Take a look at Gumroad if you want to sell eBooks direct to your followers

Last night I moderated a panel discussion on book marketing for the Independent Writers of Southern California ( IWOSC). As you would imagine with a topic this broad our panel of five had no trouble filling nearly 90 minutes with advice about the current state of book marketing. That left little time to answer many of the 34 written questions submitted by the 100 or so people in attendance.

But this morning as I was sorting through the cards one comment caught my attention: ‘you should mention gumroad.com‘. Unfortunately I did not meet the person who submitted the comment but after looking at the website and doing some research it is clear this author is plugged in! As of early this morning I could not find a reference to Gumroad on either Teleread or Mediabistro—both excellent websites for staying current on the latest in eBook, eReading and ePublishing matters.

I plan to do a more thorough review and test of the site over the next month but here are a few immediate observations:

• The site is primarily targeted at individuals who develop digital content—eBooks, software code, MP3s, videos, illustrations, etc.—and wish to sell it. (Technically you can sell anything, including physical goods.)
• It seems to make the most sense for people that have large followings—mailing lists, Twitter followers, Facebook friends, etc.—or the means to promote the content yourself. By promoting the content yourself you can keep most of the 30% selling commission that Amazon, Apple, et al would have taken.
• Gumroad charges 5% + 25 cents of each transaction for processing the payment.
• No store required. Simply promote your unique link anywhere (your site, Twitter, etc.) and when the customer clicks they receive a link to download your content after paying the price you set. You can charge between $1 and $1000.
• The customer has a variety of payment options and you get paid via PayPal once a month. It even works internationally.

Check their site out for more information. The service was developed by one of the designers behind Pinterest and has already received two rounds of financing by blue chip Silicone Valley venture firms. It launched in February.