After working in big tech advertising and marketing, as well as having my own handmade business, I’ve learned a thing or two about how to be successful selling your handmade books online.

As an introverted home-body from a tiny town, I knew I would need to sell my books online in order to reach a wider audience and be successful. While the online marketplace comes with a lower barrier to entry, it’s very saturated and difficult to get noticed. As we all know, e-commerce changes rapidly. In this post, I’ll share my top three pieces of timeless advice – with a ton of added tips – to give you some insight into how it all works so you can be successful even if the winds change course.

Invite people to get to know you & your art better

Handmade items are expected to come from real people, not a corporate business. With trust being one of the biggest factors influencing online bespoke purchases, it’s a no-brainer that your customers will need to get to know you before they’ll be willing to buy. Thankfully, this isn’t hard to do – but it does take time.

Social media

Social media can be a pain, but it’s one of the easiest ways for people to find and get to know others who share similar interests online. I recommend choosing one platform to start. Working on more than one social app can dilute your presence and give your audience the feeling they’re only getting part of your consideration vs. all of it.

Tips:

  • Post consistently. Contrary to popular belief, you don’t need to post every day. Instead, be consistent with your schedule (Sundays and Wednesdays, for example) and post high quality content. Think of all the people you were excited to follow, but they never uploaded content regularly (if at all) or started uploading useless junk. What a let down, right? Don’t be that person. Consistency is also a great way to build trust with potential customers.
  • Consider video. Video is considered one of the fastest growing mediums online, so it would make sense to choose video as a means of communicating with your audience. Keep the videos short (60 to 180 seconds depending on platform). You don’t need to edit these videos or try to make them look professional. Just do your best and make sure the picture and audio are as clear as possible. There are a lot of ways to tell a story through video, but I won’t go into that here. Just keep it in mind as a viable option for reaching your audience.
  • Share details about you & your art that matter. While it can be tempting to “put it all out there,” be thoughtful of what you post and share. Let your audience get to know you as an artist and creator first. Over time, sprinkle in little bits of your personal life and interests. This is especially true when your personal interests intersect with your art (example: binding your own D&D character journals or creating Marvel-themed books to show your love of comics and pop culture).

    I also recommend sharing the details of your creative process. Let people see what really goes into making a single book. Process videos and sneak-peaks of upcoming designs are all fun ways to keep people interested and inspired.

Email list

Despite popular belief, email is not dead. Just think of how much you use your own email account these days to pay bills, receive important communications (statements, fraud alerts, etc) and connect with brands you enjoy. When running your own little handmade business, keeping an email list is a critical way to gather all of your serious followers in one place for the latest updates, designs, sneak peeks and offers. Nothing feels quite as good as having first dibbs on one-of-a-kind art. Your new loyal followers understand this and deserve the opportunity to hear from you first before anyone else.

Tips:

  • Use a trusted newsletter platform. I recommend you start with one that offers a free plan or, in the very least, easy-to-use landing page builders. For those who might not be aware, landing pages allow people to sign up for your list in a way that looks more professional or official. MailChimp, ConstantContact and SendinBlue are just a few options. These providers understand communication rules and regulations around the globe and integrate them into their software to make sure you’re following the law. Other things like unsubscribe surveys, data analytics and other features are major pluses, but not super necessary for the new seller.
  • Get a LinkTree or similar. LinkTree is just one of many social link consolidation tools that allow you to send followers to your website, email list sign up or other important accounts. These tools usually have a free option with basic capabilities that are perfect for starting out.
  • Be consistent. Again, consistency builds trust. Make sure you’re sending an email to connect with subscribers on a regular basis. I send an email every Wednesday to talk about my latest post or to simply share something I learned recently. At the end of every email, I ask my followers to write me back and tell me what they think. Just as promised, I will read their replies and respond. My followers are like my friends and I treat them with the respect they deserve. I hope you’ll do the same 😊

Start with Etsy Marketplace

Selling online has never been as easy as it is today, but that doesn’t mean the choices are simple. If you run a search online, you’re bound to see conflicting opinions about every single selling platform. Let me make it a little easier for you.

Lots of people will suggest platforms like Shopify and SquareSpace or Wix. These are all great platforms to build your little corner business, but I would never recommend a Shopify or SquareSpace-type store for new book makers unless you already have an established following and reputation. I would instead encourage you to try Etsy.

Etsy is like a modern day online mall or shopping center with an existing traffic base. They receive over 500 million new and returning customers every month with an intent to find and buy items of interest. With millions of daily customers passing through, it’s much easier and less difficult to get noticed.

Etsy also offers quick & easy setup, community support, integrated payment and shipping systems along with high consumer trust. Whether or not sellers appreciate these platforms doesn’t change the fact that consumers do. To sell, we need to go where the customers feel confident.

I personally use Etsy to sell my bookbinding kits and am happy enough with the platform. They are well integrated with organic search engines like Google and Bing and offer a very low-cost way to get started with a bunch of free selling resources. They will charge a small fee to list your item ($0.20) up front and a selling fee (% of sale) once the item is purchased.

papercraftpanda high quality bookbinding kits and supplies on etsy
I kept my logo graphic simple and it looks just fine 🙂

I won’t go into more detail in this post, but you can read all about Etsy selling fees, tools, support, etc here if interested.

Tips:

  • Have your brand identity somewhat prepared. Before you press “launch my store,” make sure you have these items ready to upload or copy and paste:
    • your store name (and a back up in case the name you really want is already taken)
    • an icon or logo
    • profile photo and brief bio
    • a few pictures of your work area or process shots to add to the store’s “about me” page. They’re also a great way to show the work that goes into each book.
  • Have at least 2-3 books ready to sell. Etsy will give you a nice boost for a couple weeks after your store launches. Use that boost to the best of its ability by having products they can push with their algorithm. Products = well made books! 🙂 These books should demonstrate your style and talent. If you take commissions, I would mention it in the store announcement section and ask them to message you directly. If you decide to accept a commission, you’ll just create an individual listing for that one customer at the agreed upon price.
  • Take pictures and don’t be shy about it. Make sure you have at least 10 images ready for each book. Take shots from the front, back, spine, fore edge, open looking straight down and open from the side, plus close ups on the cover material(s), endpapers, endsheets and text block. You don’t need a fancy camera for this. I used my iPhone 12 with an app that allowed me to take full control of all the cameras for $5.
  • Do your research. Etsy titles and descriptions are critical to getting noticed. Everything you write in these two areas will feed into the greater Etsy search algorithm that determines whether or not your product is shown on page 1 or page 50. Do your research on how to write with SEO and keywords in mind.
double needle coptic journal bookbinding tutorial with a bookish theme
Take good photos of your books & journals

Be your own promotion engine

I’m going to be honest with you. Selling online is a pay-to-play game. ISPs and behemoths like Google and Comcast own all of the major Internet highways between you and your potential customers. As a new book maker and handmade seller, it can be hard (if not downright impossible) to pay for traffic through advertising networks. Instead, be your own promotion engine.

Include referral discounts when someone orders a book, favorites your shop or saves your item on Etsy. Share consistently on your social media platform of choice and ask your followers to share it, too.

Apart from social media, the second greatest way to promote your work is to set up your own blog-style website using a platform like WordPress. Blogs are a great way to share your work with the world because they’re accessible by search engines like Google or Bing and constantly online like a storefront that’s open 24/7. Lots of places offer free online blogs, but I whole heartedly recommend WordPress. It’s been around for decades, has the BEST integration with SEO and offers a ton of integrations, templates and plugins you can use as your business grows.

Tips:

  • Learn how to promote your art the right way. A fellow artist friend recommended the book “Show Your Work” by Austin Kleon. It helps artists learn how to self promote without feeling braggy.
  • There is a “right” and a “wrong” way to approach people when promoting yourself. Make sure you’re doing it the right way by consistently posting on social media, sending an email to your followers and sharing by word of mouth or via blog. DO NOT randomly approach people in DMs, spam your email list or beg people for money. Nothing will turn an audience off more than someone who plays the pity card or begs for attention.
  • WordPress.com and WordPress.org are completely different. Go with WordPress.COM – it’s free and easy to use. It’s what I use here on papercraftpanda.
  • Learn how to use SEO (keywords, titles and descriptions) to the best of your ability.
  • Some storefront engines like Shopify and SquareSpace offer built in blogs, but be careful. These platforms are meant for selling, not blogging. They just don’t yet have the necessary SEO capabilities to get your info out to the world like more experienced blogging platforms do.

These are just a few of the free and easy ways you can promote yourself without spending a dime, but be patient. This whole process will take time. The Internet is a huge place and there are many opportunities and customers out there just waiting to find you, but it won’t happen overnight. It can take a year or more to get traction, so always think about why you started in the first place. If you’re in it for the long haul, and I hope you are, it will be worth the wait!

More bookbinding goodness

✨ What tools do I need to get started bookbinding?

🌟 Looking for a simple way to start making books? 

Try a Complete Book Materials Kit. Each one has everything you need (+ tutorials & videos) to make a beautiful book without all the fuss.

Thank you for taking me along on your book making journey!

Misty