How to Make a Living With Your Writing: Sell direct to your audience
If you own and control your intellectual property rights, you can sell direct to your audience in multiple formats, as well as distributing your books through all the established vendors.
As Orna Ross says on the Alliance of Independent Authors’ blog, selling direct “is the most important trend emerging for authors. Increased author confidence is coming together with other favorable conditions and consumer trends to make this possible now in a way that it wasn’t before. The rise in the Maker Movement, in personal branding, in mindful consumption, in mobile phone sales and in new technologies are all pointing in this direction.”
Benefits of selling direct
You receive a higher royalty on selling direct, usually 80-90% even after factoring in platform costs and bank fees. You also receive income in your bank or PayPal account within hours of payment, sometimes within minutes, compared to months or even years through publishing in other ways.
Some readers want to support authors and independent creators and understand that buying direct helps financially.
You can also reach readers across the world who might not have access to purchase on the other platforms, or those who don’t want to transact on certain sites for ethical reasons.
When selling on existing platforms, you never know who buys your book. If you sell direct, you know who the reader is, although of course, you need to comply with anti-spam and data protection regulations like GDPR. You can integrate the platforms with your email service and market to readers directly without relying on the distributors.
You can also market to existing readers without having to rely on advertising, which eats into profits on the vendor platforms. As long as you have an email list, you can reach readers with an offer.
Selling direct is a great way to make income quickly by offering value to your audience. In the early days of the pandemic in 2020, anxiety was high, the stock market crashed, and we were all worried about making money in increasingly tough times. I emailed my list with a discounted offer to buy direct and made several thousand dollars within 24 hours, money that really helped in those first difficult months when everything felt out of control.
How to sell ebooks and audiobooks direct
There are different digital solutions for selling ebooks and audiobooks online, but make sure you investigate how they handle digital taxes. The EU has specific (painful) digital tax rules, and increasingly, other jurisdictions are adding them too.
I use Payhip to sell my ebooks and audiobooks, which integrates with Bookfunnel for delivery, as well as integrating with Stripe and PayPal for payment. Payhip manages EU digital taxes, enables promotional coupons and other marketing options. Bookfunnel delivers the ebook to the reader’s preferred device and to the Bookfunnel app for audio. They also manage customer service and help readers to access the book if they have trouble.
For more detail, check out my tutorial at TheCreativePenn.com/selldirecttutorial
I also use AuthorsDirect through Findaway Voices for audio, although this is only available in specific territories at the time of writing.
Other options include WooCommerce, SELZ, Gumroad, Shopify, eJunkie, and Fastspring. Remember to check the tax options as you investigate further. The Alliance of Independent Authors has more details in The Ultimate Guide to Selling Books on your Author Website.
Downloadable PDFs
You can also sell downloadable PDFs, for example, white papers, guides, resources, handbooks, designs, patterns, recipes, and other material.
If you sell these on the book distribution sites, you’re constrained by their existing pricing model where ebooks are usually 99c - $14.99. If you sell direct, you can set a higher price point. If people want your information and it’s useful, they will pay more for the download.
Sell print books direct
Many authors sell print books at conferences, conventions, workshops, readings, speaking events, or even local markets. You can purchase your books in bulk from your publisher or buy from Ingram Spark or other printers, then sell for a profit.
You can also sell print books directly to readers from your website or sites like Etsy or eBay, but most authors only do this for a small volume of signed copies for super fans or as a marketing activity. You have to manage stock, storage, and shipping so it can be expensive and time-consuming.
If you want to sell print directly, you can use something as simple as a PayPal button on your website. You can also use Payhip and some other digital options for physical products, or more extensive solutions with options for drop shipping through Shopify.
Adventure travel author Alastair Humphreys uses the WooCommerce plugin on his website, and social enterprise EnabledWorks.co.uk for storage and fulfillment.
If you publish print books through Ingram Spark, you can also use Aer.io to create an online store for your print-on-demand books, or use Bookshop.org for a curated bookshelf of your books. Both of these services are territory-specific.
Should you sell direct?
Even though you can make higher royalties selling direct, there are monthly fees for each of the services, so you need to make a certain amount per month to cover those costs. If you’re a new author with just a couple of books and no email list, it won’t be worth it until you’ve grown your backlist and your audience.
If you care about ranking on the online stores, then selling direct is not for you either. No one sees your direct sales and they don’t count toward any bestseller lists.
If you’re more established with a number of books that you have the rights to distribute, and an email list to reach people with your promotions, and you care more about money in your bank account than ranking, then selling direct might be worth doing. Only you can assess the potential for your situation.
How can you sell more books through direct channels?
I mainly sell books direct by telling my audience about it, as I am doing here in my books and on my podcast. Link to buy direct from your book pages, and offer discounts for readers to buy direct on your email list and through your books.
If you want to try the process as a customer, you can download Successful Self-Publishing for free in ebook and audiobook format at Payhip.com/thecreativepenn
You can also use coupon: LIVING to get 25% off any of my ebooks and audiobooks. If the process is unclear, check out TheCreativePenn.com/payhip-coupon
Questions:
• What are the benefits of selling direct, both for the customer and for you?
• How could you sell direct from your website?
• What do you need to have in place to make this worthwhile? If you’re not at that point yet, how can you move in that direction?
Resources:
• Payhip for selling ebooks and audiobooks direct — www.TheCreativePenn.com/payhip
• Buy ebooks and audiobooks directly from me — www.Payhip.com/thecreativepenn
• Process of using a Payhip coupon — www.TheCreativePenn.com/payhip-coupon
• Bookfunnel for delivery of ebooks and audiobooks — www.TheCreativePenn.com/bookfunnel
• My tutorial on selling ebooks and audiobooks direct with Payhip and Bookfunnel — www.TheCreativePenn.com/selldirecttutorial
• The Ultimate Guide to Selling Books on your Author Website by the Alliance of Independent Authors — SelfPublishingAdvice.org/selling-books-on-your-author-website
