Happy New Year! Well, that's another year in the can. I can't say I'm sorry to see 2019 go. :waves buh-bye: Let's just go ahead and get this wrap-up out of the way so we can put 2019 away.
It was not a banner year for the whole writing/selling books thing. I had hoped to get two books out in 2019, if I remember right. That didn't happen. I started the year in a slump and it pretty much lasted all year.
I did get Ugly and the Beast written. I also got it kind of edited. Then I started Cinder Ugly and the wheels came off. I wrote part of a Space Bunny thing. I also did some noodling around with ideas for another SCIU and another Dennis Haggarty. I participated in NaNo and got another big chunk written on a YA fantasy I started 6 years ago. Oh, and I started a short Christmas story involving the genies. Not much to crow about considering there were 365 days in there with which to work and how little I actually worked on writing.
In the selling books arena, here are the numbers. It's easier to deal with numbers sometimes.
Total sales $: $469
Total copies sold: 484
Not as much money as last year, but better than 2017, so I'm not crying into my coffee too much. With no new books hitting the market, I should be happy I got that many sales. This year, I did roll over 3K books sold over the entirety of my publishing life. It averages out to 603 books and $712 a year. (2015 was a big year, so it skews the average.) Woohoo.
Dollars spent on marketing: $316
Sales $ earned from paid ads: $353
So, I finished the year in the black on paid marketing, but not by much. If it weren't for marketing, I wouldn't have sold much in 2019. I mean, take the $353 off the $469 and you get $116 worth of books sold without any paid advertising.
Average per book income: 97c
Considering that I only sold 24 books at full price, I'm amazed I averaged that much. I attribute it to Page Reads, which, while not netting me the same dollars as selling a full-priced book outright, certainly nets me more than a discounted 99c book. I sold 316 books at the sale price of 99c, of which I get about 64c.
Speaking of Page Reads...
Number of books sold through the KU program: 72.82
Dollars earned through Page Reads: $126.04
And the majority of that can be attributed to paid ads.
It's getting harder and harder to sell books as a self-published author. For me, anyway. I'm sure there are writers out there doing much better than I am. They're probably dropping new books at least 4 times a year, spending a bunch more on marketing, and have more social presence than I do. I can only do what I can do, so I'm trying not to come off as whiny. Like I said, this was a hard year but not the worst year ever. Sure, I'd like it to have been better. Who wouldn't?
My goals for the year ahead depend mostly on having the funds to pay my editor. If I can swing that, I'd like to see Ugly and the Beast and Cinder Ugly hit your ereaders in 2020. I'd also like to get another SCIU and another Dennis Haggarty at least written, if not out there in public. Beyond that, I can't commit to anything. Not yet. I hope to under promise and over deliver.
Ah, hope. It's a thing.
Do you have any questions for me? How was your 2019? What are you hoping to accomplish in 2020?
Showing posts with label advertising. Show all posts
Showing posts with label advertising. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 1, 2020
Wednesday, September 18, 2019
SCIU Sale Wrap-Up
As the year progresses with no new books to show for it, the sales get weaker and weaker, so I probably shouldn't expect much. You need to be constantly putting forth new material.
Anyway, I said I'd share the results of the latest sale, so here we are.
First, an update on last month's OUAD sale. It finally made enough money to pay for the ad I placed. And with page reads still coming in, I'm ahead a little.
Now, the SCIU sale. It ran from the 10th through the night of the 16th. Dying Embers was 99c, Fertile Ground and Early Grave were $1.99. I placed an ad with Bargain Booksy that ran on the 12th for DE ($55).
As of this morning, I sold just under 36 copies of DE, 5 copies of FG and 5 copies of EG. I'm still seeing page reads, but the hope of actually paying off the ad is slim. Which kind of blows but like I said, not unexpected.
Overall, I'm still ahead on ad revenue, showing a 8.91% profit. $271 spent on ads. $297.50 earned off ads. That'll change a little as the month progresses and page reads continue to come in, but not in any major way.
I didn't keep track of rankings this time. At one point, DE made it into the 300s in its genre specification and into the teen-thousands in overall books. Not quite enough to effect sales greatly.
Prior to the ad, I had no sales this time around. I fell down on the job of pushing on FB. That may account for lower sales from the ad because the rankings of all three books were so poor when the ad came out. I made a pretty, new graphic that seemed to get a lot of Likes on FB, but didn't really equate to more sales.
Could be that because one of my pre-ad push days was Sept 11th the pre-sales fell apart. It wasn't really a great day for book buying or looking at ads. But when I set my sale dates, it wasn't even on my radar. My mistake.
Anyway, live and learn.
Not sure what lies ahead for marketing this year. I have sales penciled in for October, November, and December. Whether I'll be able to advertise remains to be seen. Gotta make money to spend money to make money... Ad infinitum.
As for overall sales for the year, I just passed the 400 books/$400 mark. Not sure if I'll pass last year at this rate, but I've already passed 2017, so this won't be my worst year ever. That's gotta count for something.
And that's it. Any questions?
Anyway, I said I'd share the results of the latest sale, so here we are.
First, an update on last month's OUAD sale. It finally made enough money to pay for the ad I placed. And with page reads still coming in, I'm ahead a little.
Now, the SCIU sale. It ran from the 10th through the night of the 16th. Dying Embers was 99c, Fertile Ground and Early Grave were $1.99. I placed an ad with Bargain Booksy that ran on the 12th for DE ($55).
As of this morning, I sold just under 36 copies of DE, 5 copies of FG and 5 copies of EG. I'm still seeing page reads, but the hope of actually paying off the ad is slim. Which kind of blows but like I said, not unexpected.
Overall, I'm still ahead on ad revenue, showing a 8.91% profit. $271 spent on ads. $297.50 earned off ads. That'll change a little as the month progresses and page reads continue to come in, but not in any major way.
I didn't keep track of rankings this time. At one point, DE made it into the 300s in its genre specification and into the teen-thousands in overall books. Not quite enough to effect sales greatly.
Prior to the ad, I had no sales this time around. I fell down on the job of pushing on FB. That may account for lower sales from the ad because the rankings of all three books were so poor when the ad came out. I made a pretty, new graphic that seemed to get a lot of Likes on FB, but didn't really equate to more sales.
Could be that because one of my pre-ad push days was Sept 11th the pre-sales fell apart. It wasn't really a great day for book buying or looking at ads. But when I set my sale dates, it wasn't even on my radar. My mistake.
Anyway, live and learn.
Not sure what lies ahead for marketing this year. I have sales penciled in for October, November, and December. Whether I'll be able to advertise remains to be seen. Gotta make money to spend money to make money... Ad infinitum.
As for overall sales for the year, I just passed the 400 books/$400 mark. Not sure if I'll pass last year at this rate, but I've already passed 2017, so this won't be my worst year ever. That's gotta count for something.
And that's it. Any questions?
Monday, September 2, 2019
Sales and Advertising Update
It's Labor Day. I'd like to say I wrote this post as a nod to that - because like it shows the fruits of my labors - but in reality, I forgot it was going to be Labor Day today.
At the beginning of the year, I made a goal to have paid advertising at least once a month this year. So far, with the exception of March, I have stuck to that goal.
Here's how the paid advertising has broken down so far this year...
January - ad for SU. Spent $6, made $8.53.
February - ads for WIOH and OUAD. Spent $50, made $57.14.
March - Derp.
April - ad for AD. Spent $15, made $29.30.
May - ad for WIOH. Spent $40, made $53.71.
June - ad for DE. Spent $15, made $21.96
July - ad for AD. Spent $55, made $46.04.
August - ad for WIOH. Spent $35, made $32.66 so far.
That's a total of $216 spent and $248.34 made, so I'm ahead overall. By like $33. And I've made like $100 on books where I can't directly attribute the purchases to any paid advertising.
I set up an ad for DE for next month. DE will be 99c. FG and EG will be $1.99. Fingers crossed it doesn't go the way of my July ad. That would suck. I like to think it was July's fault. July always sucked back when I was selling electronic components. Maybe July is just a sucky month for sales of anything. (Although, when I hop into the wayback, July of 2015 was my 2nd best month ever, so who knows?)
Anyway, I'm still chugging along.
A while back, I wondered whether I should save my advertising money and put it toward editing. Umm, no. Like I said, I've spent $216. That wouldn't even pay for half an edit. Even if you add in the $55 I spent for next month's ad, it wouldn't pay for a whole edit. And imagine how bad sales would be if I didn't pay for any ads. :shudder: So, I'll keep advertising and keep my fingers crossed something else breaks so I can set up editing again.
As always, this is just an informational post and your mileage may vary. What works for me, may not work for you... or it may work way better than it did for me.
Any questions?
At the beginning of the year, I made a goal to have paid advertising at least once a month this year. So far, with the exception of March, I have stuck to that goal.
Here's how the paid advertising has broken down so far this year...
January - ad for SU. Spent $6, made $8.53.
February - ads for WIOH and OUAD. Spent $50, made $57.14.
March - Derp.
April - ad for AD. Spent $15, made $29.30.
May - ad for WIOH. Spent $40, made $53.71.
June - ad for DE. Spent $15, made $21.96
July - ad for AD. Spent $55, made $46.04.
August - ad for WIOH. Spent $35, made $32.66 so far.
That's a total of $216 spent and $248.34 made, so I'm ahead overall. By like $33. And I've made like $100 on books where I can't directly attribute the purchases to any paid advertising.
I set up an ad for DE for next month. DE will be 99c. FG and EG will be $1.99. Fingers crossed it doesn't go the way of my July ad. That would suck. I like to think it was July's fault. July always sucked back when I was selling electronic components. Maybe July is just a sucky month for sales of anything. (Although, when I hop into the wayback, July of 2015 was my 2nd best month ever, so who knows?)
Anyway, I'm still chugging along.
A while back, I wondered whether I should save my advertising money and put it toward editing. Umm, no. Like I said, I've spent $216. That wouldn't even pay for half an edit. Even if you add in the $55 I spent for next month's ad, it wouldn't pay for a whole edit. And imagine how bad sales would be if I didn't pay for any ads. :shudder: So, I'll keep advertising and keep my fingers crossed something else breaks so I can set up editing again.
As always, this is just an informational post and your mileage may vary. What works for me, may not work for you... or it may work way better than it did for me.
Any questions?
Friday, August 2, 2019
Stuffs
I was going to skip posting today because I don't really have anything to talk about. But hey, it's Friday and chances are you're here because you expect me to say something.
I got a survey thing from the last place I marketed. They were fine. Sure, I didn't break even on that one, but I suspect it was less their fault than mine. Not sure why they send out a survey right after the sale is over and ask about page reads in it. Page reads generally don't come in that quick for me. Gimme another week and I might be able to accurately answer that question.
Right now, I'm waiting for ENT to get back to me on whether I can have an ad with them. One thing about ENT is they're not that good about sub-genres. They have paranormal, but it's paired with romance - which is totally not the place to put Wish in One Hand. I went with 'fantasy' this time, cuz, like, it's urban FANTASY. We'll see what happens. I gave them a date range and told them I'm flexible, if that helps them decide anything. Worst they can say is no.
If ENT rejects WIOH, advertising will be with Bargain Booksy again. But I think BB is almost tapped out. They recommend advertising a book every 90 days, but I'm afraid of market saturation, so I don't follow their advice.
Oh, and I discovered a new thing with BB specifically targeting Kindle Unlimited subscribers. It's $25, but it only reaches 10K people. And the book has to have more than 20 reviews. Might give it a whirl in September with Dying Embers (my only 20+ review book.)
Also 'oh, and', this month is the four-year birthday for Wish in One Hand. Four years... whoda thunk it?
What's going on out there in your world?
I got a survey thing from the last place I marketed. They were fine. Sure, I didn't break even on that one, but I suspect it was less their fault than mine. Not sure why they send out a survey right after the sale is over and ask about page reads in it. Page reads generally don't come in that quick for me. Gimme another week and I might be able to accurately answer that question.
Right now, I'm waiting for ENT to get back to me on whether I can have an ad with them. One thing about ENT is they're not that good about sub-genres. They have paranormal, but it's paired with romance - which is totally not the place to put Wish in One Hand. I went with 'fantasy' this time, cuz, like, it's urban FANTASY. We'll see what happens. I gave them a date range and told them I'm flexible, if that helps them decide anything. Worst they can say is no.
If ENT rejects WIOH, advertising will be with Bargain Booksy again. But I think BB is almost tapped out. They recommend advertising a book every 90 days, but I'm afraid of market saturation, so I don't follow their advice.
Oh, and I discovered a new thing with BB specifically targeting Kindle Unlimited subscribers. It's $25, but it only reaches 10K people. And the book has to have more than 20 reviews. Might give it a whirl in September with Dying Embers (my only 20+ review book.)
Also 'oh, and', this month is the four-year birthday for Wish in One Hand. Four years... whoda thunk it?
What's going on out there in your world?
Wednesday, July 3, 2019
July is Sales Month
I went a little nuts yesterday morning. Starting tomorrow, July 4th, at least one of my books will be on sale every day through the 29th in both the US and the UK. (As long as Amazon doesn't brainfart.)
Here's how it shakes down:
July 4th - 10th - Project Hermes
July 10th - 16th - Blink of an I
July 16th - 22nd - Sleeping Ugly
July 23rd - 29th - Accidental Death and Natural Causes
All of them will be 99c/99p on their respective dates. I'll let you know if I manage to secure advertising for any of them. With the sale for PH coming so soon, there definitely will not be an ad for that one. The others? We'll see.
I do know I'll be doing my damndest to generate sales in other ways. As unobtrusively as possible. And, of course, as inexpensively as possible. Which means I'll be busting my hump on FB. A little twitter (which I hate, but it's there and I'm using it).
Not sure what'll be happening next month. Probably another Once Upon a Djinn sale. Maybe Unequal. We'll see. I can't think about August right now. Gah, next month is August?!
Okay, back to the grind. What have you got going on this month?
Here's how it shakes down:
July 4th - 10th - Project Hermes
July 10th - 16th - Blink of an I
July 16th - 22nd - Sleeping Ugly
July 23rd - 29th - Accidental Death and Natural Causes
All of them will be 99c/99p on their respective dates. I'll let you know if I manage to secure advertising for any of them. With the sale for PH coming so soon, there definitely will not be an ad for that one. The others? We'll see.
I do know I'll be doing my damndest to generate sales in other ways. As unobtrusively as possible. And, of course, as inexpensively as possible. Which means I'll be busting my hump on FB. A little twitter (which I hate, but it's there and I'm using it).
Not sure what'll be happening next month. Probably another Once Upon a Djinn sale. Maybe Unequal. We'll see. I can't think about August right now. Gah, next month is August?!
Okay, back to the grind. What have you got going on this month?
Friday, June 21, 2019
Facebook and Marketing
Recently, Facebook gifted us with the ability to pretty-up our Page and Group posts with bold and italics and bullet points or numbering and some other extraneous stuffs. Which is all well and good, but... and it's a big but for me... when you copy and paste text, it tosses in weird spaces and line breaks. And if you try to fix it, it makes it worse.
Frankly, it's a pain in the ass. And as we all know, making something that's already kind of a pain in the ass more of a pain in the ass tends to make one not want to do it anymore.
But I have to do it. Hitting the FB Groups the morning after an ad, when the ad generated sales have boosted my rankings, is a must. I need to take advantage of that better ranking - 17425 overall and 371 genre - to possibly gain some extra sales and maybe get some people to download the book for Kindle Unlimited so I can have residual page reads later. Plus, selling the day after an ad helps keep those rankings from dropping too quickly which leads to better sales. It's a circle thing.
Today's marketing image is:
Speaking of images, check out this useful post over at Elizabeth Spann Craig's blog - The Importance of Images in Social Media.
Now, if only the social media... ahem, FB... was cooperating. ;o)
Anyway, good luck out there with your marketing efforts. Any questions, let me know.
Edited to Add: When you post in a FB Group, you should see something like this now:
If you hover over the 'paragraph marks' symbol, you get the opportunity to change the format to Header1, Header2, bullets or numbering, and embedded quotes. If you select text, it gives you the opportunity to Bold or Italics the selected type. I think this is only in Group posts, but I'm not sure.
Frankly, it's a pain in the ass. And as we all know, making something that's already kind of a pain in the ass more of a pain in the ass tends to make one not want to do it anymore.
But I have to do it. Hitting the FB Groups the morning after an ad, when the ad generated sales have boosted my rankings, is a must. I need to take advantage of that better ranking - 17425 overall and 371 genre - to possibly gain some extra sales and maybe get some people to download the book for Kindle Unlimited so I can have residual page reads later. Plus, selling the day after an ad helps keep those rankings from dropping too quickly which leads to better sales. It's a circle thing.
Today's marketing image is:
Speaking of images, check out this useful post over at Elizabeth Spann Craig's blog - The Importance of Images in Social Media.
Now, if only the social media... ahem, FB... was cooperating. ;o)
Anyway, good luck out there with your marketing efforts. Any questions, let me know.
Edited to Add: When you post in a FB Group, you should see something like this now:
If you hover over the 'paragraph marks' symbol, you get the opportunity to change the format to Header1, Header2, bullets or numbering, and embedded quotes. If you select text, it gives you the opportunity to Bold or Italics the selected type. I think this is only in Group posts, but I'm not sure.
Friday, June 14, 2019
Creating Marketing Materials
I read an interesting newsletter article this week on creating marketing materials. It was specifically geared toward materials for that venue, but it got me to thinking. And creating.
Starting next Wednesday, the SCIU books are on sale. Taking ideas from the article, I came up with this:
I think it still needs some tweaking. The white 'Bringing Killers to Justice One Book at a Time' on the gray background might have been on the no-no list. When I made it, it looked pretty good, but seeing it now, it's kind of hard to read at this size. Might need to outline those words like I did with the SCIU words.
Still, I think it carries the message I wanted and it's not too busy (which was another of the marketing no-nos). You can tell that's a prison fence, right? Yeah, not all the villains in the series make it to behind the fence, but I was trying to find one image to convey a theme for all three books and nothing says 'justice' like a prison.
I found the fence picture at Morguefile. Then grayed out the image because a pretty blue sky wasn't right and the colors would've distracted from the covers. I think. And I tweaked the brightness and contrast to come up with a sufficiently gloomy feel.
Then I added the covers and wording, moving things around and trying different fonts and tweaking everything until I came up with what you see above.
Anyway, creating marketing materials is a learning curve. I hope this image works. The proof is in the pudding.
So, yeah, the article said to make the image clear as to its purpose. Prison fence... Got it. And to not make it too busy so it doesn't distract from its purpose. Three covers, minimal wording... Check. And to make it easily read. Umm, I'll work on that. Clear, concise, intent on its purpose... check, check, check?
Now, the question for you all is: If you saw this, would you be inclined to explore the series further with the intent to buy? Because that's really what all of this is about. If you can't achieve that with your marketing materials, you're spinning your wheels. And lord knows, none of us has time for that.
Starting next Wednesday, the SCIU books are on sale. Taking ideas from the article, I came up with this:
Still, I think it carries the message I wanted and it's not too busy (which was another of the marketing no-nos). You can tell that's a prison fence, right? Yeah, not all the villains in the series make it to behind the fence, but I was trying to find one image to convey a theme for all three books and nothing says 'justice' like a prison.
I found the fence picture at Morguefile. Then grayed out the image because a pretty blue sky wasn't right and the colors would've distracted from the covers. I think. And I tweaked the brightness and contrast to come up with a sufficiently gloomy feel.
Then I added the covers and wording, moving things around and trying different fonts and tweaking everything until I came up with what you see above.
Anyway, creating marketing materials is a learning curve. I hope this image works. The proof is in the pudding.
So, yeah, the article said to make the image clear as to its purpose. Prison fence... Got it. And to not make it too busy so it doesn't distract from its purpose. Three covers, minimal wording... Check. And to make it easily read. Umm, I'll work on that. Clear, concise, intent on its purpose... check, check, check?
Now, the question for you all is: If you saw this, would you be inclined to explore the series further with the intent to buy? Because that's really what all of this is about. If you can't achieve that with your marketing materials, you're spinning your wheels. And lord knows, none of us has time for that.
Wednesday, June 12, 2019
A Gentle Reminder
Time again for a gentle reminder...
PROOFREAD YOUR MARKETING MATERIALS!
Twice in the past few days, I've seen marketing materials with typos in them. One, the author used your instead of you're. The other, the author used there instead of their - twice in the same blurb. :headdesk:
Seriously, folks, this shouldn't be that hard. I mean, we're talking a few short paragraphs.
The first one was in a Facebook group. So, free advertising. The second was in a marketing newsletter that they obviously had to pay for. Which makes it doubly egregious.
FB group marketing... Sometimes shit happens. Lord knows I'm not perfect, and I've made mistakes. Which I then catch and edit. Yes, you can edit FB posts. There's a little ellipsis looking thing in the upper right corner of your status update. When you click it, you get a dropdown menu...
And there's an 'edit post' option. So, if you see an error, you can fix the error.
Once, I had to go back and fix a half dozen marketing posts because for some stupid reason the UK sales link was broken and I didn't notice until I'd posted the damn thing all over the place. Caught it, fixed it. It was only live to users for about ten minutes.
In marketing efforts you've paid for, fixing the flaw isn't necessarily possible. Here, you really need to pay attention. Because once you've sent it out to the powers that be, it's stuck there. Well, I guess you might be able to contact them if you have enough time. And then you can hope someone over there is paying attention and is nice enough to allow you to fix the error. But I wouldn't count on it. Proof, proof, proof.
Otherwise, you might as well put on your big red nose and floppy feet because you'll look like a clown.
In either of the above cases, the author may have proofed the holy hell out of their manuscript to make it all shiny and clean, but their marketing materials tell the world that they probably didn't bother. All that work down the drain.
So, yeah, a gentle reminder this morning... proofread your stuff, folks. It's kind of important.
PROOFREAD YOUR MARKETING MATERIALS!
Twice in the past few days, I've seen marketing materials with typos in them. One, the author used your instead of you're. The other, the author used there instead of their - twice in the same blurb. :headdesk:
Seriously, folks, this shouldn't be that hard. I mean, we're talking a few short paragraphs.
The first one was in a Facebook group. So, free advertising. The second was in a marketing newsletter that they obviously had to pay for. Which makes it doubly egregious.
FB group marketing... Sometimes shit happens. Lord knows I'm not perfect, and I've made mistakes. Which I then catch and edit. Yes, you can edit FB posts. There's a little ellipsis looking thing in the upper right corner of your status update. When you click it, you get a dropdown menu...
Once, I had to go back and fix a half dozen marketing posts because for some stupid reason the UK sales link was broken and I didn't notice until I'd posted the damn thing all over the place. Caught it, fixed it. It was only live to users for about ten minutes.
In marketing efforts you've paid for, fixing the flaw isn't necessarily possible. Here, you really need to pay attention. Because once you've sent it out to the powers that be, it's stuck there. Well, I guess you might be able to contact them if you have enough time. And then you can hope someone over there is paying attention and is nice enough to allow you to fix the error. But I wouldn't count on it. Proof, proof, proof.
Otherwise, you might as well put on your big red nose and floppy feet because you'll look like a clown.
In either of the above cases, the author may have proofed the holy hell out of their manuscript to make it all shiny and clean, but their marketing materials tell the world that they probably didn't bother. All that work down the drain.
So, yeah, a gentle reminder this morning... proofread your stuff, folks. It's kind of important.
Friday, May 31, 2019
Another Marketing Post
Marketing... For indie authors, it's sort of a throw it at the wall and hope it sticks kind of thing for the most part. I mean, if we had publishers worth their salt, we'd know what marketing worked and aim at the wall better with stickier stuff. But we don't. It's all on us to figure this stuff out.
So, this year, I've been trying some things to see what works for me and what doesn't. And I'm trying to share that with all of you because we're in the same boat and what the hell, right?
One of the things I've done is tracking. Everything. Sales - in quantity and dollars, ROI (Return On Investment), page reads in relation to marketing... I have spreadsheets and graphs. It's all very pretty.
See?
We already know one of the things I've discovered and talked about ad nauseum. Ads increase sales... err, during promos. (Ads without promotional pricing are pretty much duds.) I paid for ads in February, April, and May. No paid ads in January or March. The graph shows how all that worked out, eh?
Another thing we all pretty much know is promos increase sales quantities. But we also need to remember that they decrease the dollar per book averages. I know, it's sort of a 'well, duh' moment. It's all well and good to move a lot of books at 99c (which during a promo nets an average of 65c per), but if you're not selling books at regular prices, the average tanks. I'm sitting at an avg of $1.02 per book this year and $1.21 per over the past four+ years.
This year, I've also been tracking my book downloads and purchases. I was doing this mainly so I'd know what books I have, what I've read, and what I didn't finish. Also, it helps me keep track of my book buying budget. $31.83 spent this year so far.
But yesterday, I thought it might help with something else.
I was thinking about where to market books next month. Should I go with Robin Reads? Ereader News Today? Book Adrenaline? Where would my money best be placed?
Historical data on ROI points to ENT. Of course. But when I checked, I discovered my own reading habits also point to ENT. Of all the places I've discovered books this year, ENT wins hands down. Then Freebooksy/Bargainbooksy. Then Reading Deals. Book Gorilla and Robin Reads are down near the bottom.
Now, this is just anecdotal evidence. And you have to remember, I'm downloading mostly free books right now. And with a lot of marketing venues, ads for free books cost more than ads for 99c books. I don't know about other authors, but I have a tough time paying for an ad for a book that's not going to make me any money. So I assume there's fewer people who put free books in places like Book Gorilla and Robin Reads, which would lead to a lower download rate from me. Still, it's something to think about.
Then there's the fact that some venues are harder to get advertising with that others. I've been using BargainBooksy a lot lately because they have an easy policy and it's clear what dates are available right when you sign up - and you get to choose your date. No waiting for someone to get back to me with a date or a rejection. Bing bang boom. The problem is I think BargainBooksy is almost tapped out for me this year. I mean, both ads this year paid for themselves, but this recent one paid a lot less than the last. Of course, that was for OUAD. Might still be some readers who haven't seen SCIU yet.
It's all a balancing act. :cue circus music:
Anyway, I hope some of this helps. As always, if you have any questions, let me know. If you have anything to add, feel free. Good luck in your marketing efforts and I hope you sell tons of books!
Update: I guess I wasn't the only one thinking about this stuff today. If you're interested in more info go over to Elizabeth Spann Craig's blog where she talks about Amazon's new KDP Beta reports.
So, this year, I've been trying some things to see what works for me and what doesn't. And I'm trying to share that with all of you because we're in the same boat and what the hell, right?
One of the things I've done is tracking. Everything. Sales - in quantity and dollars, ROI (Return On Investment), page reads in relation to marketing... I have spreadsheets and graphs. It's all very pretty.
We already know one of the things I've discovered and talked about ad nauseum. Ads increase sales... err, during promos. (Ads without promotional pricing are pretty much duds.) I paid for ads in February, April, and May. No paid ads in January or March. The graph shows how all that worked out, eh?
Another thing we all pretty much know is promos increase sales quantities. But we also need to remember that they decrease the dollar per book averages. I know, it's sort of a 'well, duh' moment. It's all well and good to move a lot of books at 99c (which during a promo nets an average of 65c per), but if you're not selling books at regular prices, the average tanks. I'm sitting at an avg of $1.02 per book this year and $1.21 per over the past four+ years.
This year, I've also been tracking my book downloads and purchases. I was doing this mainly so I'd know what books I have, what I've read, and what I didn't finish. Also, it helps me keep track of my book buying budget. $31.83 spent this year so far.
But yesterday, I thought it might help with something else.
I was thinking about where to market books next month. Should I go with Robin Reads? Ereader News Today? Book Adrenaline? Where would my money best be placed?
Historical data on ROI points to ENT. Of course. But when I checked, I discovered my own reading habits also point to ENT. Of all the places I've discovered books this year, ENT wins hands down. Then Freebooksy/Bargainbooksy. Then Reading Deals. Book Gorilla and Robin Reads are down near the bottom.
Now, this is just anecdotal evidence. And you have to remember, I'm downloading mostly free books right now. And with a lot of marketing venues, ads for free books cost more than ads for 99c books. I don't know about other authors, but I have a tough time paying for an ad for a book that's not going to make me any money. So I assume there's fewer people who put free books in places like Book Gorilla and Robin Reads, which would lead to a lower download rate from me. Still, it's something to think about.
Then there's the fact that some venues are harder to get advertising with that others. I've been using BargainBooksy a lot lately because they have an easy policy and it's clear what dates are available right when you sign up - and you get to choose your date. No waiting for someone to get back to me with a date or a rejection. Bing bang boom. The problem is I think BargainBooksy is almost tapped out for me this year. I mean, both ads this year paid for themselves, but this recent one paid a lot less than the last. Of course, that was for OUAD. Might still be some readers who haven't seen SCIU yet.
It's all a balancing act. :cue circus music:
Anyway, I hope some of this helps. As always, if you have any questions, let me know. If you have anything to add, feel free. Good luck in your marketing efforts and I hope you sell tons of books!
Update: I guess I wasn't the only one thinking about this stuff today. If you're interested in more info go over to Elizabeth Spann Craig's blog where she talks about Amazon's new KDP Beta reports.
Monday, May 27, 2019
FB Group Marketing Update
I know all of us are trying our damnedest to find the magic formula that will sell books. I don't have one. What I do have is a list of Facebook Groups that I market to**, in the hopes that someone getting the feed from those groups will be interested in the books I'm advertising. This sale I'm having (today's the last day) has born out the necessity for using this tactic.
The sale started last Tuesday. The paid ad didn't go live until Thursday, but I wanted to get a jump on knocking those Amazon rankings down to a more acceptable level, so I started first thing Tuesday morning with FB Group posts. By the time the ad went live, I'd sold 16 books (4 complete sets) using only those posts. And my rankings for all four books had dropped from the stratosphere down to the 110Ks.
Then the ad went live. Right now, I don't FB market on the days my ads go live - because I want to see which sales are almost certainly directly relatable to those ads. But Friday, I started up again with the ads. I should've hit the ground running and started with the ads first thing, when the rankings were at their lowest point, but I lazed and only ran half the posts at 6:15a. The other half got posts around 3p. Got some residual sales then. I took Saturday off for the most part and only posted to one new group. Saw a couple sales that day. Bright and early Sunday morning, I posted to all the groups. No sales on Sunday, but I woke up to five sales this morning. By the time you read this today, I will have done a final push. Fingers crossed it brings in additional sales.
I'll post more about the actual sales numbers on Wednesday.
As for the groups I post to, the list has grown and here it is:
Amazon Kindle Goodreads
Indie Authors International
Self-Published Crime Fiction Writers*
Crime, Thriller, Mystery Readers' Cafe*
Kindle Unlimited
Thriller Mystery and Suspense Book Club*
Thrillers, Killers, & Suspense*
Kindle/Book Club
Mystery and Thriller Publicity Book Club*
Indie Sci-Fi and Fantasy Book Promotion
Free Kindle Books*
Kindle Krazy! Authors Actively Seeking Readers
Ebook, Book Ads and Self Promotion
Book Reviews and Promotion
Shamelessly Promote Your Books
Free Kindle Books UK*
Kindle Readers and Authors (new)
Promote Your Books Here (new)
* Not used during this sale because the genre or the price didn't fit.
If you remember the list from before, there are a few missing. For one reason or another, I left those groups and made a note to not rejoin them. Also, I have two groups I've requested membership to but they're still pending. If they accept me, I'll put them on the next list.
As always, if you use the above groups, please pay attention to their rules. For instance, the owner of the Indie Sci-Fi and Fantasy Book Promotions Group has a strict rule about 'no romance / no sex'. Not that books can't have those things, but they'd better not be the primary storyline in the books you promote there. Unfortunately, people keep trying to break his rule and it seems to irritate the crap out of him. Do not irritate the people you're trying to market through. Seriously, don't.
And the Free Kindle Books UK isn't a group. It's a page and if you want to have your books marketed there, you have to send a message to the page's owner. She's been prompt and pretty cool, but don't push it.
Of course, posting to these groups can be a drudge. Picking the image, creating the verbiage, and then posting posting posting... Blerg. But for the time I put in on Tuesday/Wednesday, I made about $10 and that ain't bad. Plus, it was worth it to help boost ad sales.
I feel like I'm forgetting something, so if you have any questions, ask away. And whatever your marketing efforts, good luck!
** For free. Posting to FB Groups doesn't cost a dime. Shhh, don't tell FB or they'll find a way to charge us for it or something.
The sale started last Tuesday. The paid ad didn't go live until Thursday, but I wanted to get a jump on knocking those Amazon rankings down to a more acceptable level, so I started first thing Tuesday morning with FB Group posts. By the time the ad went live, I'd sold 16 books (4 complete sets) using only those posts. And my rankings for all four books had dropped from the stratosphere down to the 110Ks.
Then the ad went live. Right now, I don't FB market on the days my ads go live - because I want to see which sales are almost certainly directly relatable to those ads. But Friday, I started up again with the ads. I should've hit the ground running and started with the ads first thing, when the rankings were at their lowest point, but I lazed and only ran half the posts at 6:15a. The other half got posts around 3p. Got some residual sales then. I took Saturday off for the most part and only posted to one new group. Saw a couple sales that day. Bright and early Sunday morning, I posted to all the groups. No sales on Sunday, but I woke up to five sales this morning. By the time you read this today, I will have done a final push. Fingers crossed it brings in additional sales.
I'll post more about the actual sales numbers on Wednesday.
As for the groups I post to, the list has grown and here it is:
Amazon Kindle Goodreads
Indie Authors International
Self-Published Crime Fiction Writers*
Crime, Thriller, Mystery Readers' Cafe*
Kindle Unlimited
Thriller Mystery and Suspense Book Club*
Thrillers, Killers, & Suspense*
Kindle/Book Club
Mystery and Thriller Publicity Book Club*
Indie Sci-Fi and Fantasy Book Promotion
Free Kindle Books*
Kindle Krazy! Authors Actively Seeking Readers
Ebook, Book Ads and Self Promotion
Book Reviews and Promotion
Shamelessly Promote Your Books
Free Kindle Books UK*
Kindle Readers and Authors (new)
Promote Your Books Here (new)
* Not used during this sale because the genre or the price didn't fit.
If you remember the list from before, there are a few missing. For one reason or another, I left those groups and made a note to not rejoin them. Also, I have two groups I've requested membership to but they're still pending. If they accept me, I'll put them on the next list.
As always, if you use the above groups, please pay attention to their rules. For instance, the owner of the Indie Sci-Fi and Fantasy Book Promotions Group has a strict rule about 'no romance / no sex'. Not that books can't have those things, but they'd better not be the primary storyline in the books you promote there. Unfortunately, people keep trying to break his rule and it seems to irritate the crap out of him. Do not irritate the people you're trying to market through. Seriously, don't.
And the Free Kindle Books UK isn't a group. It's a page and if you want to have your books marketed there, you have to send a message to the page's owner. She's been prompt and pretty cool, but don't push it.
Of course, posting to these groups can be a drudge. Picking the image, creating the verbiage, and then posting posting posting... Blerg. But for the time I put in on Tuesday/Wednesday, I made about $10 and that ain't bad. Plus, it was worth it to help boost ad sales.
I feel like I'm forgetting something, so if you have any questions, ask away. And whatever your marketing efforts, good luck!
** For free. Posting to FB Groups doesn't cost a dime. Shhh, don't tell FB or they'll find a way to charge us for it or something.
Monday, May 20, 2019
Sales and Marketing Update Thingie
Time again for another sales/marketing update thingie.
I've been doing even more to keep track of things this year, so it's easier to see what I did and what worked. As always, advertising is what works. For the most part anyway.
In January, I held a sale for Sleeping Ugly and placed an ad*. 2 sales. But I had residual sales from ads placed for the SCIU series in December, so another 16 books there.
In February, I held a sale for the OUAD books with an ad. 52 sales. I also had one freebie day for Unequal and gave away 22 copies, but I got one person to read the whole book in KU, so 1 sale.
In March, I held sales for Natural Causes and Project Hermes with no ads. 3 sales and 1 sale respectively.
In April, I held a sale for the SCIU books with no ad. 5 sales. I also held a sale on Accidental Death with an ad. 27 sales.
So far this month, I held a sale for Blink with no ad. 0 sales. I have another sale for the OUAD books starting Tuesday with an ad going out on Thursday. We'll see what happens when I have a sale twice in the first half of the year and advertise at the same place. The venue keeps sending me emails that the majority of their advertisers place ads every 90 days for optimum success. We'll see if they're right or blowing smoke up my skirt.
Next month, I'll be having more sales with, hopefully, more advertising. We'll see what the budget allows.
To date, I've spent $71 on ads and made $96 I can directly relate to those ads, so I'm ahead of the game there. Not by much, but I'm calling it a win. Here's hoping the $40 I spent on advertising WIOH this week will net me a bigger return.
Nevertheless, I've said it before and I'll say it again, ads work. Maybe not as well as I would like, but they usually pay for themselves and get my books in front of people. They'd probably work better if I had something new to put out there, but I haven't worked that out yet this year. They'd also work better if I had more reviews, but there's little I can do about that.
Any questions?
* Ad or no ad, I'm always posting to various FB groups throughout these sales. Some more than others. I lost my will to post during the Blink sale and you can see what that netted me. Zilch.
I've been doing even more to keep track of things this year, so it's easier to see what I did and what worked. As always, advertising is what works. For the most part anyway.
In January, I held a sale for Sleeping Ugly and placed an ad*. 2 sales. But I had residual sales from ads placed for the SCIU series in December, so another 16 books there.
In February, I held a sale for the OUAD books with an ad. 52 sales. I also had one freebie day for Unequal and gave away 22 copies, but I got one person to read the whole book in KU, so 1 sale.
In March, I held sales for Natural Causes and Project Hermes with no ads. 3 sales and 1 sale respectively.
In April, I held a sale for the SCIU books with no ad. 5 sales. I also held a sale on Accidental Death with an ad. 27 sales.
So far this month, I held a sale for Blink with no ad. 0 sales. I have another sale for the OUAD books starting Tuesday with an ad going out on Thursday. We'll see what happens when I have a sale twice in the first half of the year and advertise at the same place. The venue keeps sending me emails that the majority of their advertisers place ads every 90 days for optimum success. We'll see if they're right or blowing smoke up my skirt.
Next month, I'll be having more sales with, hopefully, more advertising. We'll see what the budget allows.
To date, I've spent $71 on ads and made $96 I can directly relate to those ads, so I'm ahead of the game there. Not by much, but I'm calling it a win. Here's hoping the $40 I spent on advertising WIOH this week will net me a bigger return.
Nevertheless, I've said it before and I'll say it again, ads work. Maybe not as well as I would like, but they usually pay for themselves and get my books in front of people. They'd probably work better if I had something new to put out there, but I haven't worked that out yet this year. They'd also work better if I had more reviews, but there's little I can do about that.
Any questions?
* Ad or no ad, I'm always posting to various FB groups throughout these sales. Some more than others. I lost my will to post during the Blink sale and you can see what that netted me. Zilch.
Monday, April 22, 2019
I Don't Wanna!
I don't wanna market anymore. I swear to god, if I have to do one more post about this sale... or any sale, for that matter... I'm gonna scream. And maybe roll around on the floor, holding my breath.
Umm, yeah.
Marketing is a pain in the ass. But here's the deal...
If I don't market, I don't sell books. I may only sell one or two books from my own efforts, but it's one or two I didn't sell before I carpet bombed FB with my marketing posts. Is that effective use of my time? Oh, hell, no. At that rate, I make about $4 an hour. But the alternative is making $0. Zero bucks for zero effort. Fair, but it ain't gonna put moolah in the bank account.
I make more money from advertising, which is minimal effort on my part with better gains, but in order to do that, I have to have the money to spent the money to make the money... Ugh, that gives me a headache.
So, what do you do when you're pretty much broke and still want to market? You suck it up and do what you don't wanna do.
Doesn't mean I have to like it. Doesn't mean I won't whine about it. But on this last day of my sale, I have to suck it up and post those posts and see if I can't generate some sales. Five groups down, eight more to go. Then the marketing will be done for this sale. (Because I can only post once per day per group.)
And it does work. Maybe not gangbusters - like I said only one or two sales extra - but a trickle is better than crickets.
So, I'll gird my loins and finish out the marketing extravaganza this morning. Then I'll start thinking about next month's marketing blitz. Gah. I wish I could just pay someone to do this for me. But that would defeat the purpose. And you know what they say about wishing... Heh. Wish in one hand...
Speaking of which, the wish books will be next on the marketing go-'round. (Had to throw that last marketing thing in there. Can't help myself.)
And now that I've given myself this little pep-talk (mental kick in the pants), I should probably quit stalling and get back at it.
Have a great day!
Umm, yeah.
Marketing is a pain in the ass. But here's the deal...
If I don't market, I don't sell books. I may only sell one or two books from my own efforts, but it's one or two I didn't sell before I carpet bombed FB with my marketing posts. Is that effective use of my time? Oh, hell, no. At that rate, I make about $4 an hour. But the alternative is making $0. Zero bucks for zero effort. Fair, but it ain't gonna put moolah in the bank account.
I make more money from advertising, which is minimal effort on my part with better gains, but in order to do that, I have to have the money to spent the money to make the money... Ugh, that gives me a headache.
So, what do you do when you're pretty much broke and still want to market? You suck it up and do what you don't wanna do.
Doesn't mean I have to like it. Doesn't mean I won't whine about it. But on this last day of my sale, I have to suck it up and post those posts and see if I can't generate some sales. Five groups down, eight more to go. Then the marketing will be done for this sale. (Because I can only post once per day per group.)
And it does work. Maybe not gangbusters - like I said only one or two sales extra - but a trickle is better than crickets.
So, I'll gird my loins and finish out the marketing extravaganza this morning. Then I'll start thinking about next month's marketing blitz. Gah. I wish I could just pay someone to do this for me. But that would defeat the purpose. And you know what they say about wishing... Heh. Wish in one hand...
Speaking of which, the wish books will be next on the marketing go-'round. (Had to throw that last marketing thing in there. Can't help myself.)
And now that I've given myself this little pep-talk (mental kick in the pants), I should probably quit stalling and get back at it.
Have a great day!
Friday, April 19, 2019
Mid-Sale Update
Well, the sale is rolling along nicely. Way better than the last two sales because I actually advertised this time. And by the end of the day yesterday, I cleared the cost of the ad. Yay.
But it's actually kind of sad when making more than $15 on a sale is a Yay moment. I mean, you have to celebrate the little victories. But when you have to woohoo the small stuff because there are no big victories, it's sad.
Anyway, this morning's marketing copy for FB is all about reaching #48 in Hard-boiled Mystery. Breaking the Top 100 in any genre is cause for a bit of Woohoo. This is the image I made using the cover art and a screen capture of this morning's Amazon rankings:
Which was reached by selling 27 copies of AD yesterday. (Also sold one copy of Natural Causes at full price, which was cool.)
We'll see if I sell any books today. I did get a couple page reads last night, so there's that to look forward to.
I made a new little graph in my sales spreadsheet to show month by month sales. It's pretty.
So, as of now, April is looking to be my 2nd best month so far this year. Sell another 17 books and it'll be my best month of 2019. Yay.
Next month is still up in the air. Whittling out enough money for advertising should be fun. We'll see how that goes. I'd like to lay some bigger money down so I can get bigger sales. I dream of being able to afford advertising at one of the big venues. Someday.
Meanwhile, this is good.
But it's actually kind of sad when making more than $15 on a sale is a Yay moment. I mean, you have to celebrate the little victories. But when you have to woohoo the small stuff because there are no big victories, it's sad.
Anyway, this morning's marketing copy for FB is all about reaching #48 in Hard-boiled Mystery. Breaking the Top 100 in any genre is cause for a bit of Woohoo. This is the image I made using the cover art and a screen capture of this morning's Amazon rankings:
We'll see if I sell any books today. I did get a couple page reads last night, so there's that to look forward to.
I made a new little graph in my sales spreadsheet to show month by month sales. It's pretty.
Next month is still up in the air. Whittling out enough money for advertising should be fun. We'll see how that goes. I'd like to lay some bigger money down so I can get bigger sales. I dream of being able to afford advertising at one of the big venues. Someday.
Meanwhile, this is good.
Wednesday, April 17, 2019
Funny Story
So, I have another sale going on. Accidental Death is only 99c/99p through Monday. And I actually have some advertising set up this time. Expect to see an ad in the Book Adrenaline newsletter tomorrow.
Funny story... When I set up the ad for the 18th last week, my brain was actually think the 18th was two weeks away. I didn't realize I had given myself... and the venue... such a tight time frame. So, when I never got an invoice from BA, I figured they were basically telling me I was crazy to even try for an ad right then. Flash forward to yesterday and I get a polite notice from BA that if I don't pay their invoice they can't put my ad in their 18th newsletter.
I swear I never got the original invoice. I checked my spam... nope. Checked my trash... another 'pay this or else' notice was in there, but no original invoice. Then again, I dumped my trash, so I might've missed it. So, I paid the invoice right then and they indicated they got the money, so everything should be in place to be in the newsletter. AD will probably be jammed in at the bottom, but I did this to myself. Poor planning on my part.
Next month, I promise to not have my thinker so far up my... err... armpit.
Anyway, BA is only $15, so it's worth a shot, eh?
Anyway #2, let this be a lesson to you - don't assume your ad was rejected. Check those folders and be alert. There's every chance that because I get so many newsletters these days, I actually got the invoice, but deleted it with the plethora of other mail. Derp.
As for next month, the Once Upon a Djinn books will be on sale, with an ad and everything... good lord willin' and the creek don't rise. Not sure of the exact dates yet, but I'll let y'all know.
By the way, if you've already read AD and haven't read it's sequel Natural Causes, it's not on sale, but it's only $2.99.
Funny story... When I set up the ad for the 18th last week, my brain was actually think the 18th was two weeks away. I didn't realize I had given myself... and the venue... such a tight time frame. So, when I never got an invoice from BA, I figured they were basically telling me I was crazy to even try for an ad right then. Flash forward to yesterday and I get a polite notice from BA that if I don't pay their invoice they can't put my ad in their 18th newsletter.
I swear I never got the original invoice. I checked my spam... nope. Checked my trash... another 'pay this or else' notice was in there, but no original invoice. Then again, I dumped my trash, so I might've missed it. So, I paid the invoice right then and they indicated they got the money, so everything should be in place to be in the newsletter. AD will probably be jammed in at the bottom, but I did this to myself. Poor planning on my part.
Next month, I promise to not have my thinker so far up my... err... armpit.
Anyway, BA is only $15, so it's worth a shot, eh?
Anyway #2, let this be a lesson to you - don't assume your ad was rejected. Check those folders and be alert. There's every chance that because I get so many newsletters these days, I actually got the invoice, but deleted it with the plethora of other mail. Derp.
As for next month, the Once Upon a Djinn books will be on sale, with an ad and everything... good lord willin' and the creek don't rise. Not sure of the exact dates yet, but I'll let y'all know.
By the way, if you've already read AD and haven't read it's sequel Natural Causes, it's not on sale, but it's only $2.99.
Friday, March 29, 2019
Updates, Such as They Are
I don't have much to talk about with regard to writing/editing today. I'm still in that limbo place - can't start anything new until I finish UatB and I can't finish UatB right now. Meh.
Yesterday, the sale for Project Hermes came to an end. With only my own postings to FB groups, I only sold one book. I did, however, see movement on some of my other books, so I'm counting it as a win.
I have a sale starting next Wednesday for all of the SCIU books. DE will be 99c/99p. The rest will be $1.99/1.99p. Thru the following Tuesday night. I didn't manage to set up any paid advertising for this, so we'll see how it goes. If nothing else, I'll be pimping it on the FB groups.
Someone is currently reading through the SCIU series in Page Reads, one after the other, so that's nice. They're on Early Grave right now. I hope they enjoy it. They must've enjoyed the other two to keep reading them all.
I do have the ideas necessary to write the fourth SCIU book, but the gumption isn't there. (See above.) This may be where I can use my Wrongful Termination title idea, but I'm on the fence about that. That title was originally meant for one of the Dennis Haggarty books.
I'm planning a sale for the Once Upon a Djinn series for May. Same general idea as the SCIU sale - the first book at 99c and the rest at $1.99. Hopefully, by the end of next month I'll have money to pay for advertising. :fingers crossed:
And maybe I'll do a Dennis Haggarty sale in June. My goal for 2019 was to do at least one sale a month with advertising. I'm managing at least one sale a month, but not the advertising part. Let's hope I can get back on track with that.
All in all, despite the slow March, this hasn't been a horrible sales year so far. Not the best year either, but I shouldn't complain. It's been a horrible writing/publishing year, but I have hope for the next nine months.
Sometimes that's all we can do - hope.
Yesterday, the sale for Project Hermes came to an end. With only my own postings to FB groups, I only sold one book. I did, however, see movement on some of my other books, so I'm counting it as a win.
I have a sale starting next Wednesday for all of the SCIU books. DE will be 99c/99p. The rest will be $1.99/1.99p. Thru the following Tuesday night. I didn't manage to set up any paid advertising for this, so we'll see how it goes. If nothing else, I'll be pimping it on the FB groups.
Someone is currently reading through the SCIU series in Page Reads, one after the other, so that's nice. They're on Early Grave right now. I hope they enjoy it. They must've enjoyed the other two to keep reading them all.
I do have the ideas necessary to write the fourth SCIU book, but the gumption isn't there. (See above.) This may be where I can use my Wrongful Termination title idea, but I'm on the fence about that. That title was originally meant for one of the Dennis Haggarty books.
I'm planning a sale for the Once Upon a Djinn series for May. Same general idea as the SCIU sale - the first book at 99c and the rest at $1.99. Hopefully, by the end of next month I'll have money to pay for advertising. :fingers crossed:
And maybe I'll do a Dennis Haggarty sale in June. My goal for 2019 was to do at least one sale a month with advertising. I'm managing at least one sale a month, but not the advertising part. Let's hope I can get back on track with that.
All in all, despite the slow March, this hasn't been a horrible sales year so far. Not the best year either, but I shouldn't complain. It's been a horrible writing/publishing year, but I have hope for the next nine months.
Sometimes that's all we can do - hope.
Wednesday, February 27, 2019
Keeping Your Balls in the Air
I hear you giggling. Knock it off, ya pervs*.
What I'm talking about is juggling all my books you have so they all stay in the air and none of them falls to the ground. Forgotten. Wasted. At the ass end of the Amazon rankings.
I'm not good at this. So don't think this post will be the key to your salvation. It ain't. There's no salvation here. While I'm over here trying to keep my more popular series titles in the public eye, the other lesser known and underappreciated books are rolling away. And even when I'm busy working on the more popular series, it's usually the first book getting attention while the sequels are wobbling.
So, here I am with 13 books out there for people to buy and read. Trying to keep any number of them in the air at the same time. Yeah, we all know how that goes. Poor Unequal is sitting in the 2-mil range on Amazon rankings. I don't even want to know where Project Hermes and Blink of an I are at. So sad and lonely. :sniffle:
Anyway, there's not much I can do for them but try and get some kind of buzz created here and there. To that end, I'll be trying some things throughout the year. Like the freebie thing I did for UEQ last week. It fizzled, but I tried.
Speaking of trying, Natural Causes will be on sale starting next Wednesday and going through to the night of the 9th. 99c. I'm not doing any ads this time because I had to shift money out of my advertising budget to cover expenses elsewhere, but I will be drumming up buzz on FB and Twitter. Fingers crossed some of the hundreds of people who bought Accidental Death go 'hey, another one! And it's on sale!' and buy NC, too. We'll see.
To that end, I tweaked the cover of NC. Got rid of the gravesite and sharpened up the graphics a bit. You'd have to see the old one side by side with the new one to really notice, I think.
I'm also looking ahead and have set up a sale of the SCIU books again. That'll be April 3rd through the 10th. I hope to have advertising for that one. Gotta squeeze loose some scratch for that. Should be doable.
So, I've got those balls in the air. And I'm still trying to throw ball #14 into the mix. (Ugly and the Beast will be book #14, if I ever get off my ass.) :cue carnival music:
And that's not counting the pay-job balls or the home balls or the... There's a lot of balls flying around my atmosphere.
What balls do you have in the air? Are you managing to juggle them all or are you like me?
*Who's the real perv? The one who thought it, or the one who thought you thought it when you didn't and thus put the idea in your head? ;o)
What I'm talking about is juggling all my books you have so they all stay in the air and none of them falls to the ground. Forgotten. Wasted. At the ass end of the Amazon rankings.
I'm not good at this. So don't think this post will be the key to your salvation. It ain't. There's no salvation here. While I'm over here trying to keep my more popular series titles in the public eye, the other lesser known and underappreciated books are rolling away. And even when I'm busy working on the more popular series, it's usually the first book getting attention while the sequels are wobbling.
So, here I am with 13 books out there for people to buy and read. Trying to keep any number of them in the air at the same time. Yeah, we all know how that goes. Poor Unequal is sitting in the 2-mil range on Amazon rankings. I don't even want to know where Project Hermes and Blink of an I are at. So sad and lonely. :sniffle:
Anyway, there's not much I can do for them but try and get some kind of buzz created here and there. To that end, I'll be trying some things throughout the year. Like the freebie thing I did for UEQ last week. It fizzled, but I tried.
Speaking of trying, Natural Causes will be on sale starting next Wednesday and going through to the night of the 9th. 99c. I'm not doing any ads this time because I had to shift money out of my advertising budget to cover expenses elsewhere, but I will be drumming up buzz on FB and Twitter. Fingers crossed some of the hundreds of people who bought Accidental Death go 'hey, another one! And it's on sale!' and buy NC, too. We'll see.
To that end, I tweaked the cover of NC. Got rid of the gravesite and sharpened up the graphics a bit. You'd have to see the old one side by side with the new one to really notice, I think.
I'm also looking ahead and have set up a sale of the SCIU books again. That'll be April 3rd through the 10th. I hope to have advertising for that one. Gotta squeeze loose some scratch for that. Should be doable.
So, I've got those balls in the air. And I'm still trying to throw ball #14 into the mix. (Ugly and the Beast will be book #14, if I ever get off my ass.) :cue carnival music:
And that's not counting the pay-job balls or the home balls or the... There's a lot of balls flying around my atmosphere.
What balls do you have in the air? Are you managing to juggle them all or are you like me?
*Who's the real perv? The one who thought it, or the one who thought you thought it when you didn't and thus put the idea in your head? ;o)
Monday, February 11, 2019
Wrap-up of Last Week's Marketing.
Time for another marketing post. I hope you find these helpful.
Last week, I held Kindle Countdown Deals for all 4 of the Once Upon a Djinn series books. I had one paid ad, 2 newsletter mentions, and numerous FB Group posts. Prior to the ad going live on Tuesday, I had one sale for Wish in One Hand, which did what it needed to do - bump the rankings.
The sale started Sunday, and I started marketing to FB Groups then. I used the image from my OUAD postcards.
No sales that day.
More FB Group marketing on Monday just using the image that comes with the series link and one sale.
Monday, I paid for a FB Boost of the same ad with the series link and no other image. $10 for 1 day. Approximately 240 people saw it and 25 of them engaged with hit. No sales directly relatable to it, though. This post got some likes from people I've never heard of, but none of them Liked the OUAD Page.
Tuesday was the day of the ad. The image there was a compilation Bargain Booksy had created, with Wish in One Hand on the bottom row, second from the left. I sold 25 books directly relatable to the ad. Mostly WIOH, but I did see a few sales of the other three books, too. I did no FB group marketing that day.
Wednesday, I started back to FB marketing again. I chopped the postcard image down a bit for this day.
By this time, the rankings for all four books had reached their zenith. WIOH made it to 16802 in All Books, and 1178 in Paranormal & Urban Fantasy. I saw three sales that day.
Thursday, I kept at the FB Group Marketing. I created a new image for this day's marketing:
I sold 13 books that day. (See Friday's post about Thursday sales.)
Since on Thursday, I had posted to FB Groups throughout the day, I didn't do too much advertising on Friday (to keep from overreaching on the 1 post a day thing and to make sure I had the availability to post everywhere on Saturday morning.) I did create a new image and posted it to a couple of groups.
4 sales on Friday - one of each book. By Friday night, I'd generated enough money to cover the cost of the Bargain Booksy ad.
I used the above image in all of my Saturday advertising, with the exception of the groups I'd posted to on Friday and my own FB Pages. For those, I went with:
Just to mix it up a little. I mean, the followers of all of those Groups had been seeing my posts for a week and I don't want to be a bore. Ya know?
I got one sale on Saturday - after I went to bed.
The Page Reads starting coming in on the fifth. So far, those are only for WIOH, but I expect some of the readers who finish WIOH will go on to read the other 3 books. Because that's what historically happens. In fact, it happened after the Sleeping Ugly sale last month - someone read SU and then one by one, went through the genie books. Yay.
So, that's that. Any questions? Which image do you like best? Personally, I like the last one. It's tie-dyed. Groovy, man.
Last week, I held Kindle Countdown Deals for all 4 of the Once Upon a Djinn series books. I had one paid ad, 2 newsletter mentions, and numerous FB Group posts. Prior to the ad going live on Tuesday, I had one sale for Wish in One Hand, which did what it needed to do - bump the rankings.
The sale started Sunday, and I started marketing to FB Groups then. I used the image from my OUAD postcards.
More FB Group marketing on Monday just using the image that comes with the series link and one sale.
Monday, I paid for a FB Boost of the same ad with the series link and no other image. $10 for 1 day. Approximately 240 people saw it and 25 of them engaged with hit. No sales directly relatable to it, though. This post got some likes from people I've never heard of, but none of them Liked the OUAD Page.
Tuesday was the day of the ad. The image there was a compilation Bargain Booksy had created, with Wish in One Hand on the bottom row, second from the left. I sold 25 books directly relatable to the ad. Mostly WIOH, but I did see a few sales of the other three books, too. I did no FB group marketing that day.
Wednesday, I started back to FB marketing again. I chopped the postcard image down a bit for this day.
Thursday, I kept at the FB Group Marketing. I created a new image for this day's marketing:
Since on Thursday, I had posted to FB Groups throughout the day, I didn't do too much advertising on Friday (to keep from overreaching on the 1 post a day thing and to make sure I had the availability to post everywhere on Saturday morning.) I did create a new image and posted it to a couple of groups.
I used the above image in all of my Saturday advertising, with the exception of the groups I'd posted to on Friday and my own FB Pages. For those, I went with:
I got one sale on Saturday - after I went to bed.
The Page Reads starting coming in on the fifth. So far, those are only for WIOH, but I expect some of the readers who finish WIOH will go on to read the other 3 books. Because that's what historically happens. In fact, it happened after the Sleeping Ugly sale last month - someone read SU and then one by one, went through the genie books. Yay.
So, that's that. Any questions? Which image do you like best? Personally, I like the last one. It's tie-dyed. Groovy, man.
Monday, January 21, 2019
Using FB to Market Books
Facebook, pain in the ass that it can be, is also a place to do some marketing.
I've talked before about FB groups. I may have talked before about FB ads - I don't remember. But I don't think, in either case, I've really addressed what works and what doesn't.
First off, FB ads. Or rather post boosts. (I'm not sure if I've ever done a real 'FB ad'.) Anyway, I'm talking about the thing where you pay FB to make your post more visible. I've done these on numerous occasions. I don't think I've ever seen a sale I can directly link to an FB boost. I don't think I've ever even seen any new Page follows from them. Why do I continue to use them? One word: Visibility. Even if I have no proof any of them ever work, they are splashing my name and my books out there to a couple thousand people. It might, I dunno, stick in their subconscious somewhere, so that when they see my books they might maybe think 'hey, I've heard of B.E. Sanderson' and then go peruse my titles. :shrug:
My first forays into boosting posts met with opposition. I was trying to do graphics and junk, and they always said that my graphics didn't meet their requirements. (Too much text in the image or some such nonsense.) Then I tried boosting posts that only had Amazon links. All of those have been approved so far. And every time I boost, my page views do skyrocket, so that's something.
One thing about FB ads is that you have to narrow the field by being specific about who you want to reach. I think for my last ad, I went into their thingie-bob and tried to target certain demographics. People who have said they like to read, for instance. Yeah, seems like a no-brainer, but you really have to dig deep to find that, and I wasn't finding it at first. Once I did that, I think the boosts were more effective. Your mileage may vary.
And I never have paid more than $20. Not sure if my ads would do better if I paid more, but that's about all I'm willing to pay for getting exposure.
Now, as for FB group posts. I've talked about this before. But I'd like to add some additional insights that might help you. For one thing, ads with photos instead of just links seem to do better. Not sure why - I mean, the link puts a damn picture in the post anyway - but from my experience, photos do better than just links. :shrug: I posted a couple of my latest marketing photos yesterday at The Writing Spectacle. Here are a couple others from my sale in December:
Nothing major. I took the photos myself, so it wasn't any additional money. But they really did seem to work. :shrug:
Another thing I've noticed is that my posts get more traction if I include hashtags. (A fact I forgot until yesterday's marketing posts.) Yeah, it didn't make sense to me either. Hashtags on FB? I thought hashtags were only for Twitter, but I guess they're everywhere now.
When you're making an ad for FB, I think there are a few key points you need to have in there. Chiefly, title, price, and links, but also put something in there that will attract attention - quote a review, drop a short teaser from the book, put a really short blurb. Make sure that if your books are in the KU program, you say that. Sure, the reader will find that out if they click the link, but they have to want to click the link to find out. Why make more work for them?
Here's the post that went out to the various FB groups yesterday:
*Another note. The sale is actually through Tuesday. But I brainfarted in a major way and all of my posts went live with Sunday in them. Every single freakin' one. Which goes to show that no matter how hard you try, there is always a chance you will fuck something up. No real harm done - except I look like I'm wearing a big, red nose and floppy clown feet to anyone who clicked the link and saw that the Kindle Countdown Deal did not end on Sunday. Chalk it up to live and learn. At least I spelled everything right.
I've talked before about FB groups. I may have talked before about FB ads - I don't remember. But I don't think, in either case, I've really addressed what works and what doesn't.
First off, FB ads. Or rather post boosts. (I'm not sure if I've ever done a real 'FB ad'.) Anyway, I'm talking about the thing where you pay FB to make your post more visible. I've done these on numerous occasions. I don't think I've ever seen a sale I can directly link to an FB boost. I don't think I've ever even seen any new Page follows from them. Why do I continue to use them? One word: Visibility. Even if I have no proof any of them ever work, they are splashing my name and my books out there to a couple thousand people. It might, I dunno, stick in their subconscious somewhere, so that when they see my books they might maybe think 'hey, I've heard of B.E. Sanderson' and then go peruse my titles. :shrug:
My first forays into boosting posts met with opposition. I was trying to do graphics and junk, and they always said that my graphics didn't meet their requirements. (Too much text in the image or some such nonsense.) Then I tried boosting posts that only had Amazon links. All of those have been approved so far. And every time I boost, my page views do skyrocket, so that's something.
One thing about FB ads is that you have to narrow the field by being specific about who you want to reach. I think for my last ad, I went into their thingie-bob and tried to target certain demographics. People who have said they like to read, for instance. Yeah, seems like a no-brainer, but you really have to dig deep to find that, and I wasn't finding it at first. Once I did that, I think the boosts were more effective. Your mileage may vary.
And I never have paid more than $20. Not sure if my ads would do better if I paid more, but that's about all I'm willing to pay for getting exposure.
Now, as for FB group posts. I've talked about this before. But I'd like to add some additional insights that might help you. For one thing, ads with photos instead of just links seem to do better. Not sure why - I mean, the link puts a damn picture in the post anyway - but from my experience, photos do better than just links. :shrug: I posted a couple of my latest marketing photos yesterday at The Writing Spectacle. Here are a couple others from my sale in December:
Another thing I've noticed is that my posts get more traction if I include hashtags. (A fact I forgot until yesterday's marketing posts.) Yeah, it didn't make sense to me either. Hashtags on FB? I thought hashtags were only for Twitter, but I guess they're everywhere now.
When you're making an ad for FB, I think there are a few key points you need to have in there. Chiefly, title, price, and links, but also put something in there that will attract attention - quote a review, drop a short teaser from the book, put a really short blurb. Make sure that if your books are in the KU program, you say that. Sure, the reader will find that out if they click the link, but they have to want to click the link to find out. Why make more work for them?
Here's the post that went out to the various FB groups yesterday:
"SLEEPING UGLY is on sale now thru Sunday*. 99c/99p. (Always free with Kindle Unlimited.)
"Snarky, funny, scary, enthralling -- this story isn't your childhood fairy tale! " - Amazon Review
Get your copy today. #paranormal #mystery #fun #ebooks #snarky #curses
US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GM24Q48
UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07GM24Q48"
I try to change them up a little every day so I'm not boring the shit out of people with my daily ads. And, as I've said before, don't post to any FB group more than once a day. I print out my list of FB groups for each sale now, and make notes as to date and time of each post, so I don't piss off the group moderators. So far, so good. You do not want to get kicked off any of your go-to groups or you'll lose that forever.
Now, sales from these posts aren't wild. I see maybe a sale or two a day, when I do it right (photo, grabby stuff, hashtags). But it's certainly better than a sharp stick in the butt, if you catch my drift.
As always, your mileage may vary. And lord knows, I am not the Queen's High Expert on any of this. Still, I hope this helps. May your experiences with this stuff exceed mine.
Any questions? Any comments? Anything you're doing that might help someone else with this stuff?
*Another note. The sale is actually through Tuesday. But I brainfarted in a major way and all of my posts went live with Sunday in them. Every single freakin' one. Which goes to show that no matter how hard you try, there is always a chance you will fuck something up. No real harm done - except I look like I'm wearing a big, red nose and floppy clown feet to anyone who clicked the link and saw that the Kindle Countdown Deal did not end on Sunday. Chalk it up to live and learn. At least I spelled everything right.
Wednesday, January 16, 2019
The Nitty-Gritty of Using Ads
Okay, I said something about posting about the nitty-gritty of using these ads I've been using. I know it can be scary. Especially if you've faced the whole bid-ad thing (which frankly, gives me the willies).
What I'm talking about is a straight forward ad. You pay them a set price, give them all the particulars of your book, pick a day, put your book on sale for that day and the surrounding days, and they put the ad in their newsletter (and sometimes in social media, too).
What you need? All the particulars about your book - URL or ASIN or ISBN, title, author name, etc. Usually a cover that's been sized to meet their requirements (say something like 1000 pixels by 1500 pixels). And a shortened book description or blurb.
The first part is easy. You should already have all that stuff available to you. If not, it's on your Amazon product detail page.
Next, the cover. You could pay your cover artist to give you an image that meets the requirements of each venue. Or you could do what I do and use the Picture Manager program that came with my MS Office. (Or something comparable.) With Picture Manager, there's a Resize function that allows you to type in the size you want. Voila!
The hardest part is shortening your blurb to the length they want. The smallest I've seen is 300 characters with spaces. What I do is cobble the blurb I already have down until it meets the requirement and then I save it as FILENAME-300words, so I don't have to try cobbling it down again. Make sure after you cobble that it's still error-free and makes sense. Make it zippy. Yeah, easier said than done, but it's gotta be done if you want to advertise with those venues.
Fill in all the boxes on their submission page and wait to see if your ad gets accepted. And the best thing is that most of the time THEY make the ad using the info you provided. (I advertised once with someone who would make me an ad if I paid extra. I declined and made my own. Never again.)
Sometimes they'll bill you once you're accepted. Which is certainly preferable. But sometimes you have to pay upfront. The pre-pay ones I've worked with have always returned my money in a timely fashion if they decline my ads. But yeah, you have to be watchful there. Only use venues you've heard of - ones you probably already subscribe to.
Speaking of which, always subscribe to the venues you are thinking of putting ads in. It'll tell you want kinds of books they go for, if they're putting out a quality newsletter on a regular schedule, and whether they're professional. And once you are accepted for an ad, you'll get to see the ad when it goes live. Always a plus. Additionally, you might find some good books to read. ;o)
Oh, and for pity's sake, make sure your book is on sale by midnight the night before your ad goes live. They really hate it when you screw that up. Been there done that. Newbie mistake that cost me advertising with a particular venue for over a year. I usually start my countdown deal at midnight a couple days before the ad goes live to avoid any mishaps.
Additionally, lowering your book's price a day or two before the ad might get you some sales ahead of the paid advertisement, which will make your rankings look better when the ad goes live. Better rankings help sell books.
One more thing. The ads I usually pay for require your book to be set at 99c or Free. (Sometimes as high as like $2.99, but you'll see more sales if you do a Kindle Countdown Deal for 99c.)
And finally, if you really want your sale to succeed, you have to help the ad out. Talk about the sale in whatever social media things you use - including forums, blogs, etc. Splash it everywhere you can splash it. I mean, don't be annoying about it, but definitely chat it up when and where you can.
Good luck!
If you have any questions, let me know.
Oh, I almost forgot. Sleeping Ugly is on sale, starting today. If you haven't already snagged a copy, it's only 99c now thru Tuesday night. (99c in the US and 99p in the UK. Sorry if you're in a different country. Amazon won't let me do Kindle Countdown Deals elsewhere.)
What I'm talking about is a straight forward ad. You pay them a set price, give them all the particulars of your book, pick a day, put your book on sale for that day and the surrounding days, and they put the ad in their newsletter (and sometimes in social media, too).
What you need? All the particulars about your book - URL or ASIN or ISBN, title, author name, etc. Usually a cover that's been sized to meet their requirements (say something like 1000 pixels by 1500 pixels). And a shortened book description or blurb.
The first part is easy. You should already have all that stuff available to you. If not, it's on your Amazon product detail page.
Next, the cover. You could pay your cover artist to give you an image that meets the requirements of each venue. Or you could do what I do and use the Picture Manager program that came with my MS Office. (Or something comparable.) With Picture Manager, there's a Resize function that allows you to type in the size you want. Voila!
The hardest part is shortening your blurb to the length they want. The smallest I've seen is 300 characters with spaces. What I do is cobble the blurb I already have down until it meets the requirement and then I save it as FILENAME-300words, so I don't have to try cobbling it down again. Make sure after you cobble that it's still error-free and makes sense. Make it zippy. Yeah, easier said than done, but it's gotta be done if you want to advertise with those venues.
Fill in all the boxes on their submission page and wait to see if your ad gets accepted. And the best thing is that most of the time THEY make the ad using the info you provided. (I advertised once with someone who would make me an ad if I paid extra. I declined and made my own. Never again.)
Sometimes they'll bill you once you're accepted. Which is certainly preferable. But sometimes you have to pay upfront. The pre-pay ones I've worked with have always returned my money in a timely fashion if they decline my ads. But yeah, you have to be watchful there. Only use venues you've heard of - ones you probably already subscribe to.
Speaking of which, always subscribe to the venues you are thinking of putting ads in. It'll tell you want kinds of books they go for, if they're putting out a quality newsletter on a regular schedule, and whether they're professional. And once you are accepted for an ad, you'll get to see the ad when it goes live. Always a plus. Additionally, you might find some good books to read. ;o)
Oh, and for pity's sake, make sure your book is on sale by midnight the night before your ad goes live. They really hate it when you screw that up. Been there done that. Newbie mistake that cost me advertising with a particular venue for over a year. I usually start my countdown deal at midnight a couple days before the ad goes live to avoid any mishaps.
Additionally, lowering your book's price a day or two before the ad might get you some sales ahead of the paid advertisement, which will make your rankings look better when the ad goes live. Better rankings help sell books.
One more thing. The ads I usually pay for require your book to be set at 99c or Free. (Sometimes as high as like $2.99, but you'll see more sales if you do a Kindle Countdown Deal for 99c.)
And finally, if you really want your sale to succeed, you have to help the ad out. Talk about the sale in whatever social media things you use - including forums, blogs, etc. Splash it everywhere you can splash it. I mean, don't be annoying about it, but definitely chat it up when and where you can.
Good luck!
If you have any questions, let me know.
Oh, I almost forgot. Sleeping Ugly is on sale, starting today. If you haven't already snagged a copy, it's only 99c now thru Tuesday night. (99c in the US and 99p in the UK. Sorry if you're in a different country. Amazon won't let me do Kindle Countdown Deals elsewhere.)
Monday, January 14, 2019
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.
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.
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