{"id":187,"date":"2023-01-04T03:35:38","date_gmt":"2023-01-04T11:35:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sidehustleera.com\/?p=187"},"modified":"2023-01-04T03:35:38","modified_gmt":"2023-01-03T20:35:38","slug":"ebooks-on-fiverr-the-self-publishing-platform-that-outsold-amazon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sidehustleera.com\/index.php\/2023\/01\/04\/ebooks-on-fiverr-the-self-publishing-platform-that-outsold-amazon\/","title":{"rendered":"Ebooks on Fiverr: The Self-Publishing Platform That Outsold Amazon"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Everyone knows Amazon\u2019s self-publishing platform is the place to be for indie authors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s not news.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I mean, where else can you instantly get shelf space in the world\u2019s largest bookstore<\/strong>, and reach a network of millions of Kindle owners, all for free?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To be sure, if you\u2019re not on Amazon, you\u2019re definitely missing out on a huge audience of potential buyers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But I\u2019d like to share a surprising new platform for self-publishing that actually out-performed Amazon<\/em> the last couple months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It wasn\u2019t Barnes and Noble\u2019s Nook, or Sony\u2019s Kobo, or Apple\u2019s iBooks, or Smashwords or CreateSpace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was Fiverr.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Huh?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

True story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let me explain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Table of Contents<\/strong>  show<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Revoking Amazon\u2019s Exclusivity Clause<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

My experiment with Fiverr was the perfect crossroads of a couple new things I\u2019ve been meaning to test out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first step was to un-enroll in KDP Select<\/em>, which is the program on Amazon where you grant them exclusive<\/em> rights to your book, in exchange for being able to promote it for free for 5 days every three months, and to have Prime members be able to borrow the title for free.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year, you could run a free promo, generate a ton of downloads, and give yourself a jolt in sales after the promo ended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year, the impact of those free downloads is diminishing, as expert Kindle author Steve Scott mentioned on The Side Hustle Show<\/a> this summer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My KDP Select enrollment was up in early August, so I opted not to renew<\/em> for the next 90-days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Note:<\/strong> Your Kindle title may be set to auto-renew. I had to log into my account and manually un-check the box.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now I was free to publish that work elsewhere online, including Barnes and Noble, Apple, and pretty much anywhere else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But I had in mind the one place I wanted to try first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was inspired by my conversation with AnarchoFighter<\/a>, the Fiverr seller who earned enough money to buy a house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During our call, he explained that his $5 gigs were pre-created digital products<\/em> that could be sold over and over again without any time investment on his part. Only when someone bought his upsells, or gig-extras, would he have to spend any additional time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Note:<\/strong> It\u2019s our longest podcast episode to-date, but it\u2019s also the most popular. If you\u2019re at all interested in the inner-workings of Fiverr and how to set yourself up for success there, it\u2019s definitely worth a listen<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perfect, I thought. I have a pre-created digital product that\u2019s been a proven seller.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s do this!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Setting Up Your Gig<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Setting up your gig on Fiverr is very simple and straightforward. Every gig is set up using the same \u201cI will _____ for $5\u201d structure.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"fiverr<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

I made a point to call out the guide\u2019s length in the title, so people would know it\u2019s not some 5-page pdf I just slapped together.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"paperbackstack<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

You\u2019ll need to add an image for your gig. Because I wanted something a little more interesting than the flat cover file I\u2019d been using on Amazon, I made this 3D \u201cpaperback stack\u201d image for free at MyeCoverMaker.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I borrowed some description text from my Amazon book description and edited it slightly to make it unique.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you\u2019re setting up your gig, Fiverr will show you a message that says gigs with videos sell 220% more<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

OK, I guess I\u2019ll record a video.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can check it out here<\/a> if you want; it\u2019s a little awkward and there\u2019s not a lot of production quality, but it seems to be working.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A couple subtle things I made sure to include in the video:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Hold up a real, physical paperback copy of the book. Again, to show people this is big value for $5. (I got mine from CreateSpace<\/a> for around $6 delivered.)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Give a call-to-action<\/strong> (click the \u201corder now\u201d button) at the end.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    And finally, I added a money-back guarantee<\/strong> to help seal the deal. Since each order wouldn\u2019t take more than a minute or two to deliver, it really wouldn\u2019t be a big deal to issue a refund.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    That\u2019s another tip I learned from AnarchoFighter to avoid negative feedback. Offering a no-hassle refund is better than risking the \u201cthumbs down\u201d of an angry buyer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    And so far, no one has exercised their refund option.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The Results<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    At the end of my 2-month experiment the grand total stood at:<\/p>\n\n\n\n