Guide to Selling eBooks with WordPress

Selling eBooks is one of the smartest ways to turn your expertise into a reliable income stream. You get to share knowledge, build authority in your field, and create content that keeps earning money long after you’ve written it.

But here’s the problem most creators face: third-party marketplaces like Amazon take huge chunks of your profits through commission fees that can reach 30% or more. You’re also stuck with their branding, rules, and zero access to your customer data.

There’s a better way. Selling eBooks with WordPress gives you complete control, higher profit margins, and direct access to your readers. You keep nearly 100% of your revenue and own the entire customer relationship.

With Easy Digital Downloads (EDD), this process is incredibly straightforward.

Why Use WordPress for Selling eBooks Online?

When considering platforms to sell eBooks with low fees, WordPress stands out as the superior choice for flexibility, control, and profit. Unlike restrictive third-party marketplaces, creating your own WordPress eBook store with the right tools means you’re building a sustainable business asset, not just renting space.

Easy Digital Downloads (EDD) is specifically engineered as the #1 WordPress eCommerce plugin for selling digital products like eBooks. It empowers you to effortlessly sell various eBook formats, including PDF files online, ePubs, MOBI, and more.

EDD handles all the critical aspects of digital selling, from secure payment processing to automated delivery and robust file protection.

👉 Learn more about using WordPress for eCommerce.

Keep More of Your Money 💸

Marketplace fees can destroy your profit margins before you even get started. Amazon takes up to 30% of your revenue, and other platforms aren’t much better.

You can avoid marketplace fees when you sell ePub files independently. When you sell digital books directly from your WordPress site, you only pay standard payment processor fees (around 2.9%).

This means you can nearly keep 100% of eBook sales.

Own the Entire Customer Experience 🛍

From the moment someone lands on your product page to the follow-up email they receive, everything reflects your brand.

You control the design, the messaging, and the entire journey. This builds trust and creates a professional impression that’s impossible to achieve on generic marketplaces.

Build a Direct Relationship with Readers 🤝

This might be the biggest advantage of all. When you own your customer list, you can announce new eBooks, share updates, and build a community around your work. Third-party platforms keep this valuable data locked away, leaving you completely dependent on their algorithms and policies.

Surprisingly Simple and Scalable ✅

Don’t let the technical side scare you off. WordPress and Easy Digital Downloads make selling eBooks straightforward, even for beginners.

Start with one eBook and grow into a full digital library as your business expands. Eventually, you could even use it to create an eBook subscription service!

How to Sell eBooks Online With WordPress

This step-by-step guide assumes you already have your eBook file ready to upload (whether it’s in PDF, EPUB, MOBI, or another format) and a WordPress website where you’ll be selling it.

If you don’t have a WordPress site, you can easily set one up through any major hosting provider. The process typically takes less than 30 minutes.

Step 1. Install the Easy Digital Downloads Plugin

The first step is installing the Easy Digital Downloads plugin. This is the #1 WordPress eCommerce plugin for digital selling and will power your entire eBook selling operation.

You can download the core EDD plugin for free. It includes everything you need to start selling eBooks. The Pro version unlocks advanced marketing tools, detailed analytics, and premium payment gateways when you’re ready to scale up.

👉 Learn more about EDD Free vs Pro. 

From your WordPress dashboard, go to Plugins » Add New Plugin. Search for “Easy Digital Downloads” and click Install Now followed by Activate Plugin. 

After activation, you’ll see a new Downloads menu in your WordPress dashboard. Click Get Started to launch the setup wizard, which walks you through the basic configuration in just a few minutes.

Check out our video tutorial for step-by-step guidance on getting started.

Step 2. Configure Your Store Settings

Now you want to fine-tune your store settings to ensure everything works perfectly for your specific needs.

If you’re ready to launch the setup wizard, select the Get Started button under Downloads » Setup. The wizard can save you time by taking you directly through the initial key steps of your store setup.

Even if you’re not sure about some answers or ready to complete each step, you can always change them under Downloads » Settings. Enter basic information about your store and online business, such as your location, currency, etc.

The most critical setting to configure is your payment gateway (Downloads » Settings » Payments).

This is how you’ll actually receive money from customers. I strongly recommend using Stripe as your default payment gateway.  It’s the most reliable option and supports multiple payment methods, including credit cards, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. 

Navigate to the Stripe tab and select Connect with Stripe.

Follow the prompts to link your account. If you don’t have a Stripe account yet, you can create one for free during this process.

Follow our guide for Stripe setup instructions.

Step 3. Add Your eBook Product

Now comes the exciting part — actually adding your eBook product! In Easy Digital Downloads, products are called “Downloads”. This includes eBooks, software, courses, and any other digital file or downloadable product you want to sell.

Navigate to Downloads » Add Download to create your first eBook product. 

This interface will look familiar if you’ve ever created a blog post in WordPress, but with additional fields specifically for eCommerce. Let’s go through each section.

Add Product Name & Description

Your title should be clear and benefit-focused. This will appear as the headline on your product page and in search results.

Below the title, you have a full editor where you can write a detailed description of your eBook. Use it to explain what readers will learn, why they need this information, and what makes your eBook unique.

This content becomes your product page, so make it persuasive. Include benefits, not just features. Instead of “200 pages of marketing tips,” try “discover the exact strategies I used to grow my business from $0 to $100K in 12 months.”

Set Your Price

Beneath the editor, you’ll find the Download Details section. This is where you configure the download settings of your specific eBook product. 

From the Details tab, you can select Product Type (typically Single Product). Then set your Price (how much your book costs).

Pricing eBooks can be tricky: too low and people won’t perceive value, too high and you might limit sales. I generally recommend pricing first-time eBooks between $9.99 and $29.99, depending on the topic and depth. You can always adjust this later based on sales data.

You can offer single pricing or create multiple price points with different bonuses or formats.

Upload Your eBook File(s)

The Files section of your Download Details is where the magic happens.

Click on the link icon to upload your eBook file from your computer. EDD supports virtually any file format: PDF, EPUB, MOBI, ZIP files containing multiple formats, or even audio files if you’ve created an audiobook version.

EDD automatically handles delivery and prevents unauthorized sharing through unique and secure digital download links.

Enter the File Name, keeping in mind this is the text of the link customers will see/use to download the eBook product. 

Add Your Product Image

To the right, within the Download settings, select Set Download Image and upload your chosen image. 

Don’t underestimate the importance of a great eBook cover! The featured image you upload here will appear on your product page and in any product listings. A professional eBook cover makes a huge difference in perceived value and conversion rates.

When you’re done, select Save draft in the top right-hand corner. 

Step 4. Publish & Display Your eBook for Sale

Once you’ve filled in all the product details, click the blue Publish button. Congratulations, you’ve just created your first eBook product!

Once you publish your eBook, EDD automatically creates a product page with a purchase button and all the details you’ve added. You can view this page on the frontend by selecting the View Download link.

To display your eBook on other pages, use the shortcode or the EDD block in the WordPress editor. You can show all products, specific categories, or individual eBooks, depending on your site layout.

Many successful eBook sellers create a dedicated “Shop” page where all their products are displayed. This gives customers a central location to browse your entire library and makes it easy to promote multiple titles at once.

Step 5. Test Your Selling eBooks Process

Before you start promoting your eBook, it’s critical to test the entire customer experience from start to finish. Too many sellers lose sales because they skipped this step, and customers encounter problems during checkout.

EDD provides a test mode that allows you to process fake transactions without charging any money.

To enable this, go to Downloads » Settings » Payments, and select the Enable Test Mode toggle.

When test mode is enabled, you can go through the entire purchase process using test credit card numbers provided by Stripe.

Start by visiting your eBook’s product page as if you were a customer. Click the purchase button, fill out the checkout form, and complete a test transaction. Then you should receive a confirmation email with the download link.

Pay attention to every step:

• Is the checkout form clear and easy to fill out?
• Do the email confirmations arrive promptly?
• Are the download links working correctly?
• Does the purchased file open properly?

This testing process often reveals small issues that are easy to fix but could be deal-breakers for customers.

Follow our guide on how to test Stripe payments for step-by-step guidance.

Pro Tips for Selling eBooks Online

Now that you have the technical foundation in place, let’s talk about strategies for selling eBooks with WordPress to maximize your online sales. 

Create Product Bundles

Product bundling is one of the most effective ways to increase your average order value (AOV). You can bundle multiple books together at a discounted price. Customers love getting more value, and you earn more per transaction.

For instance, instead of selling individual eBooks for $15 each, you can bundle three related titles together for $35 – giving customers a discount while increasing your revenue per sale.

EDD makes this easy with built-in bundle functionality. To create a bundle in EDD, simply create a new Download and select Bundle under the Product Type Options setting.

Then, instead of uploading a single file, you’ll add multiple.

Offer a Free Sample or Chapter

One of the biggest challenges in selling eBooks online is that customers can’t “flip through” your book like they would in a physical bookstore. Offering a free sample chapter or excerpt removes this barrier and gives potential customers a taste of your writing style and the value they’ll receive.

EDD’s Free Downloads feature makes this incredibly easy to implement. You can offer the first chapter of your eBook in exchange for an email address, building a list of warm prospects who have already shown interest in your work.

This strategy works particularly well for longer, more expensive eBooks.

If you’re selling a comprehensive guide for $49, offering the first chapter free helps justify the investment. Customers get to experience your expertise firsthand, and you get their contact information for future marketing.

The emails collected from free downloads are incredibly valuable. These are people who are already interested in your topic and familiar with your writing. When you launch your next eBook, this audience will be much more likely to purchase than cold prospects.

Use Discounts to Drive eBook Sales

Discount codes are a powerful promotional tool that can help you drive sales during launch periods, reward loyal customers, or incentivize purchases from your email list.

EDD’s built-in discount system makes it easy to create percentage-based discounts, flat dollar amounts, or even buy-one-get-one deals.

There are so many different ways to use discount codes to sell eBooks online. You could:

• Offer early-bird pricing to your email list
• Provide exclusive discounts to social media followers
• Run time-sensitive promotions that create urgency

A simple “Save 25% with code LAUNCH25” can be incredibly effective, especially when combined with a deadline.

The key to successful discount promotions is making them feel special and exclusive. Rather than offering constant discounts (which can devalue your work), use them strategically for specific goals: launching new titles, celebrating milestones, or re-engaging inactive customers.

You can also use discount codes to track the effectiveness of different marketing channels. Create unique codes for different platforms or campaigns, then see which ones generate the most sales.

FAQs on Selling eBooks With WordPress

Let’s wrap up with some common questions about selling eBooks online using WordPress.

Start Selling eBooks Today

Selling eBooks with WordPress is incredibly simple and straightforward when you use a plugin like Easy Digital Downloads. By creating your own site rather than selling on a third-party marketplace, you can keep more of your revenue and establish greater control over your customer communications and branding.

To unlock the most powerful EDD features to sell eBooks online, upgrade to a premium EDD pass today.

What’s next? Learn more about selling on your own website vs online marketplace.

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