How to sell ebooks online: From choosing a niche to publishing your book

Ready to sell ebooks online? Follow this guide to pick your niche, publish fast, and start making money with proven marketing tips.

Tech never slows down. Every so often, a breakthrough comes along and transforms whole industries.

Ebooks are one of those game-changers—shaking up the traditional print industry and redefining how we read.

So what’s fueling the shift? And more importantly, are ebooks actually worth selling?

This guide breaks it down. You’ll see why ebooks are still a powerful play, plus get a step-by-step game plan for creating and selling your own online.

Why sell ebooks online? Traditional vs. online publishing

The ebook market opportunity has never been stronger. Valued at $17.16 billion in 2024 and growing at 4.78%-7.10% annually, digital books represent one of the most accessible entry points for creators looking to monetize their expertise.

One of the biggest wins with ebooks is accessibility. Everyone’s glued to their phone, and every phone can double as an e-reader with the right app.

That means you don’t need to rely on niche devices like Kindles or Nooks. Smartphones and tablets already cover the market.

And the market is massive. People carry their devices everywhere, which makes ebooks way easier to access than a stack of hardcovers.

Sure, flipping through an old-school book has its charm, but the convenience of pulling up a title instantly on your phone is tough to beat.

Then there’s cost. Printing, paper, and distribution vanish completely when you choose ebook. You still need to write your book (and maybe hire a designer for a killer cover), but once it’s done, creating new copies is literally free.

No stock management. No shipping. Just instant delivery to your readers.

All of that means ebooks can be priced lower than traditional books—which usually helps sales—while still leaving you with a bigger margin.

Here’s the quick breakdown of ebooks vs. traditional publishing:

How to sell ebooks online in 5 steps

1. Write your ebook✍

Easier said than done, but step one is obvious: you need something to sell. If you’ve already got a manuscript, skip ahead. If not, here’s your crash course.

Pick your niche

Your niche is everything—it determines the length of your ebook, how you write it, how you market it, even how you price it.

Some authors already know what lane they’re in. Others need to explore. If you’re unsure, look at where your skills and interests overlap with market demand.

AI tools can speed this up—use them to scan trends, analyze competitor ebooks, or brainstorm topic angles you may not have considered.

Structure your ebook

Whether you’re a “planner” or a “freestyler,” having at least a loose structure will save you time and get your book to market faster.

Outlines make it easier to stay on track—and tools like AI can help here, too. You can feed in your niche and get sample outlines, chapter breakdowns, or even prompts to kickstart your writing.

Just remember: AI is great for scaffolding, but your expertise and voice need to fill in the details.

Write and refine

This is where the hard work happens. Don’t overthink every sentence—focus on getting your ideas down.

If you’re stuck, AI writing assistants can help you draft sections, rephrase clunky parts, or spark new ways to explain a concept.

Edit your draft

Once you’ve got a working draft, editing is non-negotiable. Start with built-in spellcheck, then run it through premium editing tools or AI grammar checkers to catch errors and tighten sentences.

That said, AI won’t replace a good human edit. Hiring a freelancer or professional editor (and even letting trusted friends read through) will catch what software misses and make sure your book still sounds like you.

Design your cover

People judge books by their covers—period. If design isn’t your thing, you can hire a pro. The research you did earlier on your niche will guide what type of cover resonates with readers.

2. Price your ebook💲

You’d think pricing an ebook would be simple—but it’s actually one of the trickiest parts. With traditional publishing, there’s a baseline: printing and production costs. You add a margin, and that’s your price.

Ebooks are different. Once you’ve created the file, the cost to produce the next copy is basically zero.

Sell one or sell a million—it doesn’t change your expenses. That means pricing isn’t about covering costs, it’s about strategy.

Research is your starting point

Your niche, your audience, and your positioning will shape what you can charge. A general-interest ebook might land in the $2.99–$9.99 range, while highly specialized knowledge or insider info can command premium prices.

Factor in your reputation

If you already have credibility in your space—or you’re delivering something hyper-specific—you can price higher than the average. Readers pay for expertise and authority.

Pay attention to your sale platform

Where you sell also shapes your pricing. Platforms like Amazon Kindle heavily reward the $9.99 price point with higher royalty percentages, which often means you earn more at that “sweet spot” than if you doubled the price.

If you’re selling directly through Whop, you keep more control and flexibility to experiment with bundles, upsells, or membership perks.

3. Choose a sales platform💻

Pricing isn’t the only reason to take the selection of a sales platform seriously, even though it is a big one. Some platforms, such as Amazon Kindle, can give you lots of exposure and far more sales than if you choose to self-promote and distribute yourself. 

That being said, listing your ebook on a sales platform like Kindle can be really complicated, so it’s worth taking the time to understand how they work—and especially how things like royalties function.

Some of these major platforms are heavily biased toward cheaper priced ebooks, so if you’ve got a highly specialized, premium product, you’ll need to look elsewhere.

Selling your ebook on your own website is a great idea, and there are plenty of ebook sales platforms to choose from.

Whop is the best place to sell ebooks. Simply create your whop, upload your ebook, and sell it through once-off payments, as a bundle, as part of a community or as an add-on.

4. Market your ebook🗣

Even with a fantastic, fairly priced ebook now listed on a top sales platform like

Whop, your job is far from done—and in fact, you may not be seeing very many sales at all even with these boxes ticked because you still need to get your ebook to the eyes and into the consciousness of your consumers.

Jeremie Lander (in the video above) is a three-times published author. He markets his ebooks on social media, saying:

When it comes to marketing ebooks I do organic sales — meaning I don't run ads, I don't have any paid advertisement, I just use my following on social media whether it be YouTube, TikTok and Instagram, to drive sales directly to these books.

Use social media

Even if you’re not a big user of social media services like Twitter/X, they can be extremely valuable for building awareness about your book. You shouldn’t hesitate in being aggressive with your social media in promoting your book, and building an audience is a good idea even prior to launch.

It’s also a great idea to set up social media accounts as an author to differentiate the content there from whatever your personal accounts have—your friends and family will still give you a few follows on your author profile if they want to get involved, and your own network is always a great starting point.

Try selling ebooks through TikTok and Instagram. You could even look into influencer marketing to build hype for your ebook!

Know your niche

When you research your niche, you need to make a note of the different sources of influence in the area. Authors used to (and still do) get on TV to promote their books, but it’s a whole lot easier–and cheaper–to go the social media and content route.

Link up with YouTube channels in your niche, do AMA’s on niche-related subreddits, write guest posts for blogs that have a following in that genre—this’ll get your name, and that of your book, to the right audience. 

Build an email list

Especially in the lead-up to launch, an email list can help you communicate with the people most likely to buy your ebook—and purchase any other content you have to offer, too!

It’s a good idea to have an email list (and a website or landing page where people can subscribe to your email newsletter) handy when you’re doing social media or content marketing, too.

Use affiliates

Affiliate marketing is an extremely powerful tool because it allows influencers to cross-pollinate. Why not give people with their audience a small cut of your sales for access to said audience?

You can really ramp up your sales this way, and paying up to 50% commission is fine because you wouldn’t have seen those sales otherwise.

Keep marketing post-launch

You can keep scoring sales months or years after you launch your eBook so it’s worth doing on principle, but with one ebook under your belt, are you going to stop there?

The email lists, the affiliates, the contacts, the social media presence and reputation you now have are a ready-made springboard for you to launch your next ebook.

5. Start selling your ebook🛍️

With your ebook written, edited and polished, its price set, a sales platform chosen, and pre-launch marketing in place, all that remains is to click that upload button and launch your ebook.

Marketing is a never-ending process and you’ll want to coordinate some of that launch hype, so there’s no time to put your feet up—but seeing those sales figures start to turn over should provide ample motivation to keep working!

Continuous marketing will help you keep scoring sales long after launch, and you can now use what you’ve built–and the experience gained, good and bad–to start working on another ebook or digital products to supplement the one you launched.

Selling ebooks online is easier than you think

Selling ebooks online is a lot of work, but it’s also easier than you think by a long, long way. Most people are intimidated by the very thought and so never even try, but if you follow this guide you’re going to give yourself the best possible chance of becoming an ebook author.

That being said, here are a few tips and tricks if you want to play the eBook game by your own rules!

Selling ebooks online for free💸

Creating an ebook doesn’t have to cost a dime. The three biggest expenses—editing, cover design, and platform fees—can all be cut down to zero if you’re scrappy.

• Cover design: Tools like Canva (or even AI image generators like Midjourney) make it easy to create a professional-looking cover without hiring a designer.
• Editing: AI editors can catch typos and clean up sentences fast. Just don’t fully rely on them—always review the edits yourself so your voice doesn’t get lost.
• Platform fees: Plenty of platforms take a big bite out of your revenue. Whop only charges 2.7% per sale, so you keep the lion’s share of your earnings. That’s as close to free as it gets.

Selling ebooks as a side hustle💼

You don’t need to quit your job to start making money from ebooks. Most authors begin with one ebook, then use the momentum to build a catalog or spin off related offers.

Think of your first ebook as the launchpad. Once it’s live, focus on marketing systems that keep sales flowing without constant effort—social posts, an email funnel, maybe even a Whop-hosted membership where your ebook is bundled with other perks.

That way, your ebook generates passive income while you’re already working on your next project, whether it’s another ebook, a course, or a subscription.

Selling ebooks on Amazon🅰️

Amazon KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) is one of the easiest ways to get your ebook in front of readers worldwide. The pro—built-in traffic and instant credibility. The con—royalties.

Amazon rewards certain price points (like $9.99) with better royalty percentages, but the math can get tricky across countries and formats. Before you hit publish, make sure you understand the fine print.

The actual process is simple: create a KDP account, upload your manuscript and cover, set your price and royalty option, preview it on Kindle devices, and hit publish. Within 1–2 days, your ebook is live.

Selling ebooks without writing them👻

Yes, it’s a thing. Ghostwriters exist, and they’re often more affordable than you think. Platforms like Upwork, Fiverr, or even subreddits like r/hireawriter are full of freelancers who can write your ebook for you.

AI can also help here. Tools like ChatGPT or Jasper can generate drafts, outlines, or even full chapters.

But remember: AI isn’t going to inject lived experience, original insights, or storytelling flair.

Start selling ebooks online with Whop

Selling ebooks online doesn’t have to be intimidating. Success comes down to the basics—research your niche, write and edit with care, and market smart.

One of the most important aspects of selling your ebook is finding a platform that handles the heavy lifting, like payments, delivery, and security.

That’s exactly what Whop does—better than anyone else. With a 2.7% fee, it’s free to start. We only earn when you do.

Set up your whop in minutes and you’ve got more than just an online store. It’s a full ecosystem where you can sell ebooks, courses, memberships, and files—all while building a community around your work.

Ready to launch? Create your whop and start turning your words into revenue.

FAQs

Do I need an ISBN for my ebook?

Can you sell ebooks on your own website?

Yes, you can! You’ll need a little bit of expertise to do so, especially when it comes to the digital fulfillment side of things, but the easiest way to proceed would be to integrate Whop with your site via the Whop API so that everything’s taken care of for you.

How to sell ebooks online with PayPal?

PayPal (and other payment methods) can be used for selling eBooks if your sales platform allows it. Do some research into the different sales platforms and pick one which does business with as many countries and payment networks as possible, and accepts plenty of different currencies.

How much money can you make selling ebooks?

You can make plenty of money selling eBooks, but how much depends on the power of your marketing and what you price your book at. More sales and higher price mean more revenue, but royalties can factor into that too.

What type of ebook sells best?

Genres like fitness, health, self-help, finance, mystery, and romance tend to see the most sales and the widest audiences. That said, don’t be afraid to go niche—books that answer very specific questions can often be the most profitable.

How do I protect my ebook from piracy?

While no method is completely foolproof, there are steps you can take to minimize piracy of your eBook. Providing your eBook at an affordable price and offering bonus content (like access to an exclusive community) can encourage readers to purchase legitimately.