E-commerce · Digital Downloads
Readers will sample three pages and judge the whole book on them.
A reader buys an e-book on a promise. The cover is a thumbnail, the blurb is two paragraphs, and the sample chapter is the real argument. If the subject is unclear or the author is unknown, that chapter is all the reader has.
Scope, fee, reporting and term are agreed in writing after we have read your brief and spoken to you.
In one paragraph
E-books are books sold as files, in formats such as EPUB and PDF, for reading on a phone, tablet or e-reader. GullySales works on the book page, the sample chapter and the list of readers you can write to, which together decide whether a first book sells and whether the next one does.
Last updated 7 Oct 2026.
Who it is for
This is written for you if you sell e-books online.
- Authors who publish their own books and sell from their own site or an online shop
- Coaches, consultants and teachers who package knowledge as a guide or workbook
- Small publishers moving a back list into digital form
- Regional-language writers whose readers are on phones, not in bookshops
Not for
It is not the right fit if.
- A manuscript that is not finished or edited. Marketing a book with typing errors on page one produces bad reviews.
- Authors who want their book in every bookshop. This page is about selling the file, not shelf space.
How buyers choose
What decides the sale of e-books.
Subject first, title second
Readers search for what they want to know: a GST guide for shopkeepers, a Kannada recipe book, how to prepare a family budget. A title that is clever but does not say the subject is not found.
The sample chapter
A free first chapter or the opening pages, offered in return for an email address, does a lot of the selling for a book. How many of the readers who took it went on to buy tells you more than a count of downloads.
Will it open on my device
A PDF works on a phone but reads badly; EPUB reflows but needs an app. The buyer wants to know what they get, and a seller who sends both is trusted.
Reviews from readers, not from friends
A few honest reader reviews on the page, naming what the reader did with the book, count for more than a long list of praise from people the author knows.
Where sales are lost
What usually goes wrong when you sell e-books online.
In the words sellers use on the first call.
“The book has few buyers and I have no mailing list”
Selling a single book to strangers is expensive. A sample chapter that collects emails and a follow-up message turns each visit into a reader you can write to when the next book appears. For example, a Bengaluru chartered accountant with a GST guide for shopkeepers can offer the first chapter at the end of a talk, and write to everyone who took it when the update edition is ready.
“Our cover looks fine at full size and disappears on the phone”
The first look happens at the size of a postage stamp. Title and subtitle must read at that size, and the cover has to say what kind of book it is.
“The PDF is being forwarded on WhatsApp”
A plain PDF travels. Delivery through a personal link, a watermark with the buyer's name and a price that looks fair reduce it, though not entirely.
“Readers buy the book and never finish it”
A reader who stops at chapter two does not recommend it. A short email series that takes the buyer through the book, with an exercise or a question each time, gets more of them to the end.
The scope
The work we would propose for e-books.
Measured on purchases or sign-ups, conversion and repeat use. Anything here that needs a platform or tool we have not used with you is confirmed with you before it goes in the scope.
- Book page and blurbA page that opens with the reader's problem, quotes one or two lines from the book and says who it is not for.
- Sample chapter and email captureA free sample chapter behind an email form, and a short series after it that ends with the offer to buy. The same list hears first when the next book is ready, and no other messages follow unless the reader chooses them.
- Excerpts for search and socialShort pieces from the book, such as a checklist or one worked example, published as pages and posts that carry the author's name and link to the book.
- Reader review collectionA polite message to early readers asking what they used the book for and whether it can be quoted, with a link to leave it where it is visible.
What we do
What you get for e-books.
Each deliverable and what it is there to change.
A cover check at thumbnail size
The cover and title tried at the size of a phone thumbnail, with a note on what to change if the subject does not read.
A sample-to-buyer count
From your own order records, how many of the readers who took the sample went on to buy, so you know whether the chapter or the book page is the weak point.
A reader email series
A short set of messages after sample or purchase that takes the reader through the book. What to watch is how many readers reach the last chapter and how many write back.
A format and device note
A plain line on each page saying which files the buyer gets and how to open them. A buyer who knows what file they are getting is less likely to ask for the money back.
How the result is measured
- Book page visits
- Sample chapter requests
- Purchases from sample readers
- Buyers who came from the email series after the sample
- Readers who buy the author's next book
- Refund requests and the reason given
Recorded as a baseline before work starts, so every later report has an honest comparison.
How it works
From your first message to the first piece of work.
No open-ended retainer. Every step gives you something in writing.
First
Your brief
You tell us what you need in a few short steps: your business, what you want, where enquiries come from and how they are handled.
After the brief
A conversation and a written scope
We read it, then talk with whoever handles your enquiries. If you want our help, the scope, the fee and the reporting come in writing, and nothing starts before you have read them.
Before work starts
Baseline recorded
The numbers this work is meant to move, such as enquiries, quotations, orders, visits or renewals, written down so every later report has an honest comparison.
After the baseline
The first fix goes live
The fix we agreed to start with is put in place and measured against the baseline, whether that is a reply, a follow-up, a page, a listing or the handover between marketing and sales.
As agreed
Report against the baseline
What moved, what did not, and what changes next, in plain words. How often you get it is set in writing before work starts.
At renewal
Renew on the numbers
The term ends and you decide whether to continue from the results. The length is agreed in writing before anything starts.
What we need from you
What to have ready before we talk.
None of it has to be tidy. We read what you have.
- The finished book files and the cover
- A sample chapter you are happy to give away
- Where the book is sold now, with the order history
- Any emails or messages from readers about the book
- The author's other books or the ones you plan
Selling in India and abroad
Selling e-books beyond your own market.
Where you sell decides sizes, units, seasons and returns. We work from Bengaluru and have no overseas office, so for a new country we start from your own sales and the platforms you already use.
Readers abroad who share your language
A Kannada, Tamil or Malayalam book may find buyers among speakers living in the Gulf, the United Kingdom, North America or Australia. Your order data will say which are already buying.
Payment link and file format by market
A reader abroad cannot always pay by UPI, so the book page needs a payment link that takes a foreign card, priced in their currency. Send EPUB and PDF both, since an e-reader app abroad may open only one. Spelling in an English edition is for you and your editor to decide.
FAQ
Questions about selling e-books online.
Not here? More answers, or ask on WhatsApp.
Should I give the e-book away free or charge for it?
PDF or EPUB, which is better to sell?
Do I need an ISBN, and what about refunds?
How long is the contract?
How soon will we see results?
Who will actually do the work?
What do you need from us?
More in Digital Downloads
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Why us
Why owners pick GullySales over an agency.
Marketing and sales, as one job
Most agencies stop at the enquiry. We also fix what happens after it: the reply, the follow-up, the quote and the CRM.
The person on the first call does the work
No account managers in between. You are never handed to someone you have not met.
A baseline before anything starts
Your numbers are written down on day one, so every later report compares against something honest.
The fee in writing, split three ways
Our time, your media spend and production on separate lines. You always see what goes to us.
No guarantees we cannot keep
The term is agreed in writing and never a default twelve months. We never promise a ranking or a lead count, because nobody controls those.
One office, and we say so
Nagarbhavi, Bengaluru. We work across India by call and WhatsApp and travel when a session needs to be in person.
#257, 3rd floor, Sri Nanjundeshwara Complex, Nagarbhavi 8th Block, Outer Ring Road. How we work.
Engagement options
Ways to work with us.
Pick the size of commitment that fits. Every option starts with your brief and a conversation.
Option 1
The conversation on its own
A call after you send your brief. It says honestly whether you need outside help, and many fixes are ones your own team can make.
Option 2
One fix, scoped
Start with the fix that matters most, such as reply time or follow-up. The fee is in writing before anything starts.
Option 3
An ongoing programme
We run the work, report against the baseline, and you renew on the numbers. The term and the reporting are agreed in writing first.
Option 4
Guidance for your own team or agency
We plan, brief and check the work of your in-house team or current agency, instead of replacing them.
Your brief
Tell us what you need, and we will read it before we call.
Eight short steps about your business, what you want and who decides. Most questions are a tap, and you can skip any you would rather answer on the call.
Your next practical step
Tell us what you are trying to grow, and we will read it before we call.
Eight short steps, mostly taps. Skip anything you would rather answer on the call.