Sell an ebook
How to sell an ebook: 7 reasons yours isn’t selling (and what to do)
You spent weeks writing your ebook. It’s live, but you can count the sales on one hand. Before you rewrite it, look at how you present it and who sees it. Here are 7 reasons sales are slow, each with something you can change this week.
4 min read
In this article
- 1Your ebook isn’t getting visitors
- 2You only promote it to your followers
- 3Your title should explain the outcome, not just the contents
- 4Your sales page makes people scroll instead of giving them a reason to buy
- 5There’s no proof
- 6The price doesn’t match the promise
- 7You stopped talking about it too soon
- →What to remember about selling an ebook
- ?Frequently asked questions about selling ebooks
1Your ebook isn’t getting visitors
This is the number one reason. Without visitors, even a great ebook won’t sell. If your sales page gets a handful of visits a week, bring more readers to it before changing the price or cover.
What to do: check your traffic before changing anything. If visits are low, start there before working through the rest of this article.
2You only promote it to your followers
Keep showing your ebook to the same people and you’ll run out of new readers. Reach beyond your followers through a complementary business, a newsletter in your niche, or a group where your topic comes up every day.
What to do: list 10 complementary businesses that reach your target readers. Ask one of them to introduce your ebook to their audience.
3Your title should explain the outcome, not just the contents
“The Complete Budget Guide” names a topic. “Get Through the Month Without Overdrafts in 30 Days” gives readers a reason to buy. They’re looking for a result, not a page count.
What to do: rewrite your title around something your reader wants to achieve.
4Your sales page makes people scroll instead of giving them a reason to buy
Do visitors have to scroll through three screens to find out whether the ebook is for them and what it costs? They’ll leave before finding the answer.
What to do: put the essentials at the top. Explain the problem you help solve and the outcome readers can expect, then show the price and purchase button.
5There’s no proof
Without reviews, a sample, or a table of contents, readers are buying blind. If they don’t know what they’ll get, they’ll abandon the purchase.
What to do: give your ebook to 5 people in your target audience and ask for an honest review. If you display their reviews, disclose that they received a free copy. Include a free sample, too.
6The price doesn’t match the promise
A guide with vague contents feels overpriced. A dirt-cheap method that promises to make readers money sounds suspicious. Either way, readers question whether the offer adds up.
What to do: set a price that fits the outcome you promise and what the ebook includes. How to Price Your Ebook walks you through that decision.
7You stopped talking about it too soon
An ebook can keep selling long after launch. One announcement won’t reach all your followers. Keep talking about it after release.
What to do: give readers a fresh reason to look each week. Share an excerpt, answer a reader’s question, or post a review. A before-and-after example works too, if you have a real one to show.
What to remember about selling an ebook
Before rewriting your ebook, make sure people see it. Then work on the title, sales page, proof, and price. Keep promoting it beyond launch day.
Frequently asked questions about selling ebooks
Where can I sell an ebook?
On your own website or a platform that sells digital products. Set up a page where readers can buy in a few clicks, then share its link wherever people can find you.
How long does it take to sell an ebook?
That starts with how many readers you reach. Even a great ebook won’t sell much if nobody sees it.
Do I need a large audience to sell an ebook?
Reaching the right readers matters more. A complementary business, a newsletter in your niche, or Pinterest can help you reach beyond your followers.
Where should I start?
Check your traffic. Make one change, see what happens, then try the next. You can also create your Partn page and add your ebook with its purchase link to introduce it to other audiences in the network.
