How a NYT best-selling author sells books online

Alessandra Torre was happy when her first published novel sold a few copies on Amazon in 2012. After 22 books and tens of thousands of copies sold, the New York Times best-selling author sets the bar a little higher for herself nowadays.

Famous for her erotic and suspense novels, Alessandra Torre is regarded as one of the best writers in her genre. Some of her most popular books include Hollywood Dirt, Black Lies, The Ghostwriter, and Moonshot.

She writes from her home in Key West, Florida, the same island Ernest Hemingway once famously roamed. It’s a place that not only inspires creativity but also gives her a community filled with other creatives.

Just like any line of work, though, there are unforeseen administrative challenges.

For Torre, connecting with readers is important. And one of the best gifts you can bestow on any devoted fan is a signed copy of a book. However, that comes with a set of issues. Attending in-person signings takes a lot of time and resources, especially when travel is involved. And the more time spent on the road, the less time she can devote to writing and managing the author conference Inkers Con.

The solution? Selling signed copies of her books online using Jotform and PayPal.

Using Jotform to sell online

It’s a decidedly un-suspenseful solution to her problem. Twice a year Torre opens her book order form to her readers, and the submissions pour in.

The form lets readers choose which book they’d like to purchase, and there’s a field where they can indicate if they’d like Torre to personalize it in any way. Torre can set a different price for each book and include a picture of the cover, which makes the buying experience better for her readers.

Because the form is integrated with PayPal, customers can pay directly through the form. After that, all Torre needs to do is sign the book, put it into a package, and slap a label on it.

Creating an order form with Jotform is painless. By her own admission, Torre isn’t very technical. But she and thousands of others have created powerful order forms without much effort. She uses PayPal, but Jotform offers 30 additional payment processors to integrate into payment forms.

Are you using Jotform to sell anything? Are you a fan of Torre’s books? Tell us in the comments below.