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Published my first eBook and made a couple of sales

I'm super excited.

This week I released my first ever eBook, and it's all about creating your eBook and selling and marketing it to the public. It goes from ideas, to writing and from selling on marketplaces and marketing to social media and email lists.

It only took me two years to finally get my arse in gear and focus on writing. I used a free writing tool called WriteNext, which has been fantastic. It allowed me to write distraction-free, and I then transferred that writing over to Google docs.

Once the eBook was complete, I uploaded a PDF to PayHip (similar to Gumroad, but UK based) and shouted about it on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Twitter got the most support and shares, and a day later, I managed to make my first sale. Posting about my first sale sparked a second.

The eBook is also publishing on Draft2Digital which publishes to Amazon, Apple, Rakuten, Barnes & Noble, and many more. You can also use Draft2Digital to convert your eBook to a physical and audiobook, but I think I'll skip that for now. Hopefully, once it's on those marketplaces too, I can make some more sales.

All of this is covered in more detail on my eBook, and you can take a look for yourself here - https://payhip.com/b/REwe

It's small-fry when compared to other Indie Hackers, but I'm super happy, and it's given me the confidence to keep on creating and selling.

  1. 3

    Congratulations bro! First sale is always special :)

  2. 2

    Congratulations @michael brooks. Well done on your first sale!

  3. 2

    I bought it to support you. I'm selling a pdf as well so I know how it goes. I would also consider raising price, but also would consider spicing up the content a little bit. And, not sure, but I saw you have some placeholder for image that you didn't insert yet (or at least that was my impression), so make sure everything is polished.

    Also also, in your payhip description you could write more about benefits for me as a buyer. Yeah, helping me to write an ebook is a pretty general thing. You need to assure me with WHAT you will help exactly. what would make me better after consuming your material.

    Include ToC in description and give a free sample of first x pages. Also, state the number of pages somewhere, didn't see it clear enough.

    all the best!

    1. 2

      Thank you so much for your support and feedback. I honestly thought I removed that placeholder, so I'll remove it asap.

      I'm going to do a second revision and add everything that I've learned from publishing and selling the ebook, it will go into a lot more detail and it will be free for those who already purchased, but cost more for those that haven't.

      I'm never sure what to put in descriptions, but you are right, I need to make it more interesting for potential buyers.

      Again, thank you so much for taking the time to buy and give feedback, it means the absolute world to me right now and I'm glad there's information in there that can help others.

      1. 1

        Also, get rid of those blank pages.
        And, I believe "addition" should be "edition" 🙃

        1. 1

          What blank pages?
          Thank you, I'll change now. If it's easier, could you email me? [email protected]

          1. 1

            I meant blank space, not blank pages. Sorry for the confusion. Think about how to fill it, instead of stretching the content.

            1. 1

              Ah I get you, thank you for the feedback. I'll be making a v2 and add more based on what you've written, you're a star.

  4. 2

    Congratulations! Must be very exciting for you :)

    Might I share some unsolicited advice on pricing?

    1. 1

      Thank you and please do, I'm all in on advice.

      1. 4

        Have you ever wondered why the exact same can of Coca-Cola is sold for $0.29 at Costco (wholesale), $2.50 in a vending machine, and $5.75 at the movie theater?

        How is it that the same amount of liquid can command such a premium in price in one context but not in another? It is because all value is subjective - it only lives in the mind. Some people feel robbed at the movies, others are afraid of looking cheap to their dates and pay up. Some couldn't be bothered to stand in line for 3 hours in the Zoo that is Wholesalers, others would.

        Price, therefore, is a function of value - and value is subjective.

        Now, let's make it tangible. In your own words, you're selling "a book that's all about creating your eBook and selling and marketing it to the public". Most people couldn't care less about creating their own ebook and marketing it - myself included. To my like-minded peers and I, your book is worthless.

        Don't fret just yet.

        To others, however, this book is precisely what they're looking for. It's timely, right on-topic and it may speak volumes to them in a way no other book can at the present moment. Heck, they might even start to see the path to passive income, if only they had your knowledge.

        To these people - your tribe, true fans, whatever you fancy calling them, this book is very valuable, probably far more than your £2 would suggest.

        This creates dissonance. How can you be selling such valuable information for so little, they wonder? It must be bullshit, most conclude.

        Experts of all kinds, but especially creatives ones, don't give away their most valuable product - their thinking - for free or cheaply. They price based on value to their clients.

        So, do the math. How much could I earn if I read your book, applied the concepts and complied fully? £50? £500? £5,000? £50,000? .. £5M?

        It's probably not £50, that's too little one would assume, and it's also probably not £5M, that seems overly optimistic. The answer, I'd bet, is probably in the thousands or tens of thousands, probably. And that "probably" is what you use to price your product.

        If you gave me a golden recipe to earn £5,000/yr selling my book, would it be reasonable to charge a measly £2 in return for such gains? Probably not.

        Don't price your product, price the client.

        1. 1

          That's really helpful, thank you, and I will be upping the price now I've tested the waters and seen that people are enjoying it.

          1. 2

            You are most welcome! Congratulations again, it takes an enormous amount of courage, grit, and patience to accomplish what you're now doing, it's commendable. Wish you all the best.

            1. 2

              I like this thread about value pricing. I'm all for it.
              However, I'm the target market for this ebook as I actually want to create and sell one. But because I don't know anything about the author, and there are no reviews on this book, I actually feel the price is justified. I would actually not pay anything more at this stage if I'm perfectly honest.
              I need more assurance to pay a higher price. This is also in the era when kindle books are regularly being sold for 0.99 for a limited period of time to encourage sales, so I don't believe lowering the price for a while is an issue at least at the beginning.
              Just my two cents. :)

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