I have said it before and I will say it again, there are Alternate Methods for Selling Your Books, that do not have to involve Amazon KDP. I am just saying you will need to decide for yourself how you would like to reach your readers and how much work you are willing to put in to gain more control and, ultimately, a higher percentage of the profits. Now that I think about it this subject will make a great addition to my next non-fiction book so you will be getting highlights in this article.
If you wish to take complete control of your book in all formats the best way is to create an online store (eCommerce) on your own website. If you have a WordPress site you can use the FREE Plugin called WooCommerce. They do not charge a fee per item sold. You just need a way to process credit cards and they charge a percentage of sales. This option also allows you to set up QR Codes to sell directly to customer at all the book selling events you attend. The app is available for download on your smartphone.
If you would rather pay a relatively small fee and have an online store already set up for you then I recommend trying Shopify. Yes, you will need to pay a monthly fee. With the monthly fee Shopify does not charge you a transaction or per item sold fee.
There are two options for Shopify
- One is the $39/month all-in-one store (if you can, to save money, purchase a yearly subscription) and connect your account to either STRIPE (credit card processing) and/or PayPal. As an added benefit, Shopify, has apps that you can download directly on your phone for in-person sales as well as the ability to copy and paste the shop onto your website page. Nice added bonus there. And you will be able to list the physical books as well as the eBooks
- There is an other shop option is strictly for digital download files such as ePub and PDF that is $5/month plus the fee for whichever app will send out secure links for the downloads. Shopify does not have that ability but there are several choices you can pursue. I recommend using the FileMonk app they only charge $10/month for up to 1000 monthly downloads.
https://ljgreens-emporium.myshopify.com/products/i-am-the-writer-heart-embroidered-patches
https://southern-dragon-publishing.myshopify.com/products/a-quick-review-of-fiction-book-marketing
Finally, You can apply for a shop on Facebook which is linked to Instagram or the new TikTok Shop. Facebook has recently changed their policies about selling through your Author Page. I have my connected through my website and it feeds the products to Facebook and then if anyone wishes to purchase they are directed to my own website. Beginning in 2024 everyone must have the payment processing for sales directly on Facebook or Instagram. That way they can charge a fee for each item sold.
TikTop Shop is very new. You can create items for sale just like on Facebook. They will take a percentage of sales instead of charging a monthly fee. Currently, they are running a lot of different specials to get people to purchase products on their platform including percentages off the first order and free shipping. These they are not supposed to be taking away from the sellers though. Which is a nice bonus. Yes, you can upload products and descriptions from your computer. You can even process the orders for delivers but the platform encourages shoppers and sellers to use their apps on your smartphones.
There is another platform you can use called Square or as it use to be known as Square-Up. The affordable credit card processing app for online and in person sales. They have been offering free eCommerce sites for years. The current iteration has changed and I haven’t done a lot of research on it yet. I d0 use them for my Consulting Business as they have a free online calendar connected with online invoicing for services. But that is another story.
https://jbm-home-office.square.site/
Some Final Thoughts
You will make more money on your eBooks and your paperback/hardback books if you sell them on your own storefront or in person. Check out the video called “Authors Math” for comparisons. I give all of my fellow authors a FREE initial consultation service on Zoom. All you have to do is visit the Schedule page and sign-up for a day and time that works for you.
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