eBook Publishing FAQ

How much does it cost to get setup
When can I start making money?
How much can I expect to make?
How do I collect payments?
How do I deliver the file?
How do I protect my work?
How do I get started?

How much does it cost to get setup?

Publishing your first eBook can literally be done for free, but a budget of $100-$200 for the first year is optimal. This estimate assumes you already have a decent computer and a word processing program, along with the ability to convert your work into PDF format, or else you will have to budget more money to obtain these items.

The first thing you should purchase is hosting and a good domain name. Assuming you pick a host that offers one click website installation, you can even build your site for free and save yourself from having to go and buy a program like Dreamweaver. For the most part, you can find almost anything you need for free and hosting is no exception, but spend the $60 or so dollars it will cost to take complete control of your site and domain with your own hosting plan. After all, publishing your own eBook and building a website to sell it is a long-term commitment.

The second item you should budget for is an email marketing subscription. While it may seem silly to sign up and start paying for email marketing without having a single email contact, the fact is modern day email marketing programs have a number of features that will help you build your mailing list, while at the same time automating the sales process. The costs involved will more that pay for itself once your website is setup to sell.

When can I start to make money?

While it is possible to start making money immediately, there is a significant learning curve and for most people it takes some time to get the momentum moving in the right direction. Many of the scammers out there selling lies about online business will tell you that you can start pulling in thousands of dollars right away, but they are just setting you up to be disappointed.

The better approach is to take your time as you learn this business, and to position yourself for long-term results. Building targeted web traffic takes time, and while there are sources of generating immediately targeted traffic (PPC for example), such methods are expensive, difficult to master, and highly unlikely to product a positive ROI.

Instead of searching for immediate solutions to the traffic problem, work on writing content for your site, building back-links and establishing your site as an authority. Such an approach will give you a solid understanding of where targeted traffic actually originates, and give you a hands-on education you can use for everything you do online.

Once you better understand Internet marketing, making money becomes much easier. For example, if you work on your site and develop it into an authority in your niche, naturally you are going to have a decent sized mailing list of opt-in subscribers. Once you get to this point, making money is as simple as offering a quality product for sale and then sending out an email. Of course, there is more to it than that, but when your perspective on making money online is set for the long term, you will better come to realize what goes into building a money making website.

How much money will I make?

As with any business, there is no guarantee you will make money from your eBook. However, if you produce a good product and learn how to market it properly, there is no reason why you can’t make a few thousand dollars per year, per eBook and website combination.

Here is the math:

Assuming you sell your book for $25, and you achieve a very reasonable 3 sales per week, you would be making $300 per month and $3,600 over the course of a single year. But, it’s not just this year, it’s next year too, and the year after that. For 40-120 hours of work right now, you can make $4,000 a year for as long as your book stays relevant.

Assuming a modest growth in traffic, an improved conversion rate, a decent sized mailing list, and a better understanding of how Internet marketing works, your eBook and website could very easily generate $5,000-$15,000 by the end of year two if you really dedicate yourself. Build multiple website and open up new streams of online income, and pretty soon you have laid the foundation of an online publishing empire.

How do I collect payment?

Paypal will allow you to create a free merchant account, and from there you will be able to create buttons and accept credit card payments directly from your website. You will pay a small fee whenever you receive a payment, but there are no set up or ongoing costs, and you will only pay the nominal fee when you make money.

How do I deliver the file?

Delivering the file can be done any number of ways. You could simply email it to the buyer after they pay, but sending out a file each time you make a sale is a burden, and customers will get more enjoyment out of an instant download. You could also burn the disk, and send it out in the mail, which is the solution you will have to use if you sell on eBay, but a royal pain if you are going to be selling in bulk.

The best solution is to create a new page on your site, hide it from search engines, and then place a link to the file directly on this page. When someone pays, set the Paypal button to forward them to this specific page, and voila, you have automated the payment and delivery. Now you can sell when you are asleep, at work, on vacation or playing golf.

How do I protect my work?

Most eBook Authors publish their work in the form of a .PDF, and then secure that .PDF in various ways. For example, it is possible to block people from copying and pasting from your .PDF or even password protect your document. You can even get an ISBN number if you want to bare the extra costs involved, but such costs are certainly optional.

How do I get started with eBook publishing?

Download, read and comprehend everything inside The eBook Education. Such a path will give you a major head start on building your own eBook publishing empire.