Insha’Allah, by the end of this post you will know how to create, market, promote, and sell an eBook online. This untapped potential is beginning to catch on, so read on and learn how to benefit others through your work.
Recently, ProductiveMuslim put together an awesome eBook about the Qur’an and Ramadan. I highly recommend you download it – it’s free, beneficial, and was a collaborative work by a group of blogs (including Muslim Youth Musings). It’s no longer a weird idea to read a book on the computer or on your Kindle. This is something that needs to be utilized to get our information out there.
Here are some ways to for Muslim bloggers to create eBooks and make money selling them:
Gather Your Most Popular Posts
You don’t have to write a brand new book to produce a beneficial product. Gather together your top 10 posts and edit them to fit an eBook format. From there you just add a cover, an introduction, and a table of contents.
The benefit of this is that it allows you to repackage the best material you have and present it to your readers – thereby freeing them of having to search your site for the content they are looking for.
Get Your Book on the Kindle
If you haven’t already participated in this, do it now. Publishing your book on the Amazon Kindle could potentially introduce your ideas to thousands upon thousands of new readers. As a matter of fact, you can even simply publish your blog’s RSS feed. Oh yea, and it’s 100% free.
Publish Your eBook
Publish Your log
Use E-junkie As An Affiliate Platform
Muslim eBooks deserve to be propagated as widely as possible – assuming they are legit and within the framework of the Qur’an and Sunnah. In addition to marketing the eBook on your own site, why not sign-up for an affiliate program? This way your book reaches more people and other bloggers can make money.
Head over to E-junkie to get your eBooks digitally distributed. If you do publish one, let us know here at The Muslim Blogger and I can write a post about Muslim eBooks available for free, purchase, or resale E-junkie Affiliate Program
Get the Word Out On Your Blog
This is clearly a given since you want to sell or promote your own eBook. But, marketing should not be limited to a blog post that is pushed down when your latest piece is published.
Make the eBook visible and tell your readers why they should buy it. Simply trying to push your eBook by saying “Buy this eBook today” won’t do. It’s a business transaction and the better it is marketed, the better it will sell Insha’Allah.
Pray Istikhaara
Your blog may be full of wonderful advice but that doesn’t mean you should use your time and efforts to publish an eBook without first praying istikhaara. Turn to Allah (swt) and do your best to utilize your time in the most efficient and beneficial way. If your blog covers topics of deen make sure you have your facts straight, the ahadith verified, and that the post as a whole is in line with two Ayat we recite at least 17 time a day:
Keep us on the right path. The path of those upon whom Thou hast bestowed favors. Not (the path) of those upon whom Thy wrath is brought down, nor of those who go astray. (Al-Fatihah: 6-7)
Bonus: Give It Away For Free
Giving away a free eBook can also make you money. One of the best ways to attract and keep readers is by offering them content they want. It also builds your credibility – which places you in a better position to market and sell a product in the future.
At the same time, the information you are handing out for free can result in a much greater reward on the Day of Judgment. The eBook you wrote might help others to grow in their deen or inspire people to do good – the more people who have access to this, the better. Whether you decide to sell or give for free, be sure to purify your intention in hope that Allah (swt) will accept our actions and forgives our shortcomings and transgressions. As Allah (swt) tells us in the Qur’an:
And keep up prayer in the two parts of the day and in the first hours of the night;surely good deeds take away evil deeds this is a reminder to the mindful. (Hud:114)
If you’d like to have a better understanding, you can read the tafsir of this Ayah by Ibn Kathir.
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If you have any more advice on publishing an eBook or how to make money from this digital format, please comment below. You’re also more than welcome to contact me if you need help preparing an eBook and/or are ready to have your eBook published.
On a side note, is anyone else as excited as I am about the possible upcoming launch of the Apple iTablet/iSlate?