| Selling books is fun, and many people earn a living | | | | with an idea, research it, and then get your book |
| doing it online. I have had some success with all of | | | | down on paper--or "on screen" in this case. |
| the following. | | | | Once you've created your ebook, you must gain |
| 1. Link to books on Amazon and receive commissions | | | | your prospective buyers' attention and persuade |
| If you have a web site, you can make money by | | | | them to purchase. This usually involves crafting and |
| linking from your pages to books and other items on | | | | posting a good sales letter that will make people |
| You make money when someone clicks through | | | | eager to whip out their credit cards. |
| from your link and makes a purchase on Amazon, | | | | 4. Republish books that are in the public domain |
| which will pay you a commission. | | | | Did you know that there are thousands and |
| You don't actually handle any books with this method. | | | | thousands of books and other printed works whose |
| You just send people over to Amazon and collect a | | | | copyrights have expired? This means that anyone is |
| reward when they buy something. | | | | free to republish them, in any form. |
| You can link to any book on Amazon, but you should | | | | In the United States, most books published prior to |
| try to link to books related to the theme of your | | | | 1923 are considered to be in the public domain ("PD"). |
| site. | | | | If you find a public domain book that you think would |
| For more information and to sign up, go to Amazon | | | | sell well if it were republished, you could reprint it as a |
| and look for a link to the "Associates Program." | | | | physical book. Or, you could publish it as an ebook |
| 2. Sell used books on Amazon and eBay | | | | and make it available for download, for a price. |
| Some people make a full-time living with this. | | | | Yet another method of "repurposing" PD books is to |
| First, find used books that you can buy inexpensively. | | | | make them freely available on a web site, and then |
| Try thrift stores, yard sales, and your local library's | | | | put advertising on their pages. I recommend a |
| annual book sale. | | | | combination of Google AdSense and affiliate |
| Next, list your book finds on Amazon. You should be | | | | merchant ads (from sources such as Commission |
| able to sell them there for at least four or five times | | | | Junction). |
| what you paid for them. | | | | To make use of this idea, you must of course find |
| You can also sell books on eBay, but in my | | | | some PD works that you can republish and make |
| experience, it is better to use eBay only for | | | | money from. Several guides, and even a |
| collectible and rare books. | | | | web-browser tool, have been published that can |
| You will be responsible for packing and shipping the | | | | point you to a treasure trove of such works that are |
| books you sell. Try to set up an efficient system for | | | | free for the taking. |
| packing your books, weighing the packages, applying | | | | 5. Sell individual pages from books |
| labels and postage and making trips to the post | | | | This sounds like an odd way to make money, but it |
| office. | | | | works. |
| You will also need to learn how to grade the | | | | You can often make more money by tearing a book |
| conditions of your books so you can describe them | | | | apart and selling the individual pages than you can by |
| accurately to potential purchasers. | | | | selling the intact book. |
| 3. Write and sell ebooks | | | | The basic idea is, you scour old books and magazines |
| Probably more people have made major money with | | | | for pictures, maps or advertisements that you can |
| this idea than with any of the others described here. | | | | remove and offer for sale on eBay. |
| Write a book on a hot topic, convert it to a PDF file | | | | To be successful, you must learn which subjects sell |
| and offer it for sale over the web. "How-to" is by far | | | | well. For the right subject, people will go wild bidding |
| the most popular and best-selling subject category. | | | | for one page from a book that you might have paid |
| Because your buyers download your ebook directly | | | | only $2 or $3 for. Imagine the money you could |
| to their computers, you avoid most of the expenses | | | | make if that book has 10, 20 or 30 saleable pages in |
| associated with traditional book publishing. Most of | | | | it! |
| the money you take in will be pure profit. | | | | Only a handful of people are using this method, and |
| Of course, you must first write the book or | | | | they're raking in the cash. In my opinion it's still a |
| "information product." There are a number of | | | | wide-open niche, with plenty of room for others to |
| excellent guides available that show how to come up | | | | get in on it. |