How to market and sell your book online

Who this is for: Authors with something to sell — a book, ebook, or course — who want a clear, practical plan to market it and make sales online.

What you'll accomplish: A simple end-to-end approach — a place to sell, the right price, an audience, a way to promote, and a launch plan — using Authorist's tools, with links to step-by-step guides for each part.

1. Set up a place to sell — your storefront

Before promoting anything, you need somewhere for readers to buy. With Authorist that's your storefront at authorist.co/your-username — your own page where readers buy directly from you through secure Stripe checkout. You can sell print books, ebooks, and courses there. Selling direct (instead of only through a big marketplace) means you keep more of each sale and own the customer relationship.

2. Price it with intention

Pricing is part of your marketing:

• Check comparable books or courses in your niche and price in that range.
• Too low can signal low quality; too high without a clear reason makes readers hesitate.
• You set a single price per product and can change it anytime from your dashboard.

3. Build an audience you can sell to

The biggest predictor of online sales is an audience that already knows you — especially an email list, because you own it (unlike social followers, who can vanish with an algorithm change). Your Authorist author page has a built-in "Stay in the loop" signup form, so visitors can join your list in one click. On the Growth plan you can view your subscribers and export the list to use with your own email service (like Mailchimp or ConvertKit) for newsletters and launch announcements.

To grow it:

• Offer a free chapter, ebook, or resource as a reason to subscribe.
• Send new readers from social to your author page so they can follow.
• Email your list (from your email tool) whenever you launch or release something new.

4. Promote: content, social, and ads

Once your storefront and list are in place, drive attention to them.

• Content marketing: publish posts on your Authorist Blog (Growth plan). Helpful, searchable posts bring readers in from Google over time and give you something to share.
• Social and ads: on the Studio plan, Authorist's Composer posts to your connected Facebook and Instagram accounts, and Meta ads reach readers beyond your followers. See How to set up Meta ads and your Pixel to get ads and sales tracking running.

5. Launch with a plan

A focused launch concentrates attention into a short window:

1. Before: tease it to your email list and on social a week or two out, and decide on a launch price.
2. Launch day: email your list first (they're your warmest buyers), post across your channels, and — if you're on Studio — consider a short ad push.
3. After: ask early buyers to leave a review — social proof sells the next round of readers.

6. Earn reviews and bring readers back

• Reviews: verified buyers can leave reviews that appear right on your storefront with a "Verified purchase" badge. Ask happy readers to leave one — reviews do your selling for you.
• Events: on the Growth plan you can post Events (a reading, launch, or workshop) to your page to stay connected with readers.
• Repeat readers: the easiest sale is to someone who already bought from you — keep emailing your list whenever you release something new.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Promoting before you can sell — set up your storefront and pricing first.
• Relying only on social — build the email list you actually own and can export.
• One-and-done launches — keep showing up; sales compound over time.
• Skipping reviews — ask for them; verified reviews build trust with new buyers.

What's next

• Getting started — set up your account and storefront.
• How to set up Meta ads and your Pixel — when you're ready to advertise.
• Browse all guides — more help on selling and growing.