How I Market And Sell Short Ebooks

Now no writer has time to write a 100k+ words book. We have a lot of marketing to do!

Writing a book is hard.

But marketing it is even harder.

I see so many people show interest in writing ebooks. But the real problem they face is not having enough knowledge or enough time for it. Not even writers but readers too are busy, easily distracted, and even have less time to devote to any book. Readers are always looking for a quick, easy-to-read book that can be completed in a few sittings.

The answer to this is mini-ebooks.

My 80/20 Rule for writing business

This rule I have been following for many years now and hasn’t failed me once.

80% -> Marketing

20% -> Writing ebooks

Writers are busy. Readers are busy too!

Writers in their 18s and 19s used to spend years writing ONE single perfect book.

Some writers become successful overnight, while others do after they die! We knew many writers who made a massive income after they died!

Writing quickly and earning sooner was just a dream for many until the self-publishing industry came in!

I shifted from writing full-length ebooks to shorter ones

I used to write full-length novels only. Because writers (in the fiction category) were charging around $9 to $25 per copy. And this is only for ebooks. Physical and audiobooks were more pricey and even made more profits. I will cover these two in later articles.

“Long works mean more profit!”— This rule was for the publishing industry.

Not for the self-publishing industry.

In the self-publishing world, writers are publishers, marketers, etc. We wear multiple hats. We have to do everything from writing to editing and even promoting our work.

Today’s writers —

1. Do writing
2. Editing
3. Formating
4. Publishing/launching
5. Marketing

almost everything!

Short ebooks are major earners –

I said the real secret! I make 90% of my income from shorter works. My older books are full-length novels that sell even today. But not as good as shorter works.

Shorter books are –

easy to write,

edit (I never liked editing!)

research

marketing

Sales come really quickly! Trust me!

Where to market short books?

1. Social media (Instagram and Facebook are the best ones for fiction; Twitter and Medium are best for non-fiction writers)
2. Email list (start building today if you haven’t)
3. Book reviewers (Facebook and Instagram are the best places to find them!)
4. Niche groups (Google it)

If you haven’t written short books yet, I say go for it. Believe me, you won’t regret it. And definitely you will make sales quickly.

I will write more on mini books and how to make multiple sales per customer very soon. This is all for now. Let me know if you want to know anything more.

Don’t let this passive income stream go away. Writers experiment and see themselves!

Some tools needed for short ebooks business —

1. Writing — Google Docs
2. Formatting — Calibre
3. Marketplaces — I Sell Ebooks on More Than 9 Platforms
4. Marketing — Medium, Twitter, Instagram
5. Stores — Gumroad

What are mini books?

In my earlier writing days, I started with novella-length ebooks. They were usually around 30k to 45k. But later I started targeting short ebooks because of a lack of time on my behalf (I had a full-time job!) and I didn’t want to commit to a long project. I loved hustling between multiple projects, and short ebooks were perfect for me.

• Flash books — Around 1k
• Mini ebooks — 5k to 10k
• Novella length — Around 45k
• Novel or full-length ebooks — 60k and above

I get many emails from readers asking me about ebooks and how to make a full-time income.

“Is it even possible to make money from short ebooks?”

I always answered, “I make FULL-TIME income writing short ebooks! I have been doing this for 10+ years now!”

I am not alone. I know many writers secretly making thousands of dollars each month writing short ebooks. Some rely on marketplaces, while I know many who are selling directly to their readers.

I’ll try my best to write everything needed to start your very own mini-ebook business.