How to Make Money with Ebooks
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I am what is called a “Whale Reader” of books. I love reading and currently don’t have little kids so I have a ridiculous amount of time that I dedicate towards reading books. So it shouldn’t surprise you that my love of reading eventually became a love of writing and I began self-publishing e-books.
I’m obsessed with ebooks.
The Reasons I Love Writing E-Books
There are so many reasons why self-publishing is one of my favorite income streams and why I’m focusing again on this income stream in 2025.
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Self-publishing eliminates the “Gatekeepers”
(To your work and messaging)
My friend Kevin L. Matthews wrote and published a book called “From Burning to Blueprint: Rebuilding Black Wall Street After a Century of Silence” A book that discussed the Tulsa Race Massacre (not riot) and the long-term impact to the African-American community in Tulsa. Kevin also happens to be from Tulsa and had NEVER heard of the Tulsa Race Massacre because it wasn’t discussed. As an adult he found out about this history several years before the 100th anniversary of this tragedy. He felt that there was a story to be told, lessons to be learned and opportunity to educate and empower his readers. Imagine how difficult it would be to get a book like this approved in the current political climate?
Self-publishing is accessible
There are so many ways that people can write and publish their works for free or at minimal cost. Here’s a short-list below.
Publish Direct-to-reader-You could publish on different platforms such as Substack, a personal website, Gumroad, a platform such as Etsy/Amazon or a tool such as Podia, Ingram or even Teachable.
Minimal Tools Needed-In order to write your first or next book, you don’t need a lot of tools to do it.
Paper and pen-If you’re a little old-school
Chromebook
Mac/PC
Voice recorder app
Make sure to avoid making some common mistakes that could hurt your book when self-publishing. I’ve shared a link to the list.
The Time from Idea to Published is Shorter
If you have an idea and it’s somewhat fleshed out, the process of getting the book written and completed is typically (not always) shorter than the traditional publishing model. A self-published author doesn’t have to work through intermediaries to get their idea approved.
You Can Make Money with E-books
I have a surprising number of friends who’ve self-published and traditionally published books. I’m actually a huge fan of both approaches to sharing your genius with the world. One thing that I love about e-books is that you can you can write and grow a significant backlist of books that you can then market and sell as long as those books are published.
Common Questions I Get Asked
Do people read self-published books? Yes! I’ve found that I read primarily self-published books in both fiction and non-fiction genres.
Are self-published books any good? Yes! I am quite amazed at the consistent quality of books that people are publishing. I’m sure if the quality was bad, I would have stopped reading those books years ago.
What about the reviews? Everyone gets good and bad reviews. Don’t believe me? Read the reviews of your favorite book and you’ll be shocked what people have time to complain about.
I’ve made almost $15,000 in book sales. Most of those earnings were from 2018-early 2022. I stopped writing and marketing books in 2020 because of the COVID pandemic. I didn’t have the bandwidth to focus on it. What I’m amazed by is that this was a fun experiment that I was testing out. There’s a reason why I’m working on self-publishing again.
Here’s a screenshot of my lifetime royalties earnings.
Almost $15,000 (WOW)
How to Make Money with Ebooks
I’m breaking down some of what I did to sell my books in this newsletter. Don’t forget that I’m hosting a workshop “Make Money with Ebooks” this Saturday, March 22, 2024 at 10:00 am MTN/12:00 pm EST. This workshop is for Creators Getting Paid (paying) subscribers only, not a subscriber? Subscribe today! These workshops are a benefit of the membership.
Make Money with Ebooks
April-June Live Writing Cohort
I loved working with the authors that I served when I sold my “Make Money with Ebooks course” If you attend the workshop, think of it as a jumpstart to your book writing journey.
What if you’re needing something…more?
Accountability
Encouragement
Feedback
A marketing plan specific to your book
From April 7th-June 30th, 2025 join myself and other authors focused on the following:
Complete their work in progress or be much further along than before
Writing in a positive and support community
Sales strategies to use to kick start your book sales
Important Details
There are two pricing options
Option #1-No Coaching ($297)
Be a part of the the Live cohort, enjoy accountability, feedback and staying focused on your writing journey. Participants in this tier won’t have strategy coaching at the beginning of the cohort or monetization strategy at the end of the cohort.
Option #2-With Coaching ($797)
Cost-$797 what this includes
Two 1-on-1 meetings with Michelle
Three months of in-person meetings, feedback and ideation support
Payment Plan-All payment plans must be completed by May 1, 2025.
Reach out to Michelle at: thebrandbuildinglab@gmail.com
Return policy
This is a digital content and coaching experience. If you’re nervous or aren’t sure that this program would be a good fit DO NOT purchase this before speaking with Michelle.
What I Did to Make Money with Ebooks
I’m going to share some of the systems that I used to sell my books. One thing I do want to mention is that these sales occurred before BookTok. What’s BookTok? A huge fanbase of passionate book readers who read and review books and share them on TikTok. Authors will also share and market their works on TikTok as well.
Here's what I did…