More Marketing Data

Last year, I did something a little different.  I kept track of everything related to marketing.  Duh, I know, but it wasn't something I'd thought about previously.  In the interest of looking at this more as a business, I charted the data to see where I was spending my marketing dollars, how effective each campaign was, and other junk.

Here's what I learned:

I spent $329 on ads last year.  From those ads, I made (to date because that last ad is still bringing in revenue) $491.  That's like a 33% return on investment.  From what I've read, you should be happy with about a 20% ROI on book ads, so I'm pretty pleased with that number.

The best return I saw percentage-wise was from a set of ads I did for the SCIU books with Authors' Billboard.  Three ads for $6 each netted me a 79% ROI. 

Other notable returns were through Bargain Booksy (about 25% ROI), Ereader News Today (about 50% ROI), and Paranormal and Urban Fantasy Bargains (run in conjunction with an ENT ad, so not sure about ROI).

The worst return was any time I tried to pay for ads for Project Hermes.  One of those was also with AB, the other was with Bargain Booksy.  Since I've seen awesome returns of 20% or more from ads with both of those venues for other books, I blame the book and not the venue.  It's probably the blurb.  Might be the cover.  I'll have to do some more research.

Another thing for me to consider is that I was very proactive on Facebook groups for some of my marketing campaigns, but not for others - and the PH sales were part of the 'others' group.  Also, PH is a standalone. 

One of the tanking ad campaigns was for my Dennis Haggarty books, but I did another campaign for those books later in the year that did well.  That might be timing.  I guess.  Maybe.  And, again, I might not have pushed the FB groups much during the first campaign.  Also, one of the venues I chose to advertise with was an unknown and, upon further investigation, they were mostly retired in place at the time of my ad.  (Research, people.  I didn't do mine, so I paid the price.)

The December sale for the SCIU books - which is still earning me some money - was with Bargain Booksy and a new-to-me venue called Book Adrenaline.  Right now, it's running a 25% ROI.

I have a sale set up for Sleeping Ugly this coming week - the 16th thru the 22nd.  An ad should go out in the newsletter for Authors' Billboard on the 18th.  We'll see how that goes.  I haven't advertised SU yet, so it's kind of an unknown.

I'm also going to be setting up a sale and advertising for the Once Upon a Djinn books for next month.  If I can get off my leaden butt.  Those usually do well.  I'm going to try a new-to-me venue again - Book Barbarian (if I can get a slot - they go fast).  That along with maybe something through Author Billboard and PUFB should see some nice returns.  :fingers crossed:

As with everything, your mileage may vary.  These are my experiences alone.  Market at your own risk.  And all that disclaimer, 'don't sue me if you don't get the same results' kind of verbiage.  Hell, your books could do better than mine, for all I know. 

Any questions?  Wednesday I might go over the nitty-gritty of creating advertising for these venues.  It's really not that hard, but worth talking about.

This is a Business

This is a business.

Sometimes I need a gentle reminder.  Sometimes I need a smack upside the head.  So let me say it again...

This is a business.

I tend to forget, in the course of letting my creative side run amok, that this is not about skipping rocks across the publication pond to see how many times they bounce on the surface before they sink.

Or maybe it is.

If you're into rock skipping, you know you have to pick just the right rock or it'll hit the surface with a big kerplop and disappear beneath the glassy water.  It has to be flat.  It has to be smooth.  It needs rounded surfaces to skim across the water.  Otherwise, it's a fail before you even let it go.

You also have to pick just the right day to skip rocks, when the water is kind of glassy.  Can't skip rocks across waves, doncha know.  I tend to suck at this part.  Not for actually skipping rocks, but for this analogy.  I'm really not good at knowing when the best time is to launch my rocks across the publication pond.

I kind of even suck at picking the right rocks sometimes.  DE has been a great rock.  It's still skipping right along there.  (As long as I continue to nudge it.  Helps that it has the most reviews.)  Others?  Kerplop.

Okay, I've beaten that analogy to death.  The point is this is a business.  I've talked about ROI (return on investment) from a marketing standpoint, but never from a publishing standpoint.  If a book will cost x-dollars to publish, will it conceivably make that money back?

To date, not a single one of my books has recouped the initial investment.  Accidental Death has come closest.  I'm within $100 of making a profit on that one.  But paying for marketing makes that kind of a 'one step back, two steps forward' thing.  The worst at recouping so far has been Wish in One Hand - because reasons*.  I'm still in the hole big time on that one.

So, when considering where to go with my writing and my publication schedule, I really should be thinking about how to get out of the hole (or, rather, how to not make the hole even deeper) instead of how to get all the books of my heart published.

Not sure how that will go.  Right now I suspect this writing dry spell is directly related to thinking about the business side of things.  The tiny CFO in my head is at war with the Director of Creative Development.  One wants to audit, the other wants to dance.  And the CEO is beginning to see that the DCD has had far too much leeway for far too long.

DCD:  "Don't make me look at the spreadsheet again.  Please.  It's all too depressing."
CFO:  "Look at it.  Look. At. It."
DCD:  :whimper:

Anyway, it's the start of the year.  Good a time as any to think about things, look at things, and get my mind right.


*Mainly, I paid too much for a shitty cover from a 'real artist' who was supposed to give me something beautiful and gave me, instead, something that looked like it was hacked together from bad video game screen captures.  But I launched with it anyways.  Which sucked.  Then I had to pay for a better cover so my subsequent djinn books' sales wouldn't suck.  Live and learn.