Many authors use Facebook to promote their current and upcoming books, connect with fans and grow their following. The use of social media in general is widely accepted amongst the author community and the benefits are understood.
However, did you know that you can sell your books directly from your Facebook page? That is right, you can turn your Facebook page into a fully-functioning online bookstore and begin making money.
How? The answer is simple: with Shopify.
Shopify is a widely used ecommerce platform that gives people and businesses an easy way to set up an online store and securely sell goods. Very little technical skills are required, which makes Shopify an ideal solution for authors.
In this post we will discuss how to sell your books through Facebook using Shopify. By the end of this post you will be ready to set up your own online bookstore on Facebook and begin making real money via social media.
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How To Set Up Your Facebook Store
The first step to setting up your Facebook store will be creating a Facebook Page. Unlike a personal Facebook Profile, Pages are a dedicated page you set up for business purposes. If you have already set up a Facebook Page, you can move on to the next step.
Once you have your Facebook Page set up you will be ready to start setting up your Shopify store on Facebook.
Log into Facebook and go to Shopify’s Facebook page. Next, scroll down and locate the Sell on Facebook app in the Apps section and click on it.
Doing so will bring you to this page:
As you can see, Shopify will ask you to enter the following information to get started:
- Email Address: Consider creating an email address specifically for your online bookstore
- Your Store Name: Give your store name a little thought before getting started
- Password
Next you will have to specify where you would like to start selling. The three options are:
- Facebook Store: We highly recommend this option as it is the easiest and most affordable
- Online Store
- Retail Store or Pop up Shop
Once you select the Facebook Store option, Shopify requires you to fill out the form below:
After you complete this form there will be a questionnaire consisting of a few questions to help Shopify know what you plan to use the store for. Upon completion of the questionnaire, your store will officially be set up!
How To Add Books To Your Shopify Facebook Store
When you first enter your Shopify Facebook Store, you will see a button that says “Add a Product.” Click on this button to begin adding your books.
Shopify will ask you to enter the following information:
- Title
- Description
- Image(s)
- Pricing Information
It really is that easy! Once you add all of your books to your Shopify Facebook Store you will be ready to begin selling. Shopify makes it extremely easy for you to securely collect payments and keep track of orders. If you do run into any problems, their customer support it phenomenal.
Shopify Facebook Store Pricing
Shopify offers a free trial for all new users, but eventually you will have to begin paying a monthly fee. So, how much does it cost to sell your book through Facebook using Shopify? The simple answer: less than you would think.
For the purpose of selling books, the $9 per month plan is more than enough. The major differences in the plans is the transaction fee, which starts at 2% for the $9 per month plan. Unless you plan to sell an extremely high volume of books, it is not worth it to upgrade to a more expensive plan to slightly reduce this transaction fee.
Plus, when you compare this fee to the cost of sell book on other platforms it seems quite low.
How To Securely Sell eBooks On Facebook With EditionGuard
As you have seen, Shopify and Facebook work well together to sell physical goods, such as your books. What do you do if you want to sell digital goods, such as eBooks? Making sure that these eBooks are delivered in real-time and are secure is something that Shopify alone can not do.
However, with the help of EditionGuard's turnkey integration you can begin selling eBooks directly from Facebook in a matter of minutes. When you use EditionGuard's Shopify app, your eBooks can be purchased through Shopify and then fulfilled by us.
You don't have to worry about your eBooks being shared illegally since you will have the option to protect your books with our Social DRM solution or Adobe's DRM scheme.
Related Post: How To Promote Your eBook With Facebook Ads
Final Thoughts
Social media has continued to grow over the past 10 years and has reached the point where nearly 1 in every 6 people in the world is now active on Facebook alone. That means Facebook, and other social networks, now offer unprecedented reach to potential customers worldwide.
Thanks to Shopify’s free trial, you can give their Facebook Store app a try to see if it will help increase your book sales. If you are already spending time and money on your Facebook Page, why wouldn’t you convert some of the traffic into book sales?
