Is ECommerce for writers too?

When I started in the Internet Industry some 20 years ago a few years back, ecommerce wasn’t even a buzzword yet. My how things change over the span of time. Now the big buzzwords don’t really include ecommerce. It’s an expected commodity, something everyone is using, whether it’s just a buy me button through some third party shop or a full blown storefront system, it’s everywhere.

But why should a writer be interested in an ecommerce storefront?

There are several reasons, actually. If you’ve got more than 6 or 7 books out, and you have the option to use an affiliate program or sell directly through your publishing house, having your own ecommerce enabled site might just help you gain a few more precious pennies per sale. How? by getting you the commision price of your book plus the commission on the sale through your publisher, or Amazon. Not a bad deal, all in all.

If you are entertaining thoughts of opening your own E-Publishing site, ecommerce is not only a necessity, it’s imperitive that you are using a system you can trust to work flawlessly. This leaves you with two choices. You can build and manage your own ecommerce solution, or you can use a hosted solution.

Honestly, unless you have quite a bit of experience managing websites, I suggest the second option for building an ecommerce storefront. It’s simple, scalable and perfect for the novice. You can always choose to go another route later in your venture, but having a managed solution has advantages, such as support, technical services, and there is no need to provide your own hardware for the installation.

In the end the choice is yours, but weigh your options carefully before diving in.  your initial choices very well may mean the difference between success and failure.

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