First, how do I sell books on Amazon

Amazon.com has a feature called Amazon Marketplace. This service lets you sell your used books, CDs, DVDs, etc. just by listing their code number (ISBN number for books, etc.) Listings can literally be completed in a minute or less for each item you sell. It does take a few minutes to set up a selling account but there is no charge for doing so. In fact the only time you incur a charge is when something actually sells.

There is one small negative to this approach. It only works with products that have a code number. So if you have antique books or other items without a code number, you will need to set up an amazon shop. There is a monthly fee for setting up a shop but the fees that amazon charges are much less in this method of selling than the direct selling method in the prior paragraph. So if you become a volume seller it is probably worth the investment in getting an amazon shop as the investment will quickly be paid for by the savings in fees.

Second, decide your interest level (i.e. just list books or get a store)

The next step is to decide your interest level. It is going to be a casual thing or will you be treating it as a serious business.

Lets say you were just cleaning house and wanted to make a bit of money on some books or CDs you have. In this instance, it doesn’t make sense to set up an amazon shop as you won’t earn enough to justify the monthly investment in keeping your shop running. But lets say your passion was yard sales and bargain hunting and you knew that every week you could find and list hundreds of books, CDs, DVDs, etc. In this case getting an amazon shop would be a wise investment.

Basically amazon is structured to satisfy anyone’s selling needs and they have a variety of simple tools that will help you achieve your selling goals in a quick, cost effective and efficient manner.

Third, these are the types of books you should not be selling

Selling used books is not an obvious thing to do. Common sense would say that bestsellers are the best kind of book to offer because they have sold millions of copies. But it is their very popularity that makes them poor books to sell. If you do a search on amazon for a bestseller, you will find that many people are selling their used copies, many times for under $1.00. With millions of copies out there, the market is glutted. This is true for any type of bestseller – fiction or nonfiction. Other books types you want to avoid are biographies, cookbooks and political books. And of course books like encyclopedias, readers digest condensed books, dictionaries, etc. are also terrible for resale. Oh, and also avoid old library books. There is nothing wrong with them per se but they will be slow sellers because of the markings the library puts on the books.

The only exception to this rule would be signed first editions. If you find a signed first edition, it will retain value and possibly be worth more than the published price depending on who the author is.

Books you should be looking for are books about specific nonfiction. subjects. (In other words, avoid all fiction books.) For instance, books about cars, boats, playing tennis, collecting coins, herbal medicine, business (as long as they are not best sellers), real estate, gardening, etc. are all excellent books and have a very high prospect of selling for a very high price when compared to a bestseller. I will typically get 50-75% of the cover price selling these types of books on amazon.com.

One other thing to note when choosing books to sell. Try to find books that are in perfect or near perfect condition. These books will have their dust jacket if hard cover. The spine will not be broken. They will not be filled with writing. People know they are buying used books when buying from you but they want a book that is nice and presentable, not one that is falling apart.

Where can you find used books for sale?

Used books are everywhere but your goal is to get them as cheaply as possible – preferably for $1 or less. Places I regularly check include yard sales, flea markets, thrift shops and libraries. Libraries often have used books donated to them that they just put right on the sales table. I think the people who donate them think they will end up on the shelves of the library but they never do. Estate sales and auctions can also provide opportunities to buy books. And keep your eyes open. You never know when you might run into a buying opportunity.

Will all the books sell?

No matter how carefully you pick your books, you will end up with some that just don’t sell or are just very slow in selling. This is normal. Chances are good that the book will eventually sell but it could take several months. And if you purchase your used books cheaply enough, the carrying cost of the books that sell will be small. I find that if I list a random selection of 100 books, about 25% of them will sell each month. That means that after 4-5 months, I can pretty much assume that all the books that will sell have actually sold and I may be left with 5-10 books that for whatever reason had no buyers.

E-books have no overhead so you could sell over 10,000 books and all the revenue you generate is pure profit! It’s nothing less than amazing – selling something which costs you nothing!

E-books with Resale Rights

E-books with resale rights are an excellent source of income. You can buy or acquire an e-book for free, there are a lot of websites that have promotions for free e-books, try doing a Google Search for free e-books, some sites will have whole sections for free, also try signing up for site news letters that offer you free e-books as a joining incentive (we will look at news letter generators later.) When you have your e-books you can sell them to others for 100% profit, that is the beauty of resale rights and digital products you can reproduce your stock as many times as you like for free (no overheads.)

A good step forward to generating profits is to own your own e-book website. Better still is having your own e-book website with your own written books available to buy. Writing and selling your own e-books is paramount to a successful e-book business. If you can think of a good idea for an e-book then do it! Sell it on after all you may be on for a winner and sell thousands.

If you look on e-bay now you will find e-books everywhere and because most of these have resale rights these books are being sold by more than one person. Most e-books are being sold by quite a few people you may notice that sellers are selling some e-books with the same titles. Someone wrote these books and every e-book sold is a link to the author whoever sells the e-book. These e-books are not just on eBay I have also seen them all over the internet. The beauty of it all is that this e-book links back to one place and one place only the authors links, so everyone that reads this e-book will be taken to a website/sales page where ultimately more sales are generated.

Writing your own e-book does take a little time and effort, however the results are well worth it for obvious reasons, links and money. First of all start with a simple word document like this one, write your e-book on your chosen subject then use a software converter. You can convert a word document into either.exe or PDF. Opinions vary on the format but I prefer PDF.

As I have explained writing your own e-book and having your own e-book website is a major step up the Internet marketing ladder. You can write an e-book on any subject you like because there is always someone who will read it, of course some topics sell better than others but once the e-book is written and has been sold it will be sold again and again (viral marketing) by others who wish to make a profit from selling e-books. This is where your website hyperlinks come into play! If you assume that your written e-book is being sold by 100 people/websites around the world and each of these people/websites has 10 sales a day that’s another 1000 e-books sold per day that link back to your website. These links back to your website happen because in the contents of your e-book is a hyperlink to your website and if you advertise your link as something like “FREE E-BOOKS” the reader of your e-book will click on your link which will lead to more traffic and more sales from your website. The process then starts all over again because you have just sold an e-book which links back to your website, this also gives the buyer the opportunity to resell the e-book they have just purchased to others to make a return profit or give the e-book away. Whoever receives the e-book also clicks on the free e-books hyperlinks which links back to you website. So eventually the e-books you do sell will spread like a virus and will be passed from person to person and website to website all over the world.

Oh, that most maddening of documents! For so many of us eager to move forward with our nonfiction projects, it looms large like a guard at the queen’s castle, blocking the path to publication. Its perfection eludes us yet it stands there teasing, “Complete me, or your manuscript will never see the light of day, mwahahahaha!”

In truth, that’s a lie. Every author has the option of self-publishing. However, there are advantages to writing a book proposal instead of a whole book.

One advantage is that it usually takes less time than writing a whole book. Two, it creates the possibility of getting paid to write your book, perhaps just a few thousand dollars, perhaps tens or even hundreds of thousands. Three, it forces you to get clear about what you’re doing with your book, on a number of levels.

Even if you want to self-publish, a book proposal serves as a sort of business plan for your book. The time and energy spent on research, evaluation and comparison of your ideas at the outset pays off down the line many times over. After all, wouldn’t you rather find out now that someone else has said similar things more eloquently and have a chance to amend your manuscript, than publish the darn thing only to read terrible–or worse–no reviews?

The process of polishing your book proposal is also an exercise in discipline and focus. It brings the purpose of your book, its scope, depth and message into sharp relief. It will get your thinking muscles into the best shape ever to produce the most marketable book of which you are capable. However, you must dedicate the necessary time and energy to educate yourself, move through multiple drafts and polish this behemoth of a document to perfection, or else hire someone who knows how to do just that.

Here are some answers to questions you may be asking right now:

What is a book proposal?

A book proposal is a document intended to sell a publishing staff on publishing a particular nonfiction book. It is the way most nonfiction books get published by major publishers. It reads very much like a business plan about the book proposed. It can be anywhere from 10-100 double-spaced, 12-point 8 1/2 X 11 pages–most are 20-60 pages, including sample chapters. It generally uses a very specific format and specialized language to make its case.

What does the book proposal do?

It answers a series of typical questions that different departments of book publishing companies need answered when deciding which tiny handful of proposals, out of hundreds, to take a chance on. It acts on your and your book’s behalf to answer questions like, Why this book over all the others in its class? Why now? Why this author?

Who sees my book proposal first, an agent or a publisher?

It depends on whether you choose to have an agent represent you, or go directly to publishers. Many publishers will not accept unagented material, so make sure you check a given publisher’s guidelines first.

What does the book proposal contain?
Generally, a book proposal contains a cover sheet, table of contents, along with the following sections: overview, author bio, author’s marketing plan, market analysis of buyers, comparative and/or competing books, outline, sample chapters.

The overview contains a hook, or means of enticement, draws the editor in, and gives a general summary of the book’s purpose. It’s sort of like an article about the book. It should make you want to read the whole thing!

The author bio puts any and all of your experience related to writing the book, in its best light. It’s different from a resume or CV. It looks a lot like the “about the author” blurbs you see in the back of published books, below the author’s photo.

The author’s marketing plan, or “what the author will do to promote the book,” shows the publisher that you know what it takes to sell your book, and details how you plan to do it. These days, ironically, publishers don’t put much money into publicity, unless you’re already famous. An author with a well-thought-out marketing plan will stand out from most of the others who pay far less attention to this section, thinking instead that the publisher will take care of it.

The complementary and competing books section identifies and describes books that both directly compete with and also that complement the proposed book. The purpose of this section is to show the editors what has been done before, and how your book fits in. The reason for this section is twofold: One, many editors are too busy to keep up-to-the-minute records of what’s being done in every field, and so rely on the author to educate them about what else is out there. Two, just as many editors know exactly what’s out there, and want to know how your work purports to compare.

There’s a paradox here: On the one hand, you want to point to X, Y and Z books as evidence that this topic you’re writing on is really hot. On the other hand, you want to make a strong case that yet another book–namely yours–is still necessary, and why. So you have to point out strongly yet tactfully–you never know what relationship the person reading your proposal bears to your competition– what yours will do that others haven’t.

The market analysis makes the case for the size of the book’s audience. It usually covers a broad view of current interests and buying patterns in the larger culture that bode favorably for the book. It may include recent movies, documentaries on television, facts about memberships in organizations or clubs, social or ethnic groups whose constituents would be likely buyers of the book. For example, a book with an exercise theme might cite the circulation of major fitness magazines, membership in health clubs or recent TV shows on related topics. This approach can be adapted to whatever the subject: parenting, cancer, gardening, dogs, mental illness, business, or entrepreneurship.

What’s the Best Path to Publish Your Book?

Your print or ebook is soon to be finished. You wonder if you should try to get an agent to represent you to the publisher. Maybe you’ve already sent out your query letter to some agents. You dream “how great it would be to be taken under a publisher’s wings.”

What’s wrong with this picture? Even if an agent has given you the go and asks for a book proposal that has specific marketing information in (it takes three-seven months to write), you still have to face reality.

FACT: Like Oprah, publishers and agents choose only 1-2% of proposals submitted.

Let’s say for now, you are chosen. The point is, are you fortunate to be chosen?

Are you willing to wait on the traditional publishing process 2 years? Are you willing to accept around 2-5% of the profits? Do you realize that after a few months of one initial book tour (of which you must pay all costs from your book sales), you are on your own? And, if you don’t put a lot of time into promotion, your book will fade away within 2 months from the brick and mortar book store shelves. All unsold and coffee-stained books left will be returned, and the cost is deducted from the author’s royalties. Unless you are a favored celebrity or famous author, publishers put little time or money into your book’s promotion. Without that benefit, why go this way?

Get the Right Help the Right Way

Who says you can’t publish your own book? It will certainly cost you less than you imagine, under $1000 for a print version and close to nothing for your eBook. Self-publishing will bring you all the profits. It will put you in charge to make suitable and favorable writing, publishing, and promotion decisions.

With a little help from professionals! These entrepreneurial experts such as book coaches, book designers, and eBook specialists can guide you through publishing success. These people may give teleseminars, small group coaching experiences, and other inexpensive ways to learn the ropes. These pros will shorten your learning curve too, so you get the right help right away to write the right book right away.

When you think you still have to promote your books, even with a publisher, why not keep most of the profits and do some of the work yourself? Learn from your bookcoach’s experiences, “Do What You Do Best -and Hire the Rest!” (That doesn’t mean you can’t barter for services). Check out the methods below and see which one suits you best, is more rewarding, and far more profitable.

Why Self-Publishing?

You can self-publish your print or eBook.

In self-publishing, you are the boss. You get to choose the cover, the style, the layout, the message, even the format (eBook or Print Book). Since you are the one enthused about it, you will be able to capitalize and can promote far better than many publishers.

In self-publishing, who do you think can sell your book the best? You, the passionate author in love with his or her book, or the rookie publisher’s employee in charge of publicizing your book?

On Demand Book Printing (POD)

1. Hire the Publisher/Printer yourself to just print your book from your word file. POD companies like Deharts.com do short runs from 1 – 2500 books. They will put your files into Portable Document Format (PDF) to sell on your web site or another site you choose to sell your books. A complete explanation of these opportunities are included in the How to Write your eBook or Other Short Book–Fast!

Referred to as POD, many companies who say they are POD Publishers are really printers. With a company like Deharts, you keep all of your book’s rights. This method helps you make much more profit from your effort and you will get your book out to the buyers so much faster, making faster profits. The turnaround is around 6-8 weeks ( instead of the traditional publisher’s two years) so it pays to plan ahead. A $15 book may cost $4-$5 to print for a small run of around $100 . Your book coach recommends you print only what you can sell in three-four months. These you can sell at the back of the room or on your own web site and make $11 each book. When you order 500 books, the price drastically drops and your profit rises.

2. Hire Full-Service Print on Demand Publisher/Printers who each charge you an up front fee to set up. They too take your word files and put into Portable Document Format.

The upside of this choice? Some will list you with Ingraham, one of the largest book distributors in the U.S., linked to most bookstores. For a fee from $750-$1000, these companies will give you an ISBN number if you plan to sell your book on someone else’s web site. They will offer your book at their site among the other 25,000 titles. They may list you in BooksinPrint.com, and some will format your book.

The downside? Check to see if you need these services. You don’t need an ISBN # if you sell from your own web site. You probably won’t sell your book in a brick and mortar book store. (because it’s not where your audience goes for you book’s topic-They go online to buy) Think about your book and where your best market is. Opinions from Dan Poynter, John Kremer, and myself say, “Bookstores are a lousy place to sell books.” Walk ins are not looking for an unknown author’s book.

Be aware these sites list books, but don’t promote or market them. They give you a 100 words description. That’s usually not enough to show you the reasons to buy this book. Your coach recommends you write a sales letter for your site, and a shorter one for email promotion. If copy on their site doesn’t sell your book, you could have taken that money to be listed there to make your own one-page book web site you can get designed by a pro for around $500. Then, you can get targeted free traffic to your web site with advanced article marketing and use social media like facebook and twitter to partner with.

The biggest down of these printers/publishers is you don’t have any control over your book. Here, you must buy back each book from the printer/publisher at a wholesale price–almost half of what you will sell it for. So, your profits are limited.