Business based on ebooks?

7 years ago

Originally Posted by Will Iam

I've heard of a lot of people making money through selling ebooks on amazon - on Freelancer I always see people trying to hire ghostwriters to create ebooks for sale, so there must be at least some folks doing this successfully. My understanding of the process is like this:

1. Choose a niche that you might want to write something in

2. Find books in that niche that are very popular

3. Figure out something about your target demographic so you understand why they are reading those particular books - what information are they looking for? Do they just want entertainment? What is motivating that behaviour? What else would they be interested in?

4. Research competition - try to figure out a concept for a book that hasn't quite been done before, or create a twist on something that already exists that is slightly different and still adds value.

5. Create an outline for your book and hire someone to write it. Spend as little as possible and hopefully have the skills to edit it yourself.

6. Throw it on amazon for $9.99 and hope for the best!

Is this about right or am I missing something? Could anyone offer some insight into what steps I could be missing and how else I could implement this business model?

It's way more complicated than that. I made a step by step post on this forum...But basically the hardest part is to find a good niche and optimize everything in your book (your title, description, getting verified reviews etc) so that you end up on the first page of amazon for your keyword.

My coaching program has over 6 hours of video content just to give you an idea. It's simple but there are a lot of details that you must know if you want to succeed at this.

Also, I prefer a lower price point than $9.99. Most of my money is made on the back-end. I like to build a list with my books and send affiliates offers.

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Will Iam

7 years ago

I feel like a lot of people want to be productive but they spend a lot of time looking for a good place to direct their energy.

In this case, people want to write a book or start investing in getting a book written but it seems difficult to find a niche and optimize everything if you're saying that that's the most difficult part of the process.

Can you offer any advice on how to go through this process? Also, do you think a person should spend a certain amount of time and then write based on the best opportunity they find or is there a specific criteria you should use to determine when the opportunity is good?

Thanks

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JohnVianny

7 years ago

Use lead generation for building your audience and then market your book.

Better having a list for future actions of marketing, even more books in the future

Thanks

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Will Iam

7 years ago

Conan, would you be able to elaborate a little more on what you mean by "use lead generation"? If I'm creating an ebook, how would I generate leads without first marketing the book? I'm a little confused and not really sure how to apply your knowledge. I've always heard about e-mail lists and how there's always money in the list but I'm not sure how I would go about collecting e-mails or "generating leads" like you said.

Thanks

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unlimitedoptions

7 years ago

Hi:

I think you are on the right track. However, there are millions of ebooks on Amazon. You might want to consider putting your book on other platforms in addition to Amazon in places like I-book, kobo, and several other digital sites.

In most instances you will need to get real reviews in order for your book to take off. What's the average number of reviews for books in your niche?

It also helps to run a promotion during your launch period where you either give the book away for free for a week or some predetermined period; or Sell it for 99 cents to get initial readers.
The "Indie" world has exploded over the past 5 years. It's getting much more competitive, but of course there is always room for another book out there.

Good luck,

Dan

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Stanallaire

7 years ago

This how-to guide seems almost too easy...

Isn't the world already saturated with books? The thought of spending $xxx to have a book written and just releasing it into the abyss and hoping that it gets some traction feels pretty abhorrent to me, mainly because I'm used to investing in projects that have a much more concrete path to a return.

I think the biggest thing missing from your plan is, like others are pointing out, any kind of marketing strategy that gets your book noticed aside from just putting it on amazon. I've noticed tons of people buzzing about kindle books and selling books on amazon and I can only imagine how saturated it is. I recently did a book publication proposal for a friend and was made to analyze the most similar books to his book that already existed in the marketplace - the result was that 80% of the books that were similar were ebooks that had been published in the last 18 months.

Competition out there is brutal and success is extremely uncertain.

Thanks
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customerblast 7 years ago

Selling books on amazon is quite the grind, It was better 5 years ago. Now you need quite the collection of good books WITH lots of reviews to make anything on there, and even then its not necessarily great. In my opinion its not that good of a business unless you are very passionate about writing and want to write the books anyways
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zdebx

7 years ago

Sounds quite right, but pay more attention to #4.

Don't take competition as a bad thing. If you can find existing guys in your niche who are already selling some books, but you think you could improve on what they have and possibly even sell it for a cheaper price, then you might have a winner.

However, remember that your first few books will probably flop, so keep learning from your mistakes and get better over time.

Thanks

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Regional Warrior

7 years ago

Originally Posted by Will Iam

I've heard of a lot of people making money through selling ebooks on amazon - on Freelancer I always see people trying to hire ghostwriters to create ebooks for sale, so there must be at least some folks doing this successfully. My understanding of the process is like this:

1. Choose a niche that you might want to write something in

2. Find books in that niche that are very popular

3. Figure out something about your target demographic so you understand why they are reading those particular books - what information are they looking for? Do they just want entertainment? What is motivating that behaviour? What else would they be interested in?

4. Research competition - try to figure out a concept for a book that hasn't quite been done before, or create a twist on something that already exists that is slightly different and still adds value.

5. Create an outline for your book and hire someone to write it. Spend as little as possible and hopefully have the skills to edit it yourself.

6. Throw it on amazon for $9.99 and hope for the best!

Is this about right or am I missing something? Could anyone offer some insight into what steps I could be missing and how else I could implement this business model?

WIM

paste this b the searh bar

https://www.linkedin.com/in/debbiedrum

Debbie used to be member here she will set you right

Jason

Thanks

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Will Iam

7 years ago

Thanks for all the great feedback and information guys - still trying to find out if this is viable but I'm not that optimistic if I can expect my first several books to flop. I feel like this is a very common trap that people fall into when they're starting out with this type of work - your time and money is very precious so you can't necessarily afford to invest time in in researching and conceptualizing a project, invest money in having the product created and ultimately have it flop and not get results.

What people do in response to this is they actually put less effort into their work because they want the end result to happen very quickly so they can feel validated and feel like they haven't wasted their time. The unfortunate reality is that you have to test, you have to invest in a project with some uncertainty and come up with your own formula for success, because nobody can tell you all of the nuance of what it takes to be successful.

Thanks

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Shana Walters

7 years ago

Don't just blindly price a book at $9.99. If you are doing the proper research then you should also be looking at what price points other authors are selling their books for in the genre or niche you are looking to break into.

Also don't expect to do this with just one book. If you are leaning towards fiction, writing a series is your best bet. And if you can, get the first book perma-free. For more information check out KBoards.com.

Gorgeous Lucky Bitch,
Shana Jahsinta Walters.

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Business based on ebooks?

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