You might not know it yet but you can also put your self-published books on Walmart. Here’s what you need to know to sell Walmart Ebooks.
If you're looking to earn extra money on your book, publishing your book at Walmart might be the right choice for you. So, today, we're going to be talking all about how to Sell Walmart eBooks: All You Need to Know in 2023.
Now there are a couple of things we're going to want to get right into. The first is you may not even know that it was even possible to sell your books at Walmart. Because everybody knows about selling them through Amazon.
These other platforms that are less known but can be equally as important, maybe not equally but close is something also worth considering. That's one of the reasons why we're going to go through seven reasons to sell your book in Walmart.
1. Expand the reach of your book
So, reason number one, you want to expand the reach of your book. Just imagine how many people are going on to Walmart online and looking through all of the things they have there. The ads are showing up regularly.
Millions of people come through there and they can see your book if your book happens to have been published at Walmart. Then, you're going to be able to see it.
2. Increase your credibility as a published author
Number two, we want to increase your credibility as a published author. One of the reasons this is so important is because it shows that you're to be taken seriously. Your book isn't just thrown out only on Amazon but it's also available on multiple sites including Walmart.
Walmart gives a level of credibility that perhaps Amazon doesn't have the same level. Since so many people target their books and get them on Amazon. They simply miss the bigger opportunities when it comes to publishing at Walmart.
3. Generate more income
Number three is to generate more income. One of the things I tell all of my students is that we do not want to see if we can have all of our income come from a single platform. Rather, we want it to have maximum distribution as we publish as widely as humanly possible.
If there's a challenge to our books, as some of my students have had recently on Amazon, you can then have it also available at Walmart. In addition, they use the EPUB format when it comes to Walmart just like you would use on Amazon.
So, it doesn't even require that much more work do it. But why not take that additional income that you could be getting from Walmart?
4. Get your book into the hands of reviewers
Number four, get your book into the hands of reviewers. Now, there are a lot of reviewers at Walmart that are very interested in leaving reviews regularly. It's a little bit similar to Amazon but it's a different set of reviewers.
By having your book there, it's going to guarantee those reviewers can take a look and get access to your book. Then, perhaps they go to Goodreads or other locations and leave reviews on those same books. So, this can be powerful.
5. Benefit from exposure to other products
Number five is the benefit of exposure to other products. Now, remember, when we think of Walmart, it's not just about books. We almost don't think about books at all, it's all of these other products.
Walmart is using that machine and AI algorithm. If your books are being pushed by Walmart's algorithm, let's say you're selling a book on lawn care and the person is looking through books about lawnmowers, and up comes your book.
Because Walmart understands the importance of showing that. So, it gives you that additional exposure with all of the other products they have. And the millions of users who are coming to their website regularly.
6. Sell books with fewer risks
Number six, sell books with fewer risks. Now, this one is important because you have to remember that Walmart is very trustworthy and reliable when it comes to all of the services that they do.
They are strict to make sure that their customers get the absolute best experience at the lowest price possible. That's one of the reasons why you're going to be able to trust them. Not have some of the risks you might have on other platforms where it's done less professionally.
Or when the person tries to get the book, they can't quite download the book or have other issues like that. We can completely avoid those problems by going with Walmart.
7. Enjoy more control over your book
Number seven, enjoy more control over your book. You have a lot of control regarding pricing and marketing that you have on at the Walmart site. So, as compared to other platforms where they have a lot tighter control, saying you have to price it like this and like that.
Doing all of these sorts of things makes it difficult for you as an author. To make sure that your book is going to be published easily with Walmart.
How to Get My Book in Walmart
But how to get my book in Walmart? How exactly are you going to do that? How are you going to get it on there?
Distribute to Walmart Ebooks Directly Through Kobo
Well, the easiest way to get it on there is through Kobo. You're going to want to distribute Walmart eBooks directly through Kobo. The reason we do this is that they have a deal and Kobo is an expert now at getting books onto a huge number of platforms.
Kobo is just spelled, it's just changing the order of the letters in the word book. I thought it was pretty funny when I was listening to the people who started Kobo and discussing it. The fact is that if you go, you know, remember if you publish on Amazon it's not going to be distributed through Kobo.
Check out this related article: How To Format Your Books For Amazon KDP
So, you're going to have to go through a distributor to do that. Either directly through Kobo or using Publish Drive or IngramSpark or one of these other publishers to get your book. The distribution that it's going to require to get it through Walmart.
The format of your book is going to be an EPUB which fortunately is the same one that Amazon uses. It is one of the reasons why I highly recommend going through all of these different platforms to ensure that your book is going to be sold at Walmart.
So, you can go through an aggregator and that's why I use IngramSpark. But Publish Drive is also one that you should consider. I haven't checked to see if Draft2Digital covers it but I'm pretty sure they also push it through Kobo.
That would also mean that you're just going through an aggregator that would then get your book onto the Walmart platform. It is fantastic, getting it in front of even more people.
Ten things to keep in mind when selling your book through Walmart
So, the ten things to keep in mind when selling your book through Walmart are. Let's take a look at this really important stuff. Because if you're going to be doing it, you're going to want to keep in mind the most important aspects when you're going to sell your book.
1. Make sure your book is available in both print and digital formats
The first thing is you want to make sure your book is available in both print and digital formats. Now, as I mentioned, you can only do this without having to go through massive reviews and things like that. The eBook version is the version you can sell through their site using Kobo.
It is the way that we distribute it through them and get it out to Walmart. But you can also contact Walmart as a seller and say you would like to also get the print book going there. No, they don't not like Amazon.
They have their print division but this is a possibility. It is something worth researching especially if you are already seeing a lot of sales on your paperback book.
Check out this related article: Increase Sales by Changing Your Mindset in Self-Publishing
2. Research the best way to price your book
Number two, research the best way to price your book. The way that we do this normally is that we look to see what similar books and best sellers in your exact genre are doing on the platform that they're selling. To make sure that our book is similarly priced.
But one thing that so many authors misunderstand is the fact that we don't have to follow the same pricing strategy that these others are using. Most authors sell their books for too little, too low of a price, and are simply not making the money that you deserve to be making off of your book.
I think you should be making for the paperback versions at least $5 and for the ebook versions about $2 profit per book for each of the manuscripts. Then, you add a dollar for each additional manuscript. If you have a bundle, we wouldn't sell one book.
If you have 5 series and you're combining all of the 5 into a single EPUB, we're not going to want to sell at the same price as we'd sell the one. Rather, we make $2 for that single ebook and then we're pricing it so that we're making an additional dollar for each additional book that we have in the bundle.
So, this is an important point. Pricing is one of the biggest mistakes that self-published authors make. Especially when it comes to pricing your book at Walmart.
3. Understand how returns work for books sold in Walmart stores
Number three, understand how returns work for books sold in Walmart stores. You have to keep in mind when it comes to Walmart, there's a 90-day return policy. So, just because you sell a book, it doesn't mean the reader is going to be happy.
You need to make sure your books are of high quality as possible when you're selling them. Because if not, you risk the readers returning the books after 90 days. That can also trigger Amazon to do a review of your account if they see too many returns.
We want to make sure the books are great. The formatting and all of these things are great. That's one of the reasons I always talk about the exact formatting, I saw a formatting course using Jutoh specifically to address this.
Also, I have my favorite Fiverr designer. So, you know exactly who I use to make sure that the cover and the formatting are perfect. So we can reduce the chances that people are going to return it for one of those reasons. Formatting especially is a really important thing to get right.
4. Promote your book through social media and other channels
Number four, promote your book through social media and other channels. This is an important point too. You don't just put it on Walmart and assume it's going to sell. That's one of the reasons you're going to want to be able to share it on social media, have your blog, and do content marketing.
It is one of the reasons I sell this Content Marketing Course that goes through how you can produce content on different platforms and in different formats. Then, we use that to leverage and push that out to social media to give us an even greater reach.
If you think that just pasting a link into social media, that's somehow going to result in sales of your book, you are going to be as poorly mistaken because it will not do that. So, it's very important to understand that when you're going along the content marketing route it is a very powerful mechanism.
5. Keep an eye on your sales rank and take advantage of marketing opportunities
Number five, keep an eye on your sales rank and take advantage of marketing opportunities. If you see that your book is starting to slip in sales, you're going to want to look and see what other self-published authors are doing on the platform and see if you can copy that.
In addition, they have several marketing options available through Walmart that you're going to want to check out. The same goes with Kobo both in terms of your pricing and discounts and countdowns.
All sorts of fun stuff to ensure that we're taking advantage of the right marketing techniques to get our book to sell. So many authors the vast majority of authors assume they can just put their book on a platform and that will be the end of it but are sorely mistaken.
6. Be prepared for customer questions and feedback
Number six, be prepared for customer questions and feedback. Now, at Walmart, they can put questions and answers there. I've seen the same thing in AliExpress, not so much on Amazon, a little bit but not so much.
I haven't seen it there with books but at Walmart, there can be customer questions. So, you're going to want to keep a regular eye on your book. Because you're able to answer those questions as they come up.
That will also help alleviate the possibility that somebody comes to the page with the same question and does not buy your book because they need to know a couple more answers about your book. So, that's another aspect you're going to want to be able to keep track of there.
7. Stay organized and keep track of your inventory
Number seven, stay organized and keep track of your inventory. Now, this is usually dealing with your paperback books. But when it comes to ebooks, you're also going to want to make sure that your folder structure and all of this is something I work on with my 1-On-1 clients and also my Group Coaching clients.
As we go through and break down how you should store your files in a great folder structure. That makes it very easy to find those files when we need them and we're going to put them on the platform. In addition, if you do go to the paperback route, then it's important to see the distributors and things like that.
Staying in touch with them to make sure that your books are available. Walmart, when they wish to sell them in paperback formats even though they of course do not have their distribution or their own publishing company at Walmart, they just simply don't do that.
8. Stay up-to-date on the latest trends in the book industry
Number eight, stay up to date on the latest trends in the book industry. This is an important one because this one can cost you a lot of money sometimes. The links to the books, the types of books, the genres that the books are being published, and these other things we see.
Which ones on Walmart are doing especially well? We're going to want to make sure we target those niches with the books that we're writing. We're not saying just that you should drop everything and just start jumping after the latest trend.
But we are saying if you can write in profitable niches using profitable keywords, it's worth your time. Being aware of what's going on in the global book industry, it's going to position your Walmart books to sell a lot more copies.
Check out this related artice: How To Write, Publish, And Sell An Ebook
As compared to these authors who think they can write books on any subject and that these books should sell and then are disappointed when they don't. That is such a hard lesson for so many authors.
9. Use data to make decisions about your book
Number nine, use data to make decisions about your book. There are a couple of ways of looking at this, one is if we don't see the bookselling, we need to ask what can we do to increase the sales. If we do see the bookselling, we need to ask what is it that we did that's causing this book to sell so well.
Both of these routes are profitable to figure out what changes can be made to old books or what changes we should continue, things that we're doing right that will cause the book to sell more books in the future.
Usually, there's an 80:20 rule which is 20 of your books are going to result in 80 of your sales. Which 20 are you looking at when it comes to this? You want to make sure you're writing more of those books to maximize the profit you're getting off of Walmart.
But at the same time, you need to be within a niche that you enjoy writing about. You shouldn't be hopping all over the place in different niches. Otherwise, you're not going to be able to build up a following, an email list all of these sorts of things since we're hopping around too much.
10. Be flexible and adaptable
Number ten, be flexible and adaptable. You need to understand this isn't a science, all of the strategies. There are 1,000 strategies in all when it comes to self-publishing and I'm telling you, you should not try to implement all of these strategies at once.
But you need to understand that you're going to have some flexibility when it comes to your books. Make sure that as you're putting these books onto the market that things are going nice and smooth.
When you see bumps like Walmart has a problem with the formatting or something like that, you're going to need to make decisions like taking a Book Formatting Course. Or investing in the tools or continuing to learn.
As we often talk about, you should divide your time into thirds. A third of your time is writing new books, a third of your time is marketing, and a third of your time is learning. Learning is what you're doing right now which is fantastic.
Just make sure it's isolated and limited to only about a third of your time. Keep this flexible and adaptable nature, it's the key to the winners of self-publishing. Compared to a lot of losers that are out there.
Conclusion
In conclusion, you can see that Walmart is something you should be considering. Based upon the gigantic audience that they have who are coming to their website regularly. The ease at which you can create your EPUB file uses it on Amazon right through Kobo.
Or one of the district's attributes like IngramSpark to make sure that the book gets out there and onto Walmart. Paying close attention to what's happening to your book so that as you're seeing what's happening with the industry trends and with your book, you're able to make the changes necessary to ensure you're getting the profitability that you need off of your books.
But my question for you today is have you tried self-publishing at Walmart? If you have, let me know below in the comments with a “Yes”. If you've never tried them, write “No” in the comments. Check out my other blogs and videos for more answers to your self-publishing questions.