes, you will always find Vida with a book, but the version depends on convenience. So, if she is outdoors in a busy setting, she will see her reading e-books on her gadgets. But if she is in a quiet environment or indoors, she will be with her paper books.

One day, she randomly wondered how some of her favorite authors made money from their e-books. Understandably, some of these authors had only e-books, so she wondered how they could market these books into popularity and make money from them.

Vida wondered how she would sell her e-book if she also decided to venture into e-book writing. As a curious person, she decided to make some findings of these thoughts. As you can tell, she got answers, and she is ready to share them below.

Now, you might be like Vida, who plans to own some e-books later in the future, and you will need marketing tips. Or, it could be that you have already written some e-books, and you need guidance on how to sell them. If yes, continue reading this article to find out what Vida discovered.

But first, let us answer the question people ask on the importance of e-books.

Importance of E-books

Some people may argue that e-books are not popular and do not see the need or importance of e-books. But, we see that a good percentage of people are e-book readers. Yes, the percentage might not be high. However, you can see that some people still appreciate reading books electronically.

So, here are some importances of e-books:

Sharing knowledge

Some people typically say that the main library benefit is that it helps preserve knowledge as it has books that pass information to different generations. Of course, they are not wrong. But, we can borrow the benefit of a library and liken it to that of an e-book. Therefore, it is not out of place for us to say that an e-book shares knowledge. After all, it is also a book, so it is bound to contain information.

The same way you will learn something new by reading a paperback book is how you will learn something new from reading an e-book. The idea here is that the author has something to offer to their audience, so they put it into a book. Whatever variation the book takes does not matter as it still ends up doing its work of passing information.

There may be many things may that elude you when you do not read e-books. So, we advise that you cultivate the habit of reading e-books so that you do not miss out on the knowledge that it contains within them. Once you have an active reading habit, the variation of the book will not matter.

Ensuring you do not lose the train of thought

This benefit of an e-book comes in handy for the authors more than the readers. The idea here is that the author can easily compile their train of thought, edit it properly, and publish it as an e-book. After all, people say that it takes time to publish a paperback book, and the author may not be ready to wait that long. In addition, the technicalities that come with publishing a paperback book are more than that of an e-book.

Now, this is not to say that publishing an e-book can be done within a few weeks. But, its duration is less than that of a paperback book. So, if you want to secure your train of thought and share it with others quickly, a feasible method is turning it into an e-book.

It comes in handy as your train of thought is not lost, and you can be sure that it will resonate with others. For example, if you have thoughts on a time-sensitive topic, you can quickly publish it as an e-book for its target audience. But, if you want it as a paperback book, the trend may have elapsed when the book is finally published.

Convenience

Would the list of e-book benefits be complete if we did not talk about convenience? Of course, we are not shocked that some people expected us to make it the first benefit. Convenience is one of the major reasons why people read e-books. It is because they can read on the go, like Vida.

It is important to note that humans like ease and convenience for avid readers; they love to read whenever they desire. But, this cannot always be possible with paperback books. So, it is why they have e-books to the rescue.

So, if they go shopping and stop to rest at a diner, as Vida does with her friends, they can always grab their gadgets and read some lines from their favorite books. In addition, we see that some people have reading as their stress reliever. So, if they are ever in a situation that has them panicking, a book would help calm them down.

In such a situation, the person can easily open up a book on their gadget. But if they have to depend on paperback books, we never can tell what will happen as it is not always available. So, one cannot talk about e-books without including convenience.

Cost-efficient

E-books have proven to be cheaper than paperback books in different ways. Of course, that is not to say that e-books are free. However, buying an e-book is usually cheaper than buying a paperback book, and we would talk about it.

The cost of production of a paperback is higher than that of an e-book. Also, the technicalities you would go through to produce an e-book are not the same as that of a paperback book. So, it would be out of place to expect that the cost of an e-book would be the same as that of a paperback book. No, it would be higher.

Sometimes, you may even have to pay for the cost of delivery for your paperback book. For example, you have been longing to read a particular book, and you haven’t been able to find it anywhere around you. Luckily, you saw it on a website, and you have decided to buy it. In this case, you will pay the delivery cost for the author to send it to your location. Thus, you are paying for the book and also paying for delivery. But with e-books, you will only pay for the book.

Versatility

The versatility of an e-book is one of the advantages it has over a paperback book. Yes, we know that you may be wondering what we mean and how it works. But allow us to tell you that an e-book is more versatile and engaging than a paperback book.

Understandably, design is one of the most important elements of a book. People try to ensure that their designs are appealing, which determines if they can captivate a reader. Typically, you can have drawings in both an e-book and a paperback book. But, you cannot have videos and audio embedded into a paperback book. Now, this is where an e-book becomes more versatile than a paperback book.

With a paperback book, the highest you can get are images that also tell the story. But, authors get to flex their creative power with e-books as you can add videos and audio. The aim of all these is to get the attention of the readers. Sadly, we see that humans have a fickle attention span and can be easily distracted. But, the audio and videos helped to leave their attention hooked on the book and helped it sell more.

Ways to Market Your E-Book

It is one thing to write an e-book, but we know that all authors want to make money from their work. After all, they are not writing the books for themselves. There is a target audience, and the book needs to reach its target audience. So, there is a need for marketing.

These were Vida’s thoughts, and she had to research how to market an e-book effectively. These were some of the solutions she found:

Word of mouth

We are sure you must have heard of the quote that says you are your biggest cheerleader. It means that no one can sing your praises better than you do. Of course, many people will doubt these saying, but it is true when you think about it.

It is also related to marketing your e-book as no one would sell your e-book better than you can. As the book’s writer, you know the aim it strives to achieve, and you know its target audience. You also know some lines from the book that you can use what marketing and advertising. So, one of the best ways to market an e-book is through word-of-mouth advertising.

Here, you get to tell people about your book, convincing them why they should get the e-book. From there, you hope that they felt happy when they read the book, and you anticipate that they spread the good news to other people. It is like a linking chain, but it has to start with one.

It is important to note that you cannot depend on other people to help you advertise your e-book if you do not make the first move.

Through a website

Understandably, you might not own a website. But, you can use a website to market and push the sales of your e-book. Now, you may be wondering how it is possible. The idea is that you generate different content that brings traffic to the website, and you always add a link to your e-book.

For example, you can have a website where you post different snippets from your book. Once people get hooked on reading it, they will want to read more. Therefore, there should be a link that takes them to the page to buy the e-book.

Also, suppose you have an e-book that talks about women. Therefore, you can also have a website that puts out content on feminine stories. Or, you can look for a website in this niche and collaborate with them.  Typically, you can strike up a deal, and the website owner gets a certain percentage from each e-book sale you make.

But, if you are not ready to share the funds with anyone, it would be best for you to own a website. This way, no one dictates anything for you, and you can determine how the content should be. But, it is best to keep in mind that running a website is not easy.

Digital marketing

Another excellent way of marketing your e-book is through digital marketing. Understandably, digital marketing can be broad, so it can be challenging to understand. Also, some authors argue that they are writers, not digital marketers. But that is where the power of collaboration comes to play.

As an author, allow us to tell you that you will need to do a lot of networking to promote your e-book. Therefore, you get to meet and connect with diverse people, including digital marketers. Once you have a digital marketer on your team, you can be sure that you have solved up to 50% of your marketing issues.

We can also say that digital marketing and social media marketing are interrelated, and both are excellent ways to market your e-book. So, if you have social media pages, you need to start activating them to use and market your e-book.

Now, you can decide to put the link of your e-book on any of your social media bios. Then, begin to constantly talk about the book, ensuring that you compel your followers and audience to click on the link. Now, the goal is not just to click on the link but to take the bold step and buy the book.

Have a newsletter

The importance of having a newsletter as a writer cannot be overemphasized. Unfortunately, many people feel that only large organizations should own newsletters. However, a newsletter is for anyone and everyone who is in the business space. The idea is for the newsletter to help you connect with your audience and even potential customers.

As a writer, you can use your newsletter to keep up with your readers, prompting them to share the gospel of the e-book with other people. But first, you will need a mailing list for you to send out newsletters successfully.

Getting a mailing list is easy as you can do it through your social media pages. For example, you can ask what people expect from your brand and fill in their email addresses. From there, you will have a mailing list.

So, you can use the newsletter to check in on them constantly and inform them of any latest update or development, especially as it concerns your writing. Without a doubt, it will come in handy in marketing your e-book.

Write an engaging sales copy.

A sales copy is an engaging message that you use to sell your e-book or any other product or service. It is usually convincing and contains a call to action that prompts the reader to purchase the product, in this case, your e-book.

With this knowledge, you know that your e-book must not be bland. However, it is important to note that having a sales copy can either make or mar the sales success of your e-book, so you should not joke around with it.

You can always use your sales copy in any way you desire. Therefore, it is inappropriate to see people use it as captions on their social media pages or add it to the end of any content they generate for a website.

Also, your sales copy will work together with your digital marketing. For example, suppose you want to run social media adverts. What will the person on the receiving end see when they see your advert? Then, of course, there has to be an appealing sales copy to push them to make a purchase.

Writing a sales copy is never the easiest, but you can always outsource the job. Therefore, you are sure that an expert delivers excellent work on the sales copy, and it would convert to actual purchases.

FAQs

Here are some of the frequently asked questions we see that people usually have:

Where can I promote my e-book for free?

There are different ways you can promote your e-book for free, especially if you have friends that let you use their networks like social media pages and websites.

However, some other platforms that let you promote your e-book for free are:

• Books on the Knob
• E-book Directory
• E-book Jungle, etc.

How can I increase my e-book sales?

You can increase sales of your e-book by ensuring that it passes something valuable. People will buy a book when it impacts their life. So, apart from the different marketing methods we have highlighted, the content of your book is also essential to increasing sales.

How can I promote my e-book on social media?

Promoting your e-book on social media is not difficult. It can be by regular posts, adding the link to your bios, or doing social media ads.

Conclusion

If you have been stalling writing your e-book, do it now and use the above methods to increase sales.