How Ana Makes $3,500/Month Selling eBooks On Her Blog

by James Sowers | Last Updated:  August 20, 2019

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Today, I had the opportunity to interview Ana Savuica from TheSheApproach.com, who is a young blogging strategist and coach. (+ a brilliant PR student)

Initially, Ana tried her hand into many things such as working as a virtual assistant, managing social media and freelance writing for small businesses.

While exploring the digital world, she ended up starting a blog documenting her journey and the strategies that worked for her, which also allowed her to take the route of selling eBooks on her blog.

Apart from her other blogging income sources, Ana now manages to make over $3,500 per month from eBooks alone.

In this interview, Ana shares some of her greatest tips and what it takes to start selling eBooks online.

Let’s dive in!

Interview With Ana

1. Hi Ana, tell us a bit about your journey of selling eBooks. How and when did you start? What made you take the road of selling eBooks?

In my first year of blogging, I was failing miserably at monetizing my growing audience.

I tried affiliate marketing, and it was working, but it was such a slow burner because you have to wait to meet the threshold that affiliate programs have, and wait 1-2 more months after that to actually get paid.

And something clicked. These people coming to my blog, joining my email list, following me on social media.

They weren’t interested in me promoting someone else’s products. They wanted to see what I had to offer. They wanted to learn from me.

So after buying a multitude of eBooks myself (because it was my favorite way to learn a new skill), I decided to write an eBook of my own in May 2017.

2. What do you like the most about selling eBooks online?

I believe that selling eBooks is a brilliant way of making passive income.

You write the eBook once, and there’s no cap on how many copies you can sell. You don’t even need to be there to deliver it or receive payment, because you can set it all on autopilot. 

But my favorite part about it is the freedom and control that comes with it.

You get to decide what to price it, when you get paid, how to market it and so on. 

So if you’re a blogger, business owner or self-publish author, you can reclaim that freedom that you desired when you first started your online business, and get back to doing what you love, knowing that there is still reoccurring income coming it from eBooks that you’ve published. 

3. We know it depends upon a lot of factors, but on an average, how much time does it take you to complete writing an eBook?

While the entire process (that also includes designing the eBook, getting a proofreader to look over it, piecing it together and actually launching it) can take anywhere from 2-3 months, writing an eBook has never taken me more than 2-3 weeks. 

When I set my mind on an eBook topic and set a deadline for myself, I make writing a priority, and I’ve been known to write an eBook from cover to cover in less than 30 days. 

My Pinterest eBook, however, which is one of my most in-depth eBooks with over 40,000 words, took just over a month to write. 

4. Can anybody write and sell eBooks online? What are some necessary skills one needs to have?

Absolutely! Writing an eBook is not only for aspiring authors. It’s for any type of educators that have knowledge, expertise or experience on a topic that they want to share with their readers.

While writing has always been a passion of mine, and a forte when it comes to the content form of my choice, I had no skills or knowledge on how to put together an eBook that has a narrative and it’s easy to follow by outside readers.

By sending out free copies of my eBook and getting feedback on it, I was able to improve my first “crappy” draft of the eBook, and in time, after my eBooks started generating enough profit, I even hired a copy-editor to help me refine it further.

What I’m trying to say is that you don’t need to be the world’s greatest writer to be able to write about a topic you love, and help others improve their lives.

And all those skills that you do need as an eBook author (such as marketing, sales, copyrighting, designing, etc) you can learn them on the job! 

That’s exactly why I’ve created my self-publishing course, Ebook Bestseller Bootcamp – so that people who are stuck in the nitty-gritty of eBook publishing, can get my exact formula for writing, publishing and selling eBooks and get all the knowledge they need in one place.

5. Do you think there are certain topics that do better as compared to others when it comes to selling eBooks?

Yes and no.

There will always be topics that people will pay more for because the pain point associated with that topic is something that people will pay to fix.

Take for example weight loss, getting out of debt, finances or health. More people are willing to spend money to learn a skill in those areas because their desire to fix it and improve their lives is greater.

But that’s not to say that people won’t pay to learn new recipes, crochet patterns or how to make homemade soap. Because I’ve seen eBooks on all these topics sell. 

If you really want your eBook to sell, don’t stress about the topic or pick something just because you think it’s going to make you more money. 

Write about what you’re passionate and knowledgeable about, and as long as there are other people sharing your passion, or looking to solve a problem that you already solved for yourself, then you’re going to make sales! 

P.S. You don’t need to be an expert on the said topic either! Most of the time people don’t care about learning from “the best”. They just want someone who’s a few steps ahead of them to tell them how to get to where they are now. 

6. We all know writing an eBook is only the 50% of the task. The rest is marketing. What are some foolproof ways to promote an eBook to bring in more sales?

My 2 favorite ways of promoting my digital products are through content marketing and email marketing. 

Content marketing allows me to approach the topic of the eBook, create free content around it, and deliver value – no strings attached – while also promoting my digital products.

For example, to promote my first eBook – which was all about increasing your blog traffic – I created a free email course that taught bloggers how to get their website ready for visitors, and I also wrote several blog posts on the topic.

Within that context, I often hinted to my eBook, letting people know that I have a full guide that will solve their problem, but I still made sure that my free content had loads of valuable info and tips.

Email marketing is a bit more complicated than that, but it has the same goal: to build a relationship with your readers and get them to trust you and your expertise. And what better place to do that then their inbox?

Over the past few years, I’ve put a lot of effort into growing my email list and maintaining a good relationship with my subscribers.

Not only do I have a welcome sequence in place that will turn a new lead into a loyal reader, but I sent out an email with my best blogging tips every Tuesday, giving my  subscribers a VIP treatment that only people on my email list get.

7. You have an amazing course called “eBook Bestseller Bootcamp” that teaches how to write, launch and sell eBooks online for passive income. Tell us about it.

Ebook Bestseller Bootcamp is the ultimate eBook self-publishing course for bloggers & entrepreneurs who want to triple their impact and boost their income while doing it.

The course has over 30 video lessons, and 9 hours of video content, and it’s going to teach you everything you need to know about topics such as:

• How to manage your time wisely and write an eBook quickly
• How to structure an eBook so that it’s easy to follow along for readers
• How to design an eBook and create a memorable eBook cover
• What to price your eBook
• How to self-publish on Amazon
• How to create a sales page on your own website
• How to market your eBook and get sales even when you’re not working

And that’s not all! When you enroll in EBB, you also get $500 worth of bonuses meant to give you shortcuts and help you launch your eBook successfully. 

I’d love for you to check out Ebook Bestseller Bootcamp here.

Use code “EBB20OFF” to get $20 OFF

8. After taking your course, how much can one expect to earn in their first 6 months? (Given that they’ve put their 100% into it)

Your earnings will depend on a lot of the size of your audience and your launch strategy for your eBook.

But let’s put it this way: In May 2017, I launched my first eBook. And trust me when I say that I had no idea what I was doing.

Despite a failed launch (because back then I thought that launching an eBook meant dropping the bomb that you wrote an eBook and expecting people to buy it), I made just over $1,500 in my first 6 months as an author (with a very small audience, I might add).

Two years later, a lot of lessons learned and a couple more eBooks launched – I made $15,000 in a 6 month period. That’s a 900% increase in revenue! 

What changed? I perfected my system for writing, launching and selling eBooks. And I’ve shared everything I learned on the way in my online course – EBB

So if you’re committed to making this happen, you’ll have all the tools you need to succeed inside. 

9. Can anyone with no past experience of selling anything online take this course? Whom is this course best targeted towards?

Yes, of course!

While the course assumes that you have a website, blog or platform of some kind, it takes you step-by-step through the process of how you should market and sell your eBook, as if you’ve never sold a digital product before.

There are also a few helpful lessons in there that can guide you to grow your audience before launching your eBook, to increase your chances at making sales.

In conclusion, the EBB course is aimed at:

• Bloggers, entrepreneurs, coaches, VA, service providers and small business owners that want to teach something through an eBook and increase their passive income
• Aspiring authors that have never written a book or launched a digital product before
• Ebook authors that have already published eBooks but who want to implement new strategies to make more sales 

10. Can anyone do this on the side with a full-time job?

Absolutely!

My blog started as a University project, so for the most part of its life, I’ve actually been splitting my time between full-time studies, a part-time job and my blogging business. 

If I can do it, I strongly believe that anyone can. 

With platforms such as Amazon available to us, we are able to self-publish eBooks and rely on Amazon’s popularity to bring us visitors and sales. 

But due to the passive nature of eBooks in general, I strongly believe that anyone can write an eBook, self-publish it and then just invest a few hours each month into marketing it.

11. Wrapping up, what is one thing you wish you knew before selling eBooks and want the newbies to know it?

I wish somebody told me that the world needs my eBooks.

Here’s the deal: I’ve talked a lot in this interview about what publishing and eBook can do for you – boost your expert status and credibility, make you more money, allow you the freedom you’ve always wanted and so on.

But I haven’t even touched on what your eBook can do for your readers…

There is someone out there searching for information that your eBook can provide. A topic that you have such a unique perspective into.

Insight that only your experience can relate. A solution to a struggle that you’ve already faced and overcome. 

The world needs your eBook! And you need to be the one who writes it!

My Thoughts

What a privilege to know a little bit about Ana’s journey and strategy of selling eBooks for passive income.

And given the fact that she has a brilliant course teaching you the exact strategies you need to replicate her success, is an absolute no-brainer.

I highly recommend enrolling in eBook Bestseller Bootcamp if you want to earn passive income selling eBooks online.

Do you have any questions for Ana? Shoot them in the comments below. 🙂

Meet The Author

Hey there! I'm James Sowers, and I run things around here. My mission is to create 1,000 self-sustaining entrepreneurs...and I'd love for you to be one of them! Have thoughts on this article? Reach out on Twitter and let me know.