How I Make $500 a Day Selling Ebooks Online and How You Can Too
我是如何通过在线销售电子书每天赚到 500 美元的？
It’s simple! 这很简单！
Becoming a paid writer is a fantastic career choice. If you’re anything like me — someone who loves freedom, likes to manage their own time, and gets chills at the thought of committing to the cubicle life — then writing could be a great fit for you.
成为一名有偿作家是一个绝佳的职业选择。如果你和我一样--热爱自由，喜欢管理自己的时间，一想到要过格子间的生活就浑身发冷--那么写作可能非常适合你。
Writing also comes with many benefits. The one I want to focus on today is the benefit of earning a great living from doing what you love — writing online.
写作也有很多好处。我今天要重点介绍的是通过从事自己喜欢的工作--在线写作--赚取丰厚收入的好处。
But before I do that, I want to share a short but valuable story:
但在此之前，我想和大家分享一个简短而有价值的故事：
Before I became a blogger and writer, I was a nurse, a wedding cake maker, a graphic designer, a web developer (yawn) — oh, and an aromatherapy candle maker, of all things. It took me an eternity to finally gather the courage, open up my Notes app, and start typing.
在成为博主和作家之前，我是一名护士、一名婚礼蛋糕师、一名平面设计师、一名网站开发人员（打哈欠）--哦，还有一名香薰蜡烛师。我花了很长时间才终于鼓起勇气，打开我的笔记应用程序，开始打字。
The hardest part was swallowing my pride.
最困难的部分是忍气吞声。
What if I fail? What if someone I know finds my writing online? What if people make fun of me? I don’t have a niche — what the hell am I going to write about, anyway? The list didn’t stop there.
如果我失败了怎么办？如果我认识的人在网上发现了我的文章怎么办？如果别人取笑我怎么办？我没有自己的定位--我到底该写些什么？问题还不止这些。
Unfortunately for me, my excuses were stronger than my will, and before I knew it, a barrier the size of the Great Wall of China had been built between me and the dreams I’d had since I was about three foot tall.
不幸的是，我的借口比我的意志更强大，不知不觉中，在我和我三英尺高时就有的梦想之间，筑起了一道中国长城那么大的屏障。
I went around the bend countless times, experimented with new careers, learning new skills, hustling to earn a living from those new skills. Not once in a million years did I stop and think: you silly girl, you could be making a killing writing about your experiences!
我走过无数次弯路，尝试新的职业，学习新的技能，靠这些新技能谋生。万年来，我没有一次停下来想过：你这个傻姑娘，你可以把你的经历写出来，赚大钱！
Instead, I wallowed in my sorrow and completely overlooked the obvious — the opportunities that were right in front of my eyes, well within reach.
相反，我沉湎于悲伤之中，完全忽视了显而易见的机会--这些机会就在我眼前，触手可及。
These are the same opportunities you are basking in without even knowing!
这些都是你在不知不觉中享受到的机会！
The abundance, freedom, and life you want to create with your words are staring you in the face at this very moment.
你想用文字创造的富足、自由和生活，此时此刻就在你眼前。
If I can do it, you can too!
如果我能做到，你也能做到！
If the title intrigued you enough to click on this story and start scrolling, chances are you’re already a regular in the writing game. Maybe you’ve dipped your toes into blogging, or even written and self-published a book.
如果标题足够吸引你点击这个故事并开始滚动阅读，那么你很可能已经是写作游戏的常客了。也许你已经开始写博客，甚至写了一本书并自行出版。
Or perhaps you’re where I was four years ago, just toying with the idea of giving it a go.
或许你和四年前的我一样，只是抱着试一试的想法。
If there’s one thing I can tell you with 100% honesty, it’s this:
如果有一件事我可以百分百诚实地告诉你，那就是：
If you feel called to writing for any reason, grab your laptop, phone, or even just a pen and paper — whatever you have — and just WRITE!
Why the urgency? 为何如此迫切？
Because the sooner you start writing, the sooner you’ll learn to tackle messy drafts, sentences that don’t read right, and paragraphs that make no sense.
因为越早开始写作，就能越早学会处理杂乱无章的草稿、读起来不顺畅的句子和没有意义的段落。
Every writer, even modern-day Hemingways or Elizabeth Gilberts, has to go through this painstaking process.
每一位作家，即使是现代的海明威或伊丽莎白-吉尔伯特，都必须经历这一艰苦的过程。
I shared the previous boring stuff about my ups and downs with you not to bore you to death, but in the hope to help you understand that it’s okay to feel like your writing is not worth reading. It’s also totally fine to feel embarrassed and be petrified of failure — it’s all part of the game.
我跟大家分享之前那些关于我的起起伏伏的无聊经历，并不是为了让大家觉得无聊，而是希望帮助大家明白，觉得自己的文章不值得一读是可以的。感到尴尬和害怕失败也完全没关系，这都是游戏的一部分。
And now that the small talk is out of the way, I’d love to show you what it takes to earn $500 a day from selling your eBooks online.
现在闲话少说，我很乐意向你展示如何通过在线销售电子书日赚 500 美元。
Why Do You Need to Write an Ebook?
为什么需要编写电子书？
Some people use their creative writing to make other people rich. They freelance, they hustle, and they convince themselves it’s okay because they’re earning a living doing what they love.
有些人利用自己的创意写作让别人致富。他们是自由职业者，他们忙忙碌碌，他们说服自己这没什么，因为他们在做自己喜欢的事情，以此谋生。
I tried paying my bills by selling my soul on platforms like Upwork and Fiverr, but since I live in a country (the UK) where getting paid $20 — $50 for a 1,000-word article simply wouldn’t cut it, I had to pause and look deep into the eyes of my passion and tell her the brutal truth: “Girl, if you ain’t bringing me no dollars, we ain’t gonna be friends no more.” Even when I signed up with ‘prestigious’ ghostwriting agencies, something about the process didn’t feel right.
我试过在 Upwork 和 Fiverr 等平台上出卖灵魂来支付账单，但由于我生活的国家（英国），一篇 1000 字的文章能获得 20-50 美元的报酬根本不可能，所以我不得不停下来，深情地注视着我的热情，告诉她一个残酷的事实："姑娘，如果你不能给我带来美元，我们就不再是朋友了"。即使我与 "著名 "的鬼才撰稿机构签约，我也觉得这个过程有些不对劲。
I wanted to write about the many passions I have and the skills I’ve accumulated during the 14,610 days I’ve been on this earth. I wanted to be free — truly free, not relying on freelance clients.
我想写下我的许多激情，以及我在这个世界上生活的 14610 天里所积累的技能。我想自由--真正的自由，而不是依赖自由职业者的客户。
That’s when I finally gathered my resources — marketing, copywriting, SEO, storytelling, graphic design, and a sprinkle of social media skills — and got to work.
就在那时，我终于聚集了我的资源--市场营销、文案写作、搜索引擎优化、讲故事、平面设计，以及社交媒体技能--开始工作。
I wrote my first ebook in just two days. It was 30 pages — a no-brainer — and I sold 325 copies in the first six months. That book has now been downloaded 27,000 times.
我的第一本电子书只用了两天就写完了。这本书只有 30 页--不费吹灰之力--头六个月我就卖出了 325 本。现在这本书已经被下载了 27000 次。
What I’m trying to say is that you don’t need a niche to write a book. You don’t need to have it all figured out. You pick just one topic — one idea — and I challenge you to follow the steps below, and publish a 15-page book in the next 3 days. See what happens. There’s no need to spend months, if not years, on a book that might never sell.
我想说的是，写一本书并不需要一个利基。你不需要把一切都想好。你只需选择一个主题--一个想法--我挑战你按照下面的步骤，在接下来的 3 天内出版一本 15 页的书。看看会发生什么。没必要在一本可能永远卖不出去的书上花费数月甚至数年的时间。
The key is to jump on the idea and ride the waves.
关键是要抓住想法，乘风破浪。
Don’t waste more time, you could be making money right now!
不要再浪费时间了，你现在就可以赚钱！
Blog or eBook — which ones better?
博客和电子书--哪个更好？
I get this question a lot, and the simple answer is this: start with a blog and turn it into an ebook.
我经常收到这样的问题，简单的答案是：从博客开始，把它变成电子书。
Here’s why: 原因就在这里：
- Test the Waters: If there’s no audience for the blog post, it’s unlikely your book will sell. (although I will show you how to ‘accurately’ predict your book sales)
试水：如果博文没有读者，你的书就不可能卖出去。(不过我会教你如何 "准确 "预测你的书的销量） - Refine Your Content: If there is an audience for the blog post, they can help you make the finished product even better.
完善内容：如果博文有读者，他们可以帮助你把成品做得更好。 - Double Your Earnings: You get to earn from both the blog post and the ebook itself. That’s what I call leveling up and becoming a writerpreneur!
双倍收益：您可以从博文和电子书本身获得收益。这就是我所说的 "升级 "和 "成为作家"！
Take this piece you’re reading right now — it’s soon to become part of my new book, and I’m not even ashamed to admit it.
就拿你正在阅读的这篇文章来说吧--它很快就会成为我新书的一部分，我甚至都不羞于承认这一点。
Whether your book is fiction or falls under the ‘how-to’ category, you’ll need to get comfortable writing a few blog posts around it (we’ll dive into this soon). These posts will act as breadcrumbs, guiding your potential readers to the main event — the book itself.
无论您的书是小说还是 "方法 "类书籍，您都需要围绕它撰写一些博文（我们将很快深入探讨）。这些文章就像面包屑一样，引导你的潜在读者找到重头戏--书本身。
What does it take to earn $500 a day from selling an ebook
靠卖电子书日赚 500 美元需要什么？
To earn any amount of money from your ebook, you’ll need four things to start with:
要想通过电子书赚到钱，您需要从以下四点入手：
- A book that people want to read.
一本人们想读的书。 - A platform where you can sell your book
一个可以卖书的平台 - A great offer. 一个很棒的报价。
- A strong ‘content cluster’ to help readers find your book.
强大的 "内容集群"，帮助读者找到你的书。
Nº1 : A book that people want to read
Nº1：一本人们想读的书
I’ve already created a short guide that covers the detailed process of turning your ebook idea into profit. I should add that I believe most ideas that pop into our heads can be tweaked enough to go from “this will never make a penny” to “this will consistently earn X amount.” You’ll find a link to that guide at the end of this story.
我已经编写了一份简短的指南，涵盖了将电子书创意转化为利润的详细过程。我要补充的是，我相信我们脑海中闪现的大多数想法都可以经过足够的调整，从 "这永远赚不到一分钱 "变成 "这将持续赚取 X 数量"。你可以在本故事的结尾处找到该指南的链接。
Nº2: A platform where you can sell your ebook
Nº2: 销售电子书的平台
Most new writers flock to Amazon KDP, yet a quick search reveals that KDP is unlikely to be the platform for you if you want to make $500 a day from your ebook — especially if you’re not willing to invest your life savings into ads and PR to drive traffic to your book. I’m not saying it can’t be done; all I’m saying is that there’s an easier route.
大多数新作家都涌向亚马逊 KDP，然而快速搜索一下就会发现，如果你想从电子书中每天赚取 500 美元，KDP 不可能是适合你的平台--尤其是如果你不愿意将毕生积蓄投入广告和公关，为你的书带来流量的话。我不是说做不到，我只是说还有更简单的途径。
Take a look at this chart below:
请看下面这张图表：
My findings: Out of the 8 million titles published on Amazon KDP, 33% don’t even make $500 a year, let alone in a day. While this might not be encouraging, there is a way around it.
我的发现在亚马逊 KDP 上出版的 800 万种图书中，有 33% 的图书一年甚至赚不到 500 美元，更不用说一天了。虽然这可能并不令人鼓舞，但还是有办法解决的。
So, what platform should you use?
那么，您应该使用什么平台呢？
The good news is, I’ve already compiled a comprehensive guide for you with the best platforms, their benefits, incentives, and much more. I’ll share a link to that post at the end of this story.
好消息是，我已经为您编制了一份全面的指南，介绍了最佳平台、它们的优势、激励措施等。我将在本文末尾分享该文章的链接。
Nº3: A great offer Nº3: 巨大优惠
Let’s cut to the chase: what does it really take to earn $500 a day from selling your ebooks? To reach that sort of income, you’ll need to sell 18 books a day at a price of $27.00 each. If your book is priced at $17.00, you’ll need to sell 30 books, and if it’s priced at $7.00, you’ll need to aim for 71 books a day.
让我们直奔主题：每天从销售电子书中赚取 500 美元到底需要什么？要达到这样的收入，你需要每天以每本 27.00 美元的价格卖出 18 本书。如果你的书定价为 17.00 美元，你需要卖出 30 本；如果定价为 7.00 美元，你需要争取每天卖出 71 本。
Next, let’s talk about pricing.
接下来，我们来谈谈定价问题。
What is the right price for your ebook?
电子书的合适价格是多少？
For your book to sell, the value it offers must align with the price the reader is willing to pay.
图书要想畅销，其价值必须与读者愿意支付的价格相一致。
After publishing over 20 ebooks in the past two years and conducting extensive A/B testing while listening to feedback from my readers, I’ve come to this conclusion: it’s better to underpromise and overdeliver. (bear this in mind when you’re pricing your book)
在过去两年里，我出版了 20 多本电子书，并进行了大量的 A/B 测试，同时听取了读者的反馈意见，我得出了这样一个结论：最好是少承诺，多兑现。(在为图书定价时，请牢记这一点）
Here’s my guide, but remember, it’s not a strict rule:
以下是我的指南，但请记住，这并不是严格的规定：
Books up to 5,000 words: Price between $7 and $17. The final price, however, depends on several factors:
书籍篇幅不超过 5000 字：价格在 7 美元到 17 美元之间，但最终价格取决于多个因素：
- Genre and Market Norms 流派和市场规范
- Perceived Value and Content Quality
感知价值和内容质量 - Distribution Platform Fees
分销平台费用 - Marketing and Sales Strategy
营销和销售策略
Books up to 10,000 words: I price them between $17 — $27, considering the factors above.
字数不超过 10,000 字的书籍：考虑到上述因素，我的定价在 17 - 27 美元之间。
Books over 10,000 words: $27 — $37
超过 10,000 字的书籍：27 - 37 美元
E-book Pricing Psychology
电子书定价心理学
Have you ever noticed how most e-books are priced with numbers ending in 7, like $7, $17, or $27? If you’ve wondered whether this is part of a broader marketing strategy, you’re right. This pricing technique is known as “charm pricing.”
你是否注意到大多数电子书的定价都是以 7 结尾的数字，如 7 美元、17 美元或 27 美元？如果你想知道这是否是更广泛的营销策略的一部分，那你就对了。这种定价技巧被称为 "魅力定价"。
Here’s a fun breakdown of why the number 7, in particular, is used in pricing:
下面是一个有趣的细分，说明为什么在定价中要特别使用数字 "7"：
1. Perceived Bargain or Value
1. 感知的讨价还价或价值
- Charm pricing involves setting prices that end in an odd number, most commonly 9 (like $9.99) but also 7. This tactic exploits a cognitive bias where customers perceive prices ending in odd numbers (like 7 or 9) as being significantly lower than they actually are. For example, $17 feels closer to $10 than to $20, even though it is only $3 less than $20.
魅力定价涉及设定以奇数结尾的价格，最常见的是 9（例如 9.99 美元），但也有 7。这种策略利用了一种认知偏差，即客户认为以奇数结尾的价格（例如 7 或 9）明显低于实际价格。是。例如，17 美元感觉更接近 10 美元，而不是 20 美元，尽管它只比 20 美元少了 3 美元。 - The number 7 is slightly less common than 9, so it may stand out more, making customers feel like they are getting a unique or special deal.
数字 7 比 9 稍为少见，因此可能会更加突出，让顾客感觉自己得到了独特或特别的优惠。
2. Avoiding Price Resistance
2.避免价格阻力
- Ending a price in 7, rather than rounding up or down to a whole number, can reduce price resistance. A product priced at $27 might seem more thoughtfully priced than one at $30, suggesting that the pricing is more carefully calculated and possibly more fair.
以 7 结尾，而不是四舍五入到整数，可以减少价格阻力。定价 27 美元的产品可能比定价 30 美元的产品看起来更有想法，这表明定价经过了更仔细的计算，可能也更公平。
3. Non-traditional Charm Pricing
3.非传统魅力定价
- While prices ending in 9 are very common (e.g., $9.99 — you might notice this with books sold on Amazon KDP), prices ending in 7 are less so, making them feel more intentional and less gimmicky. This can create a perception that the seller is offering a genuine, calculated price rather than just using a standard marketing tactic.
以 9 结尾的价格非常常见（例如，9.99 美元--您可能会注意到亚马逊 KDP 上销售的图书），而以 7 结尾的价格则不常见，这让人感觉更有意，更少噱头。这会让人觉得卖家提供的是一个真正的、经过深思熟虑的价格，而不仅仅是使用了一种标准的营销策略。 - This unconventional charm pricing can subtly imply exclusivity or a better deal, since consumers are conditioned to see so many 9-ending prices.
这种非传统的魅力定价可以巧妙地暗示独家或更优惠的价格，因为消费者已经习惯于看到如此多的 "9 "字头价格。
4. Psychological Impact and Curiosity
4.心理影响和好奇心
- Some studies suggest that certain numbers like 7 have psychological connotations that feel more appealing or unique to buyers. The number 7, for instance, is often associated with luck or positive outcomes in various cultures, which could subconsciously influence a customer’s buying decision.
一些研究表明，某些数字（如 7）具有心理内涵，对买家来说更有吸引力或更独特。例如，在不同的文化中，数字 7 通常与幸运或积极的结果联系在一起，这可能会潜移默化地影响客户的购买决策。
5. Attractiveness and Memorability
5.吸引力和记忆力
- Numbers like 7 are more distinctive and memorable compared to more frequently used numbers like 0 and 5. When consumers see a price like $17, it sticks in their mind better than a rounded figure. This memorability can be advantageous for impulse buys or for making the price seem like a deal that shouldn’t be missed.
与 0 和 5 等使用频率较高的数字相比，7 这样的数字更独特，更容易记忆。当消费者看到 17 美元这样的价格时，会比四舍五入的数字更容易记住。这种记忆性对于冲动性购买或使价格看起来像一笔不容错过的交易都是有利的。
6. Pricing Psychology Experiments
6.定价心理学实验
- Research in pricing psychology shows that odd-ending prices (especially those ending in 7 or 9) tend to increase sales. This is due to a left-digit effect, where the first digit of a price (1 in $17) is perceived more strongly than the digits that follow, making $17 seem significantly cheaper than $20.
定价心理学研究表明，奇数结尾的价格（尤其是以 7 或 9 结尾的价格）往往会增加销量。这是由于左数字效应，即价格的第一个数字（17 美元中的 1）比后面的数字更容易被感知，使得 17 美元看起来比 20 美元便宜得多。
You can find more information on pricing, giveaways, collecting reviews, and much more in my book, Write a Book, Change Your Life — out on September 1, 2024. (Get it delivered straight to your inbox — free for all PAID subscribers.)
您可以在我的新书《写一本书，改变你的生活》（2024 年 9 月 1 日出版）中找到更多关于定价、赠品、收集评论等方面的信息。(直接发送到您的收件箱--对所有付费订阅者免费）。
Nº4: Content Clusters Nº4: 内容集群
Can you remember the last time you bought an e-book or made a purchase?
您还记得上次购买电子书或购物是什么时候吗？
Was it an impulsive buy, or did you take some time to decide before spending your hard-earned cash?
您是一时冲动买下了它，还是花了一些时间才决定花掉自己的血汗钱？
Above is what we call the 4 stages of a Marketing Funnel: It is essentially a buyer’s journey from the first time they discover your e-book to the point where they decide they have to have it.
以上就是我们所说的营销漏斗的 4 个阶段：从买家第一次发现你的电子书到他们决定拥有它，这基本上是一个买家的旅程。
What has a cheesy marketing funnel got to do with a ‘content cluster’?
俗气的营销漏斗与 "内容集群 "有什么关系？
The simple answer is: everything.
答案很简单：一切。
Here’s a quick guide to help you see your books flying off the shelves:
以下是一份快速指南，帮助您看到自己的图书从书架上飞走：
1. Awareness Stage: 1.认识阶段：
- Blog Posts: Write introductory articles or listicles related to your e-book’s topic to capture attention and drive traffic.
博客文章：撰写与电子书主题相关的介绍性文章或列表文章，以吸引眼球并带来流量。 - Social Media Posts: Share engaging snippets, quotes, or infographics to raise awareness and generate interest.
社交媒体帖子：分享引人入胜的片段、引语或信息图表，以提高知名度并激发兴趣。
2. Consideration Stage: 2. 考虑阶段：
- Case Studies/Testimonials: Publish content that shows off success stories or testimonials from readers who have benefited from your e-book.
案例研究/感言：发布内容，展示从您的电子书中受益的读者的成功故事或感言。 - How-To Guides: Offer valuable, in-depth guides or tutorials related to your e-book’s content to demonstrate its usefulness and build trust. If you reverse-engineer this process, you’ll have your blog posts ready and potentially some pre-orders before you even publish.
操作指南：提供与电子书内容相关的有价值、有深度的指南或教程，以展示电子书的实用性并建立信任。如果你能反向设计这一流程，你就能在出版前准备好你的博客文章，并有可能获得一些预购订单。
3. Conversion/ Decision Stage:
3.转换/决定阶段：
- Landing Pages: Create dedicated pages (consider platforms that don’t require exclusivity) with calls-to-action, detailed descriptions, and clear benefits of purchasing your e-book.
登陆页面：创建专门的页面（考虑不要求排他性的平台），页面应包含行动号召、详细描述以及购买电子书的明确益处。 - Email Campaigns: Send targeted emails with special offers, excerpts from the e-book, or exclusive bonuses to encourage final purchases. (In my new book, I’ll show you how to sell without an audience or email list.)
电子邮件营销活动：发送有针对性的电子邮件，提供特别优惠、电子书摘录或独家奖励，以鼓励最终购买。(在我的新书中，我会告诉你如何在没有受众或电子邮件列表的情况下进行销售）。
4. Loyalty / Post-Purchase Stage:
4.忠诚度/购买后阶段：
- Follow-Up Content: Send thank-you emails and additional resources or bonuses related to your e-book to build trust and keep your customers happy.
后续内容：发送感谢邮件以及与电子书相关的额外资源或奖金，以建立信任并让客户满意。 - Surveys/Feedback Requests: Ask for feedback and reviews to improve future content and gather testimonials for social proof. (If you turn your blog posts into an e-book, you’ll already have feedback to start with.)
调查/反馈请求：征求反馈和评论，以改进今后的内容，并收集推荐信作为社会证明。(如果您将博文制作成电子书，您就已经有了反馈信息）。
This basic content cluster addresses each stage of the funnel, helping guide potential readers from discovering your e-book to making a purchase.
这一基本内容集群涉及漏斗的每个阶段，有助于引导潜在读者从发现您的电子书到进行购买。
So there you have it!
就是这样！
I hope you enjoyed this post and found it valuable. I look forward to hearing your feedback. 💞
希望您喜欢这篇文章，并认为它很有价值。我期待听到您的反馈意见。💞
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