Does the idea of earning only pennies from each book sale leave you looking for an alternative to traditional publishing? If so, you’re not alone. Fortunately, there are a number of ways to sell your books online without the support of a corporate publisher. While some may seem ideal at first blush, however, it’s always wise to carefully examine all of your options. Some of the most popular self-publishing systems can actually leave you with as little control as you’d find through a traditional contract, with none of the perks. Make sure you’re choosing the best system for you and your brand, so you can thrive in the online market.

Tools and Services You Need to Sell Your Books

You can’t make money if you can’t process a payment, so one of the first things you should secure as a new online merchant is a PayPal or Google Wallet account. Trusted by buyers around the world, these systems protect your customers from identity theft while taking the work out of processing payments for you. You’ll also need secure file hosting, along with a system for automating download delivery.

The best and most efficient option, by far, is to work with a comprehensive eCommerce platform. Systems like PayLoadz.com are designed to bring everything digital merchants need together, offering a single service. You’ll be able to turn a free blog site or an inexpensive template site into a sales portal, eliminating the cost of an expensive website. Choose the right one, and you’ll even have access to affiliate networks. These built-in marketing systems help you to reach new customers without paying upfront for marketing and promotion.

Why You Should Sell Your Books Yourself

If you’re like most authors flirting with the idea of independent publishing, your reasons are based primarily on greater earning power and more control. You don’t want a tiny fraction of the proceeds from each sale, you don’t want to surrender creative control to an editing team and you don’t want to lose reprinting rights for your work. While self-publishing does offer a viable solution to these problems, it’s important to choose the right method. Working with a proprietary eReader device marketplace might seem like a no-brainer, but it pays to closely read your agreements. In order to earn the highest percentage of your sales proceeds, you’ll likely be forced to agree to terms which severely limit your control. Exclusivity clauses mean you can’t offer your work through any other markets, so your audience is inherently limited. In exchange for the greatest portion of your proceeds, you’ll also surrender control over your pricing. Essentially, you could be earning a greater percentage of a much smaller cover price than you’d set yourself, damaging your earning potential.

Working with a reliable eCommerce platform to sell your books makes it easy to keep all of your profits, reinvesting them as you see fit. You’ll be able to access no-risk marketing through affiliate systems, set your own prices and sell wherever you’d like. Start your business today, and find out just how easy and rewarding it can be to sell your books independently.