• Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

Writer on the Side

Learn how to write your first book while working a full-time job

  • About
  • Resources
  • Blog
  • My Books
  • Episodes
  • Podcast

How to Sell a Book Before You Start Writing It (in ~2hrs & $0 cost) A Real Example

November 30, 2021

I had the day off on Black Friday, and on a whim, I decided to set up a pre-order page for a book I’ve been thinking about writing (the book is called “Mental Models for Effective Managers” and it’s listed on pre-order here).

I also decided to live-tweet the process I followed.

One reason was to show people how easy anyone can do that using Gumroad, which launched a new website and brand on that day (disclosure: I’m an investor).

Another reason was to validate if this was a feasible idea.

The results were as follows.

I started at 11:10 am on Friday, and the first pre-order came in at 1:24 pm. That was 2 hrs and 14 minutes between coming up with the idea and getting the first sale.

In the next few days, I got 16 more orders. So that’s a total of 17 orders at a special pre-order price of $10 (i.e., I made a total of $170 in revenue).

That’s not a lot of money, but it’s way more than enough for me to know that there’s an existing interest in the topic.

Here’s the full Twitter thread that I published on that day.

Note: The embedded tweets below can be confusing because some of them repeat. This is an issue with how Twitter embeds threads on blogs. Simply skip over each repeated tweet. If you prefer to read the thread on Twitter, click here for the first tweet.

Can you sell a copy of a book *before* you actually write it?

And without spending money on paid ads or design?

Short answer: yes@gumroad makes it super-easy (hence why I invested in it)

It's 11:10 am ET on Black Friday & I'll live-tweet an actual example of this

🧵1/n

— Hassan O. | Author on the Side (@AuthorOnTheSide) November 26, 2021

Two quick things

1. The book is about management strategies for managers & leaders. I've written a lot of the content publicly. So I'll consolidate everything in a short book.

2. I might not sell any copies, but instead of wasting time writing, I get quick validation 1st

2/n

— Hassan O. | Author on the Side (@AuthorOnTheSide) November 26, 2021

Step 1: Name the book

I picked "Mental Models for Managers"

(This can change)

I like the idea of mental models because I can have stand-alone chapters (one for each model) instead of a narrative.

Plus, the concepts I've already published fit into this structure.

3/n

— Hassan O. | Author on the Side (@AuthorOnTheSide) November 26, 2021

Step 2: Click on "New Product"

Choose "Pre-order"

Add the name

Set the price (I picked $25, but I can easily change that later)

4/n pic.twitter.com/Soal13ciO6

— Hassan O. | Author on the Side (@AuthorOnTheSide) November 26, 2021

Step 3: Complete the details

I picked a release date in January (I can easily change this later)

Description: I'll need to spend some time writing copy to "sell" the book

Cover: I'll create this for free on @canva

5/n pic.twitter.com/CbSn0BNsMI

— Hassan O. | Author on the Side (@AuthorOnTheSide) November 26, 2021

Step 3 (cont'd): Complete the details

I just finished the draft of the book's sales copy.

It still needs a bit of cleanup, but this is good enough for now (I can update the description anytime after I publish).

Next up: Canva Cover Image

6/n pic.twitter.com/GgTOAhrtGt

— Hassan O. | Author on the Side (@AuthorOnTheSide) November 26, 2021

Step 3 (cont'd): Complete the details@canva cover created (for free)

I can easily change this later as well

Note: I slightly modified the book's title in the Gumroad description page to include the word "Effective"

I think the original lacked something

7/n pic.twitter.com/h7ttroC9rb

— Hassan O. | Author on the Side (@AuthorOnTheSide) November 26, 2021

Step 4: Publish

Click on "Enable Pre-orders"

And we're live!

Next step is to create a discount code to incentivize early purchasers

Here's the live page (at full price)

8/nhttps://t.co/7dwD9bGry1

— Hassan O. | Author on the Side (@AuthorOnTheSide) November 26, 2021

Step 5: Set a discount

Create a discount code (I used "blkfriday21") and entered $15 off for a special sale price of $10 instead of $25)

Here's the URL with the discount code applied:https://t.co/QhRdazSg6p

9/n pic.twitter.com/fSJqEn5SBb

— Hassan O. | Author on the Side (@AuthorOnTheSide) November 26, 2021

Step 6: Share your discounted link

Tweet about it or send it as an email

And if you're uncomfortable asking for money, just say you're running an experiment

10/nhttps://t.co/lnokAcadB0

— Hassan O. | Author on the Side (@AuthorOnTheSide) November 26, 2021

Step 6 (cont'd): Share your discounted link

Gumroad also allows you to email your list (through the "Post" feature)

Here's a snippet of an email message that was just sent

11/n pic.twitter.com/4tsrWbMP50

— Hassan O. | Author on the Side (@AuthorOnTheSide) November 26, 2021

First pre-order came in at 1:24pm ET!!

That's 2 hrs & 14 minutes after coming up with the idea and setting everything up@gumroad is the easiest platform to accept orders and start selling

Will update this thread with any other data, but for now, I'll start writing!

12/End pic.twitter.com/igmF34rp4A

— Hassan O. | Author on the Side (@AuthorOnTheSide) November 26, 2021

You can check out the book’s pre-order page by clicking here.

I hope you found this insightful and encouraged you to write your own book. If you have any questions, feel free to follow me on Twitter and ask away.

Footer CTA

Download the #1 Amazon Bestseller & Write Your Book

Get it FREE on Gumroad

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Instagram
Copyright © Writer on the Side · Privacy Policy · Terms of Use · Disclaimer