As a content creator, there are multiple reasons why exploring selling digital products is beneficial to you, your brand, and your bank account.
Case-in-point: the ebook.
It doesn’t matter what your content niche is. If you’re an expert in any field, chances are there’s an audience hungry for your knowledge and skills, which means there’s potential to make money selling ebooks.
Read on and learn more about how to sell ebooks online like a pro.
Brainstorm and sell your ebooks with The Leap’s AI assistant. It’s free!Benefits of selling ebooks online
It’s no secret that content creation is a hustle. Sometimes you need to think strategically about how you can increase your income in the spirit of being able to keep doing what you love to do.
When it comes to selling ebooks, you control the content, design, and pricing. One of the best things about ebook creation is that it’s a cost-effective and low-overhead digital product that won’t make you Tetris the heck out of your closet to make space for physical inventory.
So, if you’re looking for ways to increase your brand awareness, revenue streams, and earn passive income, look no further than the ebook. We dive into all the benefits of an ebook below.
Establish brand awareness and spread your knowledge
So you’re an expert on a topic? It’s time to flaunt that knowledge! Nothing feels better than sharing your expertise with the world. Actually, you know what feels even better? Making money from sharing your expertise with the world.
As a content creator, producing and selling ebooks can be a powerhouse tactic to establish brand awareness, flaunt your expertise, and show that you’re an authority in your content niche.
The best part of ebooks is that once your ebook gains traction, it will only boost your brand and credibility further, leading to more opportunities and even more income.
Diversify your income stream
As a content creator, you probably already rely on multiple revenue streams like brand deals, affiliate programs, making UGC for brands, or selling merch online. One of the most significant advantages of producing and selling ebooks online is the opportunity to open up a brand new revenue stream for your creator business.
And not just any revenue stream. By adding ebooks into the mix, you open up the potential for a steady stream of income indefinitely. One of the best things about producing and selling ebooks is that it opens up a revenue stream that isn’t dependent on other people’s timelines, strict contracts, or shipping logistics.
Think of it this way, the more revenue streams you have, the more opportunity you have to make money. It sounds simple, right? It definitely can be! But sometimes, when you’re caught up in the hustle of actually producing and managing content, adding on a whole new revenue stream can feel overwhelming.
Luckily, an ebook only needs to be produced one time, which leads us to our next favorite thing about selling ebooks online — passive income.
Make passive income
As a creator, there are multiple different revenue streams available to you.
If you find yourself thinking about diversifying your cash flow, you should consider spending some time and energy on producing and selling digital products like ebooks. Why? Because an ebook can be a lucrative tactic for generating passive income online, aka regular income made with minimal effort.
For the record, when we say “minimal effort,” we don’t mean you should slack off on your content. What we mean is that you only have to produce your ebook content one time. Yet, once you share it online, you continue to make money from it over and over again.
Ebooks are quickly becoming a popular medium among content creators as a source of passive income, because they generally require little effort to produce, allow you to skip out on all the supply chain chaos, and avoid complicated shipping logistics.
Plus, as a digital product, an ebook presents a diverse range of design elements that a tangible book can’t provide, like clickable links, quizzes, and graphics.
How to create and sell ebooks
- Identify your target audience
- Come up with a topic and research
- Create an outline
- Write your ebook
- Set up your online store
Creating and selling an ebook can be a rewarding and lucrative way to share your expertise, connect with your audience, and establish a new income stream. But to succeed, you’ll need a clear plan from concept to sale. Our step-by-step guide will walk you through the essentials, from identifying your target audience to setting up an online store.
Step one? Define your target audience. Knowing who you’re writing for is crucial—it helps you craft valuable, relevant content that truly speaks to your readers. Your ebook should address your reader’s needs, answer their questions, and provide actionable insights.
With a clear target in mind, you’ll be ready to select a topic, develop an outline, and start writing content that resonates.
Read on to learn how to turn your ideas into an engaging, marketable ebook.
Step 1: Identify your target audience
Before you begin writing, you’ll need to identify and define your target audience because you’ll want to speak directly. When it comes to writing an ebook, it’s not the time to be a generalist.
Rather, the goal of an ebook is to create highly personalized content that provides valuable information to your readers.
You should be thinking: “What does my target audience need?” Or, “What value can I bring to their table?”
If you’re feeling stumped and not 100% sure who your target audience is, start by asking yourself questions like:
- Who is my ideal reader? Think about demographics such as age, gender, location, occupation, and interests.
- What are my reader’s challenges? The goal here is to identify the problems or issues your target audience faces, and how your content can provide solutions.
- How does my reader consume content? Find out which platforms and mediums they prefer. Do they lean towards blogs, social media, videos, podcasts, or newsletters?
- What are my reader’s goals and aspirations? Understanding the goals and desires of your target audience will help you tailor your content to their needs.
- Who are my competitors and how do they target their audience? You don’t want to produce copycat content, but a healthy competitor analysis can help you gain insight into your shared audience.
- What feedback have you received from your current audience? If your audience has already shared valuable insights, can you use their feedback to shape future content?
- What language and tone should you use to connect with your audience? It’ll trip your readers up if you go from casual cool to full-on academic. The tone you use in your ebook should be similar to how you communicate with your audience on other content channels.
By conducting research and asking yourself these questions, you’ll gain a deeper understanding of your target audience’s needs and preferences. The end game here is to produce ebook content that truly connects and resonates with your readers.
Step 2: Come up with a topic and research
If you’re a seasoned content creator, you’ll want to choose a topic for your ebook that’s aligned with your current content.
Think of your ebook as an opportunity to deep dive into a specific topic that you’re super eager to share. If you know your target audience well, chances are you already know what types of challenges they need help with.
If you’re just getting started in the content game, in addition to thinking about who your target audience is, you’ll also want to consider your own business goals. Take the time to meditate on what your content niche is. As long as you have your content foundation figured out, success will follow.
Step 3: Create an outline
The rumors are true — writing a book can be time-consuming. So before you begin writing, consider outlining your content.
Not only will an outline help to keep you on track, but it will also give you a rough idea of how much writing you should dedicate to each section. This is key for keeping a consistent and engaging flow throughout your ebook.
Don’t worry, you don’t have to be a professional writer to know how to do it either. There’s no right or wrong when it comes to outlining content. Just think of it as though you’re mapping out a class syllabus on your topic.
Step 4: Write your ebook
So you have your outline, and now you’re ready to write your ebook. Congrats!
In addition to the actual writing and research involved, you’ll also want to consider certain design elements. We mean things like your ebook cover design, content formatting, typeface, and any images, graphics, or templates that bring added value to your content.
Make sure to use credible sources
You may be an expert on your topic, but you’re not the only one. Readers tend to respond positively to content with details that enhance its credibility.
So, a surefire way of adding value to your content is to include references to experts in whatever content field you’re writing about. This may include resources like recent surveys, expert quotes, diagrams or infographics, etc.
Pro tip: Go the extra mile and interview other experts or content creators in your content niche. Not only does this increase the credibility of your ebook, but it’s also an opportunity to network with and promote other potential collaborators.
Don’t forget to add CTAs
A CTA (also known as a call-to-action) can be a prompt for anything from visiting your web page or social media channels to downloading a specific cookbook recipe or design template.
By adding a CTA (or even multiple CTAs) to your ebook, you’re essentially guiding your readers into taking the next steps that you want them to take.
Ultimately, the main goal of adding a CTA to your ebook is to encourage your readers to take a big step toward another one of your content and/or revenue streams.
Step 5: Set up your online store
Before you set up your online ebook store, you’ll want to research which publishing platform is best for you. A good rule of thumb is to keep an eye out for user-friendly ebook publisher platforms that offer easy uploads, clear terms, royalty options, and fair commission structures for self-published authors. Alternatively, you can sell your ebook on an e-commerce platform that supports digital product sales, such as Etsy.
Once you’ve decided on a platform, you’ll need to prepare your ebook in one of the many preferred ebook formats like PDF, EPUB, MOBI, or AZW.
If you don’t already have a website, it’s a good idea to set one up before you launch your ebook. Even if you decide to sell your ebook on a major publishing platform like Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), you’ll still want to promote your ebook from a dedicated landing page.
Having your own website also offers you the opportunity to showcase and promote your other content as well.
The Leap‘s mobile-optimized link-in-bio storefront makes it easy to start selling your ebooks directly to your audience, right now.
Interested? Try The Leap for free!
Brainstorm and sell your ebooks with The Leap’s AI assistant. It’s free!5 best platforms to sell ebooks
| Platform | Description |
| The Leap | Key features: -Mobile-optimized link-in-bio creator store to sell unlimited products –AI-powered digital product builder for mini-courses, tutorials, guides, and challenges -Automated email marketing Pricing: -100% free! |
| Amazon Kindle Publishing Platform | Key features: -Access to a global audience -Print-on-demand capabilities -Real-time sales tracking and reporting Pricing: -Free with a royalty structure of 35% or 70% |
| Payhip | Key features: -Online store builder and online course builder -Email marketing -Built-in marketing tools including affiliate systems, discount codes, pay-what-you-want-pricing, and more Pricing: –Free plan + 5% transaction fee –Plus plan: $29/month + 2% transaction fee –Pro plan: $99/month + 0% transaction fee |
| Gumroad | Key features: -User-friendly interface -Online storefront builder -Built-in email marketing -Email collection Pricing: -Free with a 10% transaction fee |
| Sellfy | Key features: -Online storefront builder -Built-in email marketing -Sell subscriptions -Built-in sales analytics Pricing: -Starter plan: $19/mont –Business plan: $49/month –Premium plan: $99/month with 0% transaction fees. |
1. The Leap
The Leap is a free, all-in-one creator platform with an AI-powered digital product builder and link-in-bio storefront aimed at content creators and influencers who have knowledge they want to share (and make money from) online.
Essentially, The Leap serves as a content creator’s sidekick (particularly creator educators), helping them to create and sell digital products quickly and easily.
The Leap’s digital product builder is designed to make the process of earning your first dollars as a content creator easier. It is a super user-friendly authoring tool that offers quick and intuitive digital product creation. The Leap’s link-in-bio storefront is mobile-optimized and comes with built-in email marketing automation, so you can do all your business in one place.
Content creators can use The Leap’s tool to easily build engaging digital products or sell their existing products to drive lead generation, earn money — or both! Thanks to The Leap’s Book My Time feature, you can even sell coaching and consulting services.
If you’re a creator looking to create and sell digital products like guides, tutorials, or mini-courses for your audience, then chances are The Leap is the platform for you.
Key features
- Mobile-optimized link-in-bio creator store to sell unlimited products
- Digital product-hosting services
- AI-powered digital product builder for mini-courses, tutorials, guides, and challenges
- Email list builder
- Pre-made email templates to automate tasks like setting up email flows and sending email broadcasts easily
- Book My Time native calendar booking feature for coaching and consulting services
- Audience analytics to track orders and more
- No listing fee or platform transaction fees
- Flexible payment options like buy now / pay later, discount/coupon codes, and one-click payments
- 200 combinations of themes, layouts, and colorways for customized storefronts
- AI assistant to generate mobile-optimized products, product descriptions, and more
Pricing
The Leap’s is 100% free! Try The Leap free today to build your online store and sell your digital products.
Sell ebooks on The Leap with 0% transaction fees.
2. Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing
Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) is one of the most popular platforms for selling ebooks online. As part of Amazon’s robust self-publishing platform, KDP allows creators to reach millions of readers worldwide, making it ideal for authors looking to maximize their audience.
KDP provides an intuitive setup for publishing ebooks, with no upfront costs, allowing creators to publish books in both ebook and paperback formats. Its most standout feature is its global reach, which allows creators to distribute their ebooks to Amazon’s vast marketplace with minimal hassle. The platform also offers creators flexibility in pricing, with the option to set royalty percentages based on the pricing structure they choose.
In terms of earning potential, KDP offers two royalty tiers—35% and 70%—depending on factors like the book’s price, sales region, and inclusion in Kindle Unlimited. This allows creators to optimize pricing and royalties based on their goals and audience reach.
Key Features
- Access to a global audience via Amazon
- Kindle Unlimited inclusion for increased exposure
- Ebook and paperback publishing options
- Print-on-demand capabilities
- Real-time sales tracking and reporting
Pricing
Free to use, with a royalty structure of 35% or 70% depending on your book’s price and eligibility.
3. Payhip
Payhip makes it easy for creators to sell “anything online anywhere.” And that includes ebooks. Beyond ebooks, this all-in-one e-commerce platform supports virtually any digital product you can dream including online courses, music albums, fonts, templates, printables, and beyond.
The platform allows creators to host an unlimited number of digital downloads and provides creators with a powerful online course builder.
Payhip also offers creators a breadth of powerful built-in marketing tools designed to boost sales, increase profits, and grow your business. These include affiliate systems, email marketing, social discounts, pay-what-you-want pricing, and more.
Payhip also provides creators with a plethora of customization options across their storefront and checkout to provide customers with a seamless, totally on-brand experience.
Like many other platforms, Payhip offers a simple, tiered pricing plan (including a free plan!) However, it should be noted that Free and Plus plan users are charged transaction fees (between 5 and 2%) for each sale on top of their monthly fee. If you want to eliminate transaction fees, you’ll have to shell out $99/month for the highest tiered plan .
Key features
- Online store builder with lots of customization
- Unlimited bandwidth and file storage on all plans
- Online course builder
- Sell coaching calls with built-in calendar booking
- Sell subscriptions and memberships
- Built-in email marketing
- Email collection
- Robust built-in marketing tools including affiliate systems, discount codes, pay-what-you-want-pricing, and more
- Content security features including download limits, PDF stamping, and generating license keys
Pricing
Free plan with 5% transaction fee; Plus plan at $29/month plus 2% transaction fee; or Pro plan at $99/month with 0% transaction fees.
4. Gumroad
Gumroad is many creators’ go-to for selling digital products like ebooks. This easy-to-use e-commerce platform allows creators to build their online storefront (no website or domain needed) and sell virtually any kind of digital product.
On Gumroad you can sell ebooks as well as online courses, films, Notion templates, downloadable prints, music albums, and more. Just upload your digital product, set a price, and Gumroad will handle the rest.
The platform allows you to build online courses and access a number of marketing tools including email collection and native email. Gumroad also integrates with Google Analytics and Meta Pixel, so you can track your sales and engagement, and retarget your followers.
When it comes to platforms like Payhip vs Gumroad, the biggest difference is that Gumroad doesn’t charge a monthly fee.
This means it’s technically free to start selling digital products on Gumroad except the platform does take a 10% cut of each sale (and this doesn’t include additional credit card processing or PayPal fees!)
Key features
- User-friendly interface
- Online storefront builder
- Built-in email marketing
- Email collection
- Subscriptions, pre-orders, and payment plans
- Embeddable checkout widget for your own website
- Content security features including unique download links, PDF stamping, purchaser IP tracking, generating license keys for software
- Built-in marketing tools including affiliate programs, and discount codes and coupons
- Built-in analytics tools
Pricing
Free with a 10% transaction fee per sale (plus credit card processing and PayPal fees).
5. Sellfy
In terms of selling your digital products like ebooks, Sellfy makes it pretty easy. This e-commerce platform promises creators that they can “get their store up and running in 5 minutes.” That’s a pretty bold claim. But it holds up — and speaks to Sellfy’s seamless onboarding process and simple website builder.
That’s right, Sellfy allows creators to build their own e-commerce website, easily. It also offers you the option to sell from your social media account, blog, existing website, or anywhere else using “buy now” widgets.
But there’s more: Sellfy allows creators to sell virtually any digital product imaginable, from downloadable prints to ebooks and much, much more. Sellfy’s file-hosting services provide unlimited bandwidth on the amount of items you can sell at once.
Are you new to the digital product game? With its intuitive interface, robust digital product hosting services, and all-inclusive tools, Sellfy is an especially great option for creators who are new to selling digital products.
Key features
- Ecommerce website builder
- Unlimited storage and bandwidth on file hosting
- Built-in email marketing
- Sell subscriptions
- Built-in sales analytics
- Built-in marketing tools like coupon codes, upselling, cart abandonment, and affiliate programs
- Embeddable checkout widgets for your own website
- High-level security including SSL encryption
Pricing
Starter plan at $19/month; Business plan at $49/month; or Premium plan at $99/month with 0% transaction fees.
Start monetizing your knowledge with The Leap!
If you’ve been wondering how to sell an ebook online, hopefully by the end of this article you’re feeling confident and ready to create and sell your very own.
When considering how to sell your ebook, it might seem difficult to choose a platform at first. There are several factors to consider, most importantly your business needs, your audience’s needs, and your budget.
If you’re still feeling stumped, may we make a suggestion?
If you want to create, sell, and promote digital products like ebooks all from one place and in no time at all, then The Leap is the only totally free, all-in-one creator store for you.
In addition to an AI-powered digital product builder and link-in-bio storefront, with The Leap, you also get an email list builder, advanced audience analytics, native calendar booking, and built-in email marketing features. What more do you need to supercharge your online business?
Start selling ebooks today! Try The Leap for free!
Sell ebooks on The Leap with 0% transaction fees.
Best platforms to sell ebooks FAQ
Is selling ebooks profitable?
If you’re wondering how to sell an ebook, just know that self-publishing and selling ebooks can be a goldmine for creators. Due to low production costs and no physical inventory, your profits can soar. Not to mention that you can reach a global audience without having to deal with international shipping hassles.
But let’s be real, to get to the point where you can make a profit from your ebook, you can expect a fair amount of hustle (which no content creator isn’t privy to). Success takes work and when it comes to an ebook, the work is engaging with your audience, building your brand, and staying consistent on social media so you can increase your chances of the most coveted marketing strategy — that word-of-mouth magic.
When it comes to ebooks, the key to success is to find your niche. You want to make your ebook stand out. That means if you provide value and offer solutions, there’s potential for your readers to go from fans to superfans in no time.
It’s not an overnight thing though! So don’t get discouraged if you don’t start raking in the bucks right away. It may be annoying to hear, but patience and persistence do pay off. But, don’t worry.
As your ebook gains traction, your profits will rise.
Brainstorm and sell your ebooks with The Leap’s AI assistant. It’s free!What are the best platforms for making money selling ebooks?
Many creators think the best place to sell ebooks online is Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing, however, there are several other e-commerce platforms super suitable for selling ebooks, like The Leap.
The Leap is not only great for selling ebooks, but also other digital products like online courses, website themes, or templates.
When shopping for your ideal publishing platform to sell your ebook, you’ll want to look closely at the pay structures.
For example, both Amazon and Google have a commission structure built into their services. While not uncommon, this commission structure means that the publishing platform will take a cut of revenue from your ebook sales.
If you’re sick of reading the fine print, try building your link-in-bio storefront on The Leap, which is completely free to use, with no transaction fees!
Create your ebook’s outline in seconds with The Leap’s AI assistant. Try it now!Follow The Leap on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube for more monetization tips for creators. We also make a newsletter.
Further reading
- How To Create an Ebook (For Free)
- How To Make Money Selling Ebooks Online
- How Much Can You Really Make Selling Ebooks?
- How To Sell Digital Products Online: A 6-Step Launch Checklist
- 10 Best Platforms To Sell Digital Products Online
- 15 Profitable Digital Products To Sell Online (+ Real Examples)
This article was originally published February 2025 and was updated March 2025 with new information.
