By now, I'm probably boring the shit out of you, but since I have marketing on the brain - and very little will to do any of it - I thought I'd ramble here a little more about it.
A few days ago, I read a blog post asking what kinds of services indie authors might be interested in paying to receive. Just a sort of informal survey, I guess. This morning, I read the comments. Pretty much most of the commenters seemed to be in the same boat I am. I'd pay for services like tweaking my marketing plan, getting better keywords, targeting where to advertise and how to do it effectively, etc. - over and above paying for cover art and editing - but I don't have the funding to do it. AND I can't afford to pay for something that I'm not reasonably certain will work.
I know I have to spend money to make money. That's sort of a 'Duh'. I also know that advertising works. It just brings me back around to how much money I have in the budget, and I'm much really wowser advertising costs. Suggesting a marketing consultancy service - where you pay them and you pay for the ads, too - at around $500-$1000 makes my miserly heart weep. I just can't see it happening in the near future.
But I know I'm not cutting the mustard as it is now. I'm terminally lazy. I'm also dancing along the fine line of 'effective marketing' and 'annoying the shit out of customers' - totally in fear I've fallen on the bad side of the tightrope with every tweet I post. My sales are suffering because of it. I know.
You have to spend money to make money. But you have to have money to spend money to make money. Which means you have to make money to have money to spend money to make money.
Dizzy yet? I know I am.
But here's another wrinkle. You have no way of knowing if the money you're spending is actually making you money in the long term. Sure, if you shell out money for an ad, you might see a spike in sales. That's pretty obvious. If you shell out money for a better marketing plan... Will there be a spike? Will it dribble in over time (which wouldn't bother me either, frankly) and how will you know it has to do with the marketing plan? It could be coincidental because one reader told all her friends about your book over coffee on the same morning a piece of the plan went into effect.
It's the not knowing that kind of makes me crazypants, ya know?
Anyway, I'll keep chugging along - marketing where and when I can. I will force myself to get back into the swing of cheerleading. I mean, I kinda have to since I have another book coming out in less than a month.
Speaking of which, the newsletter is about 75% ready and there'll be some exclusive things, free stuff you can win, and something to read (a little WIOH appetizer, if you will). If you aren't signed up yet, the linky-loo is up there under the header pic.
Yeah, that's about the speed of my marketing today. Didn't cost me a dime.
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query marketing. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query marketing. Sort by date Show all posts
Wednesday, July 29, 2015
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, 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!
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.
Wednesday, June 26, 2019
An Expletive-Laden Rant
Yesterday, a newsletter arrived in my inbox. And I'll admit, I did what I usually do with newsletters - I skimmed through it. But I read enough to seriously harsh my day.
I won't say whose newsletter it was. You probably got a copy in your inbox, too. Cuz it's by someone who's like 'in the know' and junk.
And what did it say? Well, basically, it said that if you don't already have things like reviews and buzz and bling and stuff, that you shouldn't bother marketing. Not just an encouragement to avoid it, but an out-and-out 'don't do this at all' thing. You won't get anywhere anyway, so why bother?
Probably the last thing I needed to read yesterday. Like the last... thing... I needed.
Like all of this shit isn't hard enough. Like I'm not already hitting my head on a rock every damn day while still trying to stay positive. Some fancy pants shithead is gonna drop a boatload of negativity in my inbox?
Well, you know what? Fuck him and the horse he rode in on.
Yeah, getting sales is fucking hard. But at least I'm trying. I sold 27 books off my marketing efforts last week. That's 27 books I wouldn't have sold if I hadn't paid for marketing. The ad paid for itself and made me a little scratch over and above that. That's a win in my ledger.
So, who the fuck does he think he is telling struggling authors not to bother marketing their goddamn books? I mean, where does he get off pushing that kind of crap on unsuspecting, and perhaps close to giving up, authors? Asshole. Somewhere out there, there could be a low-list author getting ready to slit their proverbial wrists because they were already at the end of their rope and he lit it on fire.
Maybe he thought he was saving some of us the heartache by discouraging us and thereby saving us from failure? Well, don't do us any favors, bud. It's hard and we know it, but we don't need you rubbing our faces in it. I had a couple therapists and a social worker (for brain injury therapy) once upon a time who tried to save me from the chance of failure. I fired them all and hired new ones. If I'd listened to them, I'd be selling plants at a nursery right now. Feh.
Or is it that we struggling wee authors might maybe be taking a tiny little piece out of his precious pie? Up yours. Take your money and your sales and leave us the fuck alone. We aren't hurting anyone. I can pretty much guarantee we aren't taking marketing space that would've gone to you. So, stifle yourself.
All I want is to sell books without some numbnuts trying to step on my throat. Without the bestseller telling his readers that any book priced at $2.99 or less has to be crap. Without a boatload of bestsellers trying to shut big-bad Amazon down. Without this jerkstick telling me to quit advertising until I'm 'worthy' of it.
Yeah, marketing a book with few reviews is an uphill battle through fire ant nests covered battery acid. I don't need someone standing in the paradise zone eating bon-bons and stabbing at me with pointy sticks, as well.
So, I spent most of yesterday afternoon depressed as hell. And then I wrote this post. Now, I'm just pissed. Maybe some good came out of that stupid newsletter after all and the fire that's been mere embers will finally flare into a conflagration.
It doesn't matter. He's dead to me. Onward and upward, folks. And don't let anyone tell you not to do what you think is working for you. Market the hell out of your books if you think it's doing some good. Keep writing. Keep publishing. Keep moving forward, however you get the job done.
And remember, every book you sell is one more person who is reading your work. I got 27 new opportunities this past week. Yay.
* In the cool light of morning, I admit it's entirely possible I took this the wrong way, but I'm leaving it up. This rant helped me. Maybe it'll help someone else, too.
And if you know the name of the newsletter person, I left it off on purpose, so don't try saying it in comments cuz I'll just not approve the comment. K?
I won't say whose newsletter it was. You probably got a copy in your inbox, too. Cuz it's by someone who's like 'in the know' and junk.
And what did it say? Well, basically, it said that if you don't already have things like reviews and buzz and bling and stuff, that you shouldn't bother marketing. Not just an encouragement to avoid it, but an out-and-out 'don't do this at all' thing. You won't get anywhere anyway, so why bother?
Probably the last thing I needed to read yesterday. Like the last... thing... I needed.
Like all of this shit isn't hard enough. Like I'm not already hitting my head on a rock every damn day while still trying to stay positive. Some fancy pants shithead is gonna drop a boatload of negativity in my inbox?
Well, you know what? Fuck him and the horse he rode in on.
Yeah, getting sales is fucking hard. But at least I'm trying. I sold 27 books off my marketing efforts last week. That's 27 books I wouldn't have sold if I hadn't paid for marketing. The ad paid for itself and made me a little scratch over and above that. That's a win in my ledger.
So, who the fuck does he think he is telling struggling authors not to bother marketing their goddamn books? I mean, where does he get off pushing that kind of crap on unsuspecting, and perhaps close to giving up, authors? Asshole. Somewhere out there, there could be a low-list author getting ready to slit their proverbial wrists because they were already at the end of their rope and he lit it on fire.
Maybe he thought he was saving some of us the heartache by discouraging us and thereby saving us from failure? Well, don't do us any favors, bud. It's hard and we know it, but we don't need you rubbing our faces in it. I had a couple therapists and a social worker (for brain injury therapy) once upon a time who tried to save me from the chance of failure. I fired them all and hired new ones. If I'd listened to them, I'd be selling plants at a nursery right now. Feh.
Or is it that we struggling wee authors might maybe be taking a tiny little piece out of his precious pie? Up yours. Take your money and your sales and leave us the fuck alone. We aren't hurting anyone. I can pretty much guarantee we aren't taking marketing space that would've gone to you. So, stifle yourself.
All I want is to sell books without some numbnuts trying to step on my throat. Without the bestseller telling his readers that any book priced at $2.99 or less has to be crap. Without a boatload of bestsellers trying to shut big-bad Amazon down. Without this jerkstick telling me to quit advertising until I'm 'worthy' of it.
Yeah, marketing a book with few reviews is an uphill battle through fire ant nests covered battery acid. I don't need someone standing in the paradise zone eating bon-bons and stabbing at me with pointy sticks, as well.
So, I spent most of yesterday afternoon depressed as hell. And then I wrote this post. Now, I'm just pissed. Maybe some good came out of that stupid newsletter after all and the fire that's been mere embers will finally flare into a conflagration.
It doesn't matter. He's dead to me. Onward and upward, folks. And don't let anyone tell you not to do what you think is working for you. Market the hell out of your books if you think it's doing some good. Keep writing. Keep publishing. Keep moving forward, however you get the job done.
And remember, every book you sell is one more person who is reading your work. I got 27 new opportunities this past week. Yay.
* In the cool light of morning, I admit it's entirely possible I took this the wrong way, but I'm leaving it up. This rant helped me. Maybe it'll help someone else, too.
And if you know the name of the newsletter person, I left it off on purpose, so don't try saying it in comments cuz I'll just not approve the comment. K?
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.
Friday, October 26, 2018
Check, Check, and Recheck
For as much as I rail about proofreading your marketing copy BEFORE you send it out into the world, I screwed up this morning and posted copy that had a glaring error. Good thing for me I noticed it. Better thing is that FB allows you to edit posts. So, the glaring error was only visible on three groups for about 20 minutes.
Somehow, I typed the same two words twice in a row. Brainfart. It's not fatal, but it's certainly unprofessional.
Unfortunately, there's a gal out there who has her title misspelled in her marketing copy and she's posting it all over FB. I cringe every time I see it. Lucky for her, it's spelled right on her cover art. :shudder:
We all make mistakes. And I am apparently not immune. Most of the time, mistakes can be rectified. If you catch them. Which is why all of us should check, check, and recheck our marketing materials. Before it goes up. And after it goes up. And later when our brains are distracted enough to actually see what we've written.
I was reading the paper yesterday. There's a big ad for a Halloween party at one of the local organizations. And there will be a COTUME contest. Seriously. Who let that go through? And how many people along the marketing line should be thrashed for letting that go out to the readership of the paper? Several people at the organization. Several people at the newspaper. It's too late to fix it once the papers have been delivered, doncha know. Blerg.
Every time I receive hardcopies of my books, Hubs jokes "Well, at least they spelled your name right." Which is funny because I'm the one who makes sure that happens. Even funnier when you know my cover artist typoed my last name in an early draft of the cover. I caught it, pointed it out, and we all laughed. The important part was it got caught and fixed BEFORE it went out.
I screw stuff up all the time. It happens. The important part is to fix it before the world sees it. Or as soon as I can when I find it.
Check, check, and recheck.
Oh, and here's the marketing copy I'm using this morning to try and find sales on FB:
On sale now! 99c/99p
Somehow, I typed the same two words twice in a row. Brainfart. It's not fatal, but it's certainly unprofessional.
Unfortunately, there's a gal out there who has her title misspelled in her marketing copy and she's posting it all over FB. I cringe every time I see it. Lucky for her, it's spelled right on her cover art. :shudder:
We all make mistakes. And I am apparently not immune. Most of the time, mistakes can be rectified. If you catch them. Which is why all of us should check, check, and recheck our marketing materials. Before it goes up. And after it goes up. And later when our brains are distracted enough to actually see what we've written.
I was reading the paper yesterday. There's a big ad for a Halloween party at one of the local organizations. And there will be a COTUME contest. Seriously. Who let that go through? And how many people along the marketing line should be thrashed for letting that go out to the readership of the paper? Several people at the organization. Several people at the newspaper. It's too late to fix it once the papers have been delivered, doncha know. Blerg.
Every time I receive hardcopies of my books, Hubs jokes "Well, at least they spelled your name right." Which is funny because I'm the one who makes sure that happens. Even funnier when you know my cover artist typoed my last name in an early draft of the cover. I caught it, pointed it out, and we all laughed. The important part was it got caught and fixed BEFORE it went out.
I screw stuff up all the time. It happens. The important part is to fix it before the world sees it. Or as soon as I can when I find it.
Check, check, and recheck.
Oh, and here's the marketing copy I'm using this morning to try and find sales on FB:
On sale now! 99c/99p
What would you do if you woke up cursed and ugly? If you're model Jeni Braxxon, you freak out. And then you try to find out what the hell happened, who did this to you, and why anyone would want to ruin your life. Which would all be less of a pain if you weren't suddenly a suspect in your asshole brother's disappearance.
Sleeping Ugly - the fun and snarky tale of a woman trying to get her life back to normal. If normal can ever be achieved for her again.
US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GM24Q48
UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07GM24Q48
Wednesday, January 1, 2020
2019 Sales and Marketing Wrap-up
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?
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?
Monday, March 2, 2015
Marketing Monday
Since marketing seems to be the hardest hurdle for writers to leap, I thought I'd continue with the theme of the past Monday and talk a little about marketing again. (And please note, I'm still too new at this to know if any of it will actually help me gain sales. I've heard it can, but I have no data to back that up.)
First things first - making the book free. Here's an excellent article from Elizabeth Spann Craig on the subject: The Impact of Free Promos. Based on what I'd already read on the subject, I had planned on making Dying Embers free. Hell, that was half the reason I signed the book up for Kindle Select - because the Select program let's you set the book for free for 5 days over the course of your 90 day period (in a row or one at a time or whatever). I'd read that setting your book to free can help increase sales. (I know, it sound anti-intuitive, but if other writers are selling books and doing this, what can it hurt to try.)
To that end, Dying Embers is free for today only - 12:00am 3/2 thru 11:59 3/2 - so if you haven't got a copy of your very own yet, go get one. Read it. Review it if you're so inclined.
Which leads me to reviews. Having them helps sales. And as of this posting, I have 4 awesome reviews over Amazon and Goodreads. I didn't solicit them - and I will never pay for them. That's not cool.
Which leads me to another marketing thing I have going on tomorrow - Kboards. They have something like 80,000 subscribers and for a mere $15 they're running my book on what's called their 'Book Discovery Days' promo. It'll be there along with other books, of course, but for that price, I couldn't pass it up. That'll be up at 4pm Pacific tomorrow. (After free day is over - unless Amazon screws something up and makes my 'day' longer.)
But don't let me forget what I have going on today! A friend of mine messaged me the other day asking if I'd like to guest blog - pimp my book, etc. I wrote a post and sent it over. So today, I'm guest blogging at the homeplace of Laura Bickle - writer of awesomeness for adult and YA markets. I've stalked... err, followed Laura ever since I read her urban fantasy Embers years ago. And we became friends. Now, I'm not advocating going out and making friends so that they'll pimp your books for you. I am advocating going out and making friends the natural way, and one hopes that they'll like you enough to offer to pimp your books. But I've been slowly making friends since I started this blogging thing in 2006 before I ever dreamed of being brave enough to self-publish, so your mileage may vary.
Anyway, like I said, I'm not sure how effective all this marketing will be, but as of this morning, around 40 people have a copy of my book. That's 10 more people than yesterday and the day is early. And if only a fraction of those people review it or chat it up or want a hardcopy of the book for their very own, it'll be worth it. I think. Maybe.
Time will tell. And I will share as much as I can along the way.
First things first - making the book free. Here's an excellent article from Elizabeth Spann Craig on the subject: The Impact of Free Promos. Based on what I'd already read on the subject, I had planned on making Dying Embers free. Hell, that was half the reason I signed the book up for Kindle Select - because the Select program let's you set the book for free for 5 days over the course of your 90 day period (in a row or one at a time or whatever). I'd read that setting your book to free can help increase sales. (I know, it sound anti-intuitive, but if other writers are selling books and doing this, what can it hurt to try.)
To that end, Dying Embers is free for today only - 12:00am 3/2 thru 11:59 3/2 - so if you haven't got a copy of your very own yet, go get one. Read it. Review it if you're so inclined.
Which leads me to reviews. Having them helps sales. And as of this posting, I have 4 awesome reviews over Amazon and Goodreads. I didn't solicit them - and I will never pay for them. That's not cool.
Which leads me to another marketing thing I have going on tomorrow - Kboards. They have something like 80,000 subscribers and for a mere $15 they're running my book on what's called their 'Book Discovery Days' promo. It'll be there along with other books, of course, but for that price, I couldn't pass it up. That'll be up at 4pm Pacific tomorrow. (After free day is over - unless Amazon screws something up and makes my 'day' longer.)
But don't let me forget what I have going on today! A friend of mine messaged me the other day asking if I'd like to guest blog - pimp my book, etc. I wrote a post and sent it over. So today, I'm guest blogging at the homeplace of Laura Bickle - writer of awesomeness for adult and YA markets. I've stalked... err, followed Laura ever since I read her urban fantasy Embers years ago. And we became friends. Now, I'm not advocating going out and making friends so that they'll pimp your books for you. I am advocating going out and making friends the natural way, and one hopes that they'll like you enough to offer to pimp your books. But I've been slowly making friends since I started this blogging thing in 2006 before I ever dreamed of being brave enough to self-publish, so your mileage may vary.
Anyway, like I said, I'm not sure how effective all this marketing will be, but as of this morning, around 40 people have a copy of my book. That's 10 more people than yesterday and the day is early. And if only a fraction of those people review it or chat it up or want a hardcopy of the book for their very own, it'll be worth it. I think. Maybe.
Time will tell. And I will share as much as I can along the way.
Wednesday, August 28, 2019
A Little Marketing 101
Okay, so FB has this thing now where you can use bold and italics in group posts. Which is cool. (Wish they'd let us use them for personal and page posts, too.) But I've noticed certain people going a little BOLD crazy out there. (And this holds true for non-FB marketing, too, btw.)
Just because you can put stuff in bold, doesn't mean you should put everything in bold. Bold is for emphasis. So having your entire marketing verbiage in bold means you're emphasizing everything. And therefore nothing sticks out. Same with italics. Bold and italics together should be used very sparingly.
Now, look at the above paragraph. Which words do you see first? You want to pick certain words to draw your audience's eyes to. Those emphasized words are the ones that will stick in a consumer's head.
verbiage TITLE verbiage verbiage verbiage. On sale now! more verbiage. Only 99c. links and junk and hashtags.
verbiage TITLE verbiage verbiage verbiage. On sale now! more verbiage. Only 99c. links and junk and hashtags.
See?
Your brain picks up on the bolded words better in the second example because those words stick out. 'Oh, look,' it says, 'Title is on sale for only 99c'. And you'll be more likely to go back and read the verbiage if the bolded words are interesting to you.
Plus, I look at entirely bolded posts as input overload. EVERYTHING IS SO EMPHASIZED that my brain skips past it. (I do the same thing with all caps, so sorry about that.)
When I see an entire marketing post in bold, it makes me sad. I'm not sure what the thought is there. Perhaps they're thinking that their whole post in bold will make them stick out from other posts. I don't think it works that way. As you scroll along reading stuffs, each post is an individual thing, not part of a whole. If it was part of the whole, then I guess emphasizing all of your message would make it stand out from the rest. Like if I bolded this entire paragraph, it would stick out from the rest of the post. But when you're in the middle of a bunch of individual posts? :shrug:
Think of emphasizing elements like seasoning on your food - sometimes a little goes a long way. Choose your emphasis wisely and you might just get more attention. Jus' sayin'.
Lord knows, I am not the goddess of all things marketing. This is my opinion. Take it for what it's worth.
By the way, Once Upon a Djinn is still on sale. And I'll talk about the success or failure of that sometime next week.
Just because you can put stuff in bold, doesn't mean you should put everything in bold. Bold is for emphasis. So having your entire marketing verbiage in bold means you're emphasizing everything. And therefore nothing sticks out. Same with italics. Bold and italics together should be used very sparingly.
Now, look at the above paragraph. Which words do you see first? You want to pick certain words to draw your audience's eyes to. Those emphasized words are the ones that will stick in a consumer's head.
verbiage TITLE verbiage verbiage verbiage. On sale now! more verbiage. Only 99c. links and junk and hashtags.
verbiage TITLE verbiage verbiage verbiage. On sale now! more verbiage. Only 99c. links and junk and hashtags.
See?
Your brain picks up on the bolded words better in the second example because those words stick out. 'Oh, look,' it says, 'Title is on sale for only 99c'. And you'll be more likely to go back and read the verbiage if the bolded words are interesting to you.
Plus, I look at entirely bolded posts as input overload. EVERYTHING IS SO EMPHASIZED that my brain skips past it. (I do the same thing with all caps, so sorry about that.)
When I see an entire marketing post in bold, it makes me sad. I'm not sure what the thought is there. Perhaps they're thinking that their whole post in bold will make them stick out from other posts. I don't think it works that way. As you scroll along reading stuffs, each post is an individual thing, not part of a whole. If it was part of the whole, then I guess emphasizing all of your message would make it stand out from the rest. Like if I bolded this entire paragraph, it would stick out from the rest of the post. But when you're in the middle of a bunch of individual posts? :shrug:
Think of emphasizing elements like seasoning on your food - sometimes a little goes a long way. Choose your emphasis wisely and you might just get more attention. Jus' sayin'.
Lord knows, I am not the goddess of all things marketing. This is my opinion. Take it for what it's worth.
By the way, Once Upon a Djinn is still on sale. And I'll talk about the success or failure of that sometime next week.
Wednesday, May 16, 2018
Important Things to Remember When Marketing
Surfing the wild FB waves as I am wont to do first thing in the morning, I run across so many things that make me cringe... and I'm not just talking the news :ba dump bump:. So I decided to make a little checklist of things that are important to remember when marketing...
1) Proofread everything. You do not want to post a misspelling or a typo in your marketing materials. Seriously. It just makes you look bad. Because you write stuff FOR A LIVING. Duh. (A typo or whatever might be more forgivable in a blog post or a status update, but not that much more.)
2) Check that your book, which sells for 99c, is not shown as selling for $99. Decimals are important. No one is going to click your link to see if you missed one. They'll just laugh at your hubris and move on.
3) Make sure that when you post a link to your book, it's a link to YOUR BOOK. Not a link to the search you did to find your book. Not a link to a page where, if someone scrolls down, they'll find your book. A direct link.
3a) For godsakes, don't use a tiny URL thingie. Just post the damn link. Personally, I don't click links unless I can see where they go to. I've been burned before. (That which has been seen cannot be unseen. Argh.) And make the link clickable, if at all possible.
4) If English is not your first language, get someone who is an English speaker to proofread your marketing materials. If you make it hard for English speakers to read your marketing materials, it doesn't bode well for us to be able to enjoy your book.
I'm sure there are more, but those are the ones that smacked me in the face this morning. Got any to add?
1) Proofread everything. You do not want to post a misspelling or a typo in your marketing materials. Seriously. It just makes you look bad. Because you write stuff FOR A LIVING. Duh. (A typo or whatever might be more forgivable in a blog post or a status update, but not that much more.)
2) Check that your book, which sells for 99c, is not shown as selling for $99. Decimals are important. No one is going to click your link to see if you missed one. They'll just laugh at your hubris and move on.
3) Make sure that when you post a link to your book, it's a link to YOUR BOOK. Not a link to the search you did to find your book. Not a link to a page where, if someone scrolls down, they'll find your book. A direct link.
3a) For godsakes, don't use a tiny URL thingie. Just post the damn link. Personally, I don't click links unless I can see where they go to. I've been burned before. (That which has been seen cannot be unseen. Argh.) And make the link clickable, if at all possible.
4) If English is not your first language, get someone who is an English speaker to proofread your marketing materials. If you make it hard for English speakers to read your marketing materials, it doesn't bode well for us to be able to enjoy your book.
I'm sure there are more, but those are the ones that smacked me in the face this morning. Got any to add?
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.
Monday, April 27, 2015
Self-Publishing Data - Part Two
It occurred to me sometime late Friday afternoon that there was something I wanted to put into the post that I had forgotten. Numbers.
First off, let me remind you that I am a total tightwad. Also, if I didn't have Hubs behind me assuring me that the budget is there, I would be tighter with my publishing budget.
Also, since I don't like talking about money publicly, the numbers I'll be giving here are percentages of the total amount Hubs has budgeted for each book, and percentages of total money spent.
Dying Embers:
Total Spent to Date percentage of total budget - 79%
Of the amount spent:
Editing - 27%
Cover Art -53%
Marketing - 20%
With Accidental Death, I went a little different - just to see what would happen.
The early numbers for Accidental Death break down like this:
Total Spent to Date percentage of total budget - 21%
Total of projected expenditures vs Total Budget - 50%
Of the amount projected:
Editing - 44%
Cover Art - 6%
Marketing - 50%
Lastly, I have totally projected book numbers because I haven't spent a dime on Djinnocide yet.
I expect to spend 100% of the per-book budget on this.
Editing - 25%
Cover Art - 37.5%
Marketing - 37.5%
Obviously, those numbers are flexible. I'm still not done spending on Dying Embers, for instance. I'll do some more marketing for that when Accidental Death is closer to coming out. And I'm not sure if I'll end up spending 50% of the remaining budget money on marketing for Accidental Death (especially since I'm only projecting to spend half of the total budget getting that book to market anyway).
This first year of self-punishing... I mean, self-publishing... is all about seeing what works and how it works and then adjusting accordingly. Accidental Death is coming in lower because I did the cover myself, but then again, the subject matter lent itself more easily to a self-done cover. The cover art for Djinnocide will be going up again because graphic design with Photoshop won't create the cover I want and, while I can draw, I don't have the skill to create what I want.
It's all a learning curve.
I hope that helps provide some more insight for those of you out there interested in self-publishing - whether for yourself, a loved one, or for curiosity sake.
If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I'll answer what I can.
First off, let me remind you that I am a total tightwad. Also, if I didn't have Hubs behind me assuring me that the budget is there, I would be tighter with my publishing budget.
Also, since I don't like talking about money publicly, the numbers I'll be giving here are percentages of the total amount Hubs has budgeted for each book, and percentages of total money spent.
Dying Embers:
Total Spent to Date percentage of total budget - 79%
Of the amount spent:
Editing - 27%
Cover Art -53%
Marketing - 20%
With Accidental Death, I went a little different - just to see what would happen.
The early numbers for Accidental Death break down like this:
Total Spent to Date percentage of total budget - 21%
Total of projected expenditures vs Total Budget - 50%
Of the amount projected:
Editing - 44%
Cover Art - 6%
Marketing - 50%
Lastly, I have totally projected book numbers because I haven't spent a dime on Djinnocide yet.
I expect to spend 100% of the per-book budget on this.
Editing - 25%
Cover Art - 37.5%
Marketing - 37.5%
Obviously, those numbers are flexible. I'm still not done spending on Dying Embers, for instance. I'll do some more marketing for that when Accidental Death is closer to coming out. And I'm not sure if I'll end up spending 50% of the remaining budget money on marketing for Accidental Death (especially since I'm only projecting to spend half of the total budget getting that book to market anyway).
This first year of self-punishing... I mean, self-publishing... is all about seeing what works and how it works and then adjusting accordingly. Accidental Death is coming in lower because I did the cover myself, but then again, the subject matter lent itself more easily to a self-done cover. The cover art for Djinnocide will be going up again because graphic design with Photoshop won't create the cover I want and, while I can draw, I don't have the skill to create what I want.
It's all a learning curve.
I hope that helps provide some more insight for those of you out there interested in self-publishing - whether for yourself, a loved one, or for curiosity sake.
If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I'll answer what I can.
Monday, August 6, 2018
I Haz a Sad
Yesterday, I was scrolling through my newsfeed stopping here and there to check out new-to-me books in the marketing listings. Which I am wont to do on a lazy Sunday morning. Especially when I had to DNF a book the night before. (A whole other sad, lemme tell ya.)
Along the way, I saw a book that looked interesting along with a plea from the author with hopes people would find and love their book as much as they loved writing it. Sounds like a plea I'd make, and I'm always on the hunt for underappreciated authors, so I clicked the link. No reviews. Okay. A ranking approaching 3,000,000th. Oh, no. Poor thing. Read the marketing copy...
First off, the marketing copy could've worked for any generic fantasy novel written by anyone, it was so unspecific. It told me nothing about the book I was thinking about buying other than it was another brother n sister fantasy book in which they'd be discovering things and fighting things or some such blah.
So, I did the 'Look inside' thing. First person... okay. But the beginning reads like a note from the author telling the reader what they're going to find inside and it really didn't sound interesting. a few paragraphs later, scene break. Okay, I thinks to meself, time for the story to start. Nope, not really. The beginning was a hot mess. MC goes to find his sister at the mall and ends up somewhere else. BAM! There you are at a pivotal moment. No lead in whatsoever. Over the course of like two paragraphs.
And here's the kicker. The book shows it has a publisher* (one I've never heard of, so it may just be that the author made up a publisher name himself - which I hope he has a DBA for) and it's listed at $6.99.
New author, first book, unknown publisher... $7 ebook. Umm, no. I'm not willing to take that kind of chance with my money. And judging from the sales ranking, neither is anyone else. As poor as my sales have been throughout the past 4 years, I have never had a ranking that low. Hell, I don't think I've ever seen a ranking that low in all the time I've been buying books at Amazon.
Now, as bad as the sum of my experiences with the beginning of this book were, I might've given it a chance at 99c. I'm a sucker for the underdog sometimes. His heartfelt plea tugged at my self-published author soul. But my pocketbook is a hard-hearted thing. I can support several other new authors for the price of his book (at 99c to $3.99 ea - which about all I'm willing to pay to take a chance).
All of the above is what gave me a sad. I can see this struggling new author wringing his hands and wondering why the book of his heart is dying in the cold light of reader opinion. He may never write another book. And that makes me sad. Because even as bad as it was in the beginning, there was something there that made me wonder if, perhaps, it wasn't such a bad book after all. With some editing. And a a bit of marketing finesse on the cover copy. (Kind of like Charlie Brown's Christmas tree. All it needs is a little love to be beautiful.)
I would've told him this in his initial post to the marketing group, but these days you can't be sure when a bit of constructive criticism will make you a target for psycho. So, while I can't help him directly, maybe this post will serve as a cautionary tale to other new writers. Don't do the things that this guy did.
*If the publisher listed is an actual publisher, they should be horsewhipped for what they're doing to this poor kid. (Yeah, I wouldn't say kid except his bio says something about him graduating high school in 2010. A year older than my daughter. So, he's a kid to me. And another thing - don't put high school stuff in your bio. Just don't.)
Along the way, I saw a book that looked interesting along with a plea from the author with hopes people would find and love their book as much as they loved writing it. Sounds like a plea I'd make, and I'm always on the hunt for underappreciated authors, so I clicked the link. No reviews. Okay. A ranking approaching 3,000,000th. Oh, no. Poor thing. Read the marketing copy...
First off, the marketing copy could've worked for any generic fantasy novel written by anyone, it was so unspecific. It told me nothing about the book I was thinking about buying other than it was another brother n sister fantasy book in which they'd be discovering things and fighting things or some such blah.
So, I did the 'Look inside' thing. First person... okay. But the beginning reads like a note from the author telling the reader what they're going to find inside and it really didn't sound interesting. a few paragraphs later, scene break. Okay, I thinks to meself, time for the story to start. Nope, not really. The beginning was a hot mess. MC goes to find his sister at the mall and ends up somewhere else. BAM! There you are at a pivotal moment. No lead in whatsoever. Over the course of like two paragraphs.
And here's the kicker. The book shows it has a publisher* (one I've never heard of, so it may just be that the author made up a publisher name himself - which I hope he has a DBA for) and it's listed at $6.99.
New author, first book, unknown publisher... $7 ebook. Umm, no. I'm not willing to take that kind of chance with my money. And judging from the sales ranking, neither is anyone else. As poor as my sales have been throughout the past 4 years, I have never had a ranking that low. Hell, I don't think I've ever seen a ranking that low in all the time I've been buying books at Amazon.
Now, as bad as the sum of my experiences with the beginning of this book were, I might've given it a chance at 99c. I'm a sucker for the underdog sometimes. His heartfelt plea tugged at my self-published author soul. But my pocketbook is a hard-hearted thing. I can support several other new authors for the price of his book (at 99c to $3.99 ea - which about all I'm willing to pay to take a chance).
All of the above is what gave me a sad. I can see this struggling new author wringing his hands and wondering why the book of his heart is dying in the cold light of reader opinion. He may never write another book. And that makes me sad. Because even as bad as it was in the beginning, there was something there that made me wonder if, perhaps, it wasn't such a bad book after all. With some editing. And a a bit of marketing finesse on the cover copy. (Kind of like Charlie Brown's Christmas tree. All it needs is a little love to be beautiful.)
I would've told him this in his initial post to the marketing group, but these days you can't be sure when a bit of constructive criticism will make you a target for psycho. So, while I can't help him directly, maybe this post will serve as a cautionary tale to other new writers. Don't do the things that this guy did.
*If the publisher listed is an actual publisher, they should be horsewhipped for what they're doing to this poor kid. (Yeah, I wouldn't say kid except his bio says something about him graduating high school in 2010. A year older than my daughter. So, he's a kid to me. And another thing - don't put high school stuff in your bio. Just don't.)
Friday, February 8, 2019
What is It About Thursdays?
I don't know what it is, but there seems to be something about Thursdays that make them prime marketing days. Now, this is only my experience and the evidence is pretty much anecdotal, but bear with me.
Point One: When I went to sign up for a marketing spot, all of the Thursdays for a month were already booked solid.
Point Two: The last advertising campaign I did was on a Thursday. This one was on a Tuesday. I sold almost twice as many books then as I did now.
Point Three: I've been marketing in the FB Groups all week. Best day this week? Thursday.
Not sure what the dealie-bob is. I mean, Tuesday has been trad-pub's usual release day, but other than that, I haven't heard anything about any other day being anything special. Maybe I'm just not in the know.
Speaking of Tuesdays, I was cautioned early on in this self-pub thing against releasing books on a Tuesday. Something about not wanting to compete with the trad-pub releases. :shrug: I don't think I've ever released on a Tuesday, but I generally release books when they're ready to go. Fly and be free and all that.
It seems to me that marketing efforts on Friday nights don't do very well. I tried that last time and crickets. Although, I have released on a Friday and that day seems as good as any other. Then again, release days are not big selling days for me. Go figger.
Anyway, I'm not exactly sure what it is about Thursdays. All I know is that if that's the day to sell more books, I'll be scheduling my marketing heavily around that day of the week.
Any ideas? Do you buy more books on a Thursday? Could that be a day when people are more inclined to look at advertising? Could it be people looking ahead to what they're going to read over the weekend? Could it be that Thursday are right before payday, so people are looking for deals?
Point One: When I went to sign up for a marketing spot, all of the Thursdays for a month were already booked solid.
Point Two: The last advertising campaign I did was on a Thursday. This one was on a Tuesday. I sold almost twice as many books then as I did now.
Point Three: I've been marketing in the FB Groups all week. Best day this week? Thursday.
Not sure what the dealie-bob is. I mean, Tuesday has been trad-pub's usual release day, but other than that, I haven't heard anything about any other day being anything special. Maybe I'm just not in the know.
Speaking of Tuesdays, I was cautioned early on in this self-pub thing against releasing books on a Tuesday. Something about not wanting to compete with the trad-pub releases. :shrug: I don't think I've ever released on a Tuesday, but I generally release books when they're ready to go. Fly and be free and all that.
It seems to me that marketing efforts on Friday nights don't do very well. I tried that last time and crickets. Although, I have released on a Friday and that day seems as good as any other. Then again, release days are not big selling days for me. Go figger.
Anyway, I'm not exactly sure what it is about Thursdays. All I know is that if that's the day to sell more books, I'll be scheduling my marketing heavily around that day of the week.
Any ideas? Do you buy more books on a Thursday? Could that be a day when people are more inclined to look at advertising? Could it be people looking ahead to what they're going to read over the weekend? Could it be that Thursday are right before payday, so people are looking for deals?
Monday, November 30, 2015
Rambling About Marketing, Paying Back, and Meeting Expectations
I read a couple really interesting posts over at Mad Genius Club over the weekend - Bestsellers, and writing to market and Writer, Market, Reader. They both go back to the marketing things I've been talking about off and on. (Seriously, if you're not subscribed to this blog, you're missing stuff.)
Most of the people who stop here are writers. (:waves at the readers: Hope I'm not boring you, dears. I'll try to have something more reader-focused on Wednesday.) And it's hard being a writer - especially an independent one - and I'm trying to help out my fellow inmates as much as I can.
Pay it forward, so to speak. (Except I hate that movie so much, just using the phrase makes my skin crawl.)
Over the past 9 years, so many other authors have helped me in so many ways, I kinda want to give back and encourage others to do the same.
Anyway, sales have been slow from what I've heard and seen. Everyone hates marketing. And I'm wondering who I have to kill to get an ad for Wish in One Hand at ENT. (4 requests, 4 rejections - ugh) It really got me down over the weekend. Down to the point of being unable to work on In Deep Wish because all I could think of is 'why am I busting my ass when the first book in the series is tanking?'
Eh, I got over it. I think. I have to do this because I have promised people it would be coming out in March. Local people who could hunt me down and snip off things of tertiary importance to writing until I produced the book they want. And out there in the world people who could merely be disappointed and then not care when the book finally does come out.
I'd rather not disappoint any of them.
So, I'll be editing like a madwoman. And marketing - because as much as I'd like to follow through with my oft-uttered 'screw this shit', I cannot, in fact, screw that shit.
First, though, errands! I need smokes. No smokey, no worky.
Most of the people who stop here are writers. (:waves at the readers: Hope I'm not boring you, dears. I'll try to have something more reader-focused on Wednesday.) And it's hard being a writer - especially an independent one - and I'm trying to help out my fellow inmates as much as I can.
Pay it forward, so to speak. (Except I hate that movie so much, just using the phrase makes my skin crawl.)
Over the past 9 years, so many other authors have helped me in so many ways, I kinda want to give back and encourage others to do the same.
Anyway, sales have been slow from what I've heard and seen. Everyone hates marketing. And I'm wondering who I have to kill to get an ad for Wish in One Hand at ENT. (4 requests, 4 rejections - ugh) It really got me down over the weekend. Down to the point of being unable to work on In Deep Wish because all I could think of is 'why am I busting my ass when the first book in the series is tanking?'
Eh, I got over it. I think. I have to do this because I have promised people it would be coming out in March. Local people who could hunt me down and snip off things of tertiary importance to writing until I produced the book they want. And out there in the world people who could merely be disappointed and then not care when the book finally does come out.
I'd rather not disappoint any of them.
So, I'll be editing like a madwoman. And marketing - because as much as I'd like to follow through with my oft-uttered 'screw this shit', I cannot, in fact, screw that shit.
First, though, errands! I need smokes. No smokey, no worky.
Wednesday, May 29, 2019
Sale Wrap-up Post
Okay, so there was a sale. All four of the Once Upon a Djinn books were 99c/99p each for a bit there. And the sales were fine. Not OMG! HOW AWESOME IS THAT!, but fine.
As I said before, I managed to glean some sales on Tuesday and Wednesday of last week through simple FB Group posts. The ad with Bargain Booksy got me a total of 46 sales on Thursday. Friday saw 6 additional sales. Saturday, I only sold 2. Sunday was crickets, but I saw 5 sales first thing Monday morning before the big 'end of sale' FB push. Unfortunately, my marketing efforts on the final day of the sale didn't sell any other books.
I had a slight burp on Monday when I discovered that Amazon had raised the price of Up Wish Creek a day early. (Still said the sale was In Progress, but it wasn't. I think it had to do with its KDP 90 days ending on the 27th, but... meh.) I had to change my marketing plan, of course. Can't market the series as being 99c each when the third book is $3.99. So, I shifted gears and only marketed Wish in One Hand at 99c/99p. Apparently, that didn't do a darn thing. :shrug:
Ah, the vagaries of marketing and book selling.
Anyway, I'm pretty pleased with the outcome. Sure, I'd like to have seen sales really take off, but that would be like winning the lottery, and we all know how that works. I'm just glad I covered the cost of the ad and that more people are reading the Once Upon a Djinn books.
During the sale, I sold 75 books. Now we wait and see if any residual sales or page reads come in.
As for Rankings, WIOH started out in the US at 797201 and hit 15588 overall and 1077 in urban fantasy at the top. It ended the sale at 124365 / 5787. Those aren't numbers that will attract anyone on their own, but maybe someone stopping by will see them and feel a little better about trying the books.
Next month, time and fundage willing, I will have a sale with advertising for the SCIU series. I really need to start thinking about this stuff more than a month in advance. The closer it is, the harder it is to get marketing at a variety of venues.
Any questions? Did I forget anything pertinent?
As I said before, I managed to glean some sales on Tuesday and Wednesday of last week through simple FB Group posts. The ad with Bargain Booksy got me a total of 46 sales on Thursday. Friday saw 6 additional sales. Saturday, I only sold 2. Sunday was crickets, but I saw 5 sales first thing Monday morning before the big 'end of sale' FB push. Unfortunately, my marketing efforts on the final day of the sale didn't sell any other books.
I had a slight burp on Monday when I discovered that Amazon had raised the price of Up Wish Creek a day early. (Still said the sale was In Progress, but it wasn't. I think it had to do with its KDP 90 days ending on the 27th, but... meh.) I had to change my marketing plan, of course. Can't market the series as being 99c each when the third book is $3.99. So, I shifted gears and only marketed Wish in One Hand at 99c/99p. Apparently, that didn't do a darn thing. :shrug:
Ah, the vagaries of marketing and book selling.
Anyway, I'm pretty pleased with the outcome. Sure, I'd like to have seen sales really take off, but that would be like winning the lottery, and we all know how that works. I'm just glad I covered the cost of the ad and that more people are reading the Once Upon a Djinn books.
During the sale, I sold 75 books. Now we wait and see if any residual sales or page reads come in.
As for Rankings, WIOH started out in the US at 797201 and hit 15588 overall and 1077 in urban fantasy at the top. It ended the sale at 124365 / 5787. Those aren't numbers that will attract anyone on their own, but maybe someone stopping by will see them and feel a little better about trying the books.
Next month, time and fundage willing, I will have a sale with advertising for the SCIU series. I really need to start thinking about this stuff more than a month in advance. The closer it is, the harder it is to get marketing at a variety of venues.
Any questions? Did I forget anything pertinent?
Friday, February 13, 2015
Why is Marketing So Hard?
It's release day and my brain really isn't in a new-post place. So I cheated and borrowed this from my post at Killer Chicks today:
Why is Marketing So Hard?
Hell, I was selling chairs to a volunteer at the thrift shop just last week. (Yeah, selling something to someone who works in the store. But hey, she was the one who told me she likes to refinish old furniture and there were these awesome chairs I thought would be perfect for her.) But I digress...
Anyway, I sell stuff. Every item out there is a product that can be sold. It's widgets all the way down. So, here I am at the release day of my very own product - Dying Embers. I know this widget better than any other widget I've ever had the opportunity to sell. I believe in this like no other. And I'm stymied at how to proceed.
I think part of the problem is in our society, it's verboten to talk yourself up. It's pushy. And lord knows, we don't want to be perceived as pushy.
Another part of the problem is it might be a widget or a product or a thingamabob, but this particular doohickey is 100% me. I could sell tools because I didn't have a vested interest in the tool itself. (The commissions, yeah, but the tool? No.) If someone didn't want to buy the tool - even after I told them all the wonders of said tool - then it was no skin off my nose. Move on to the next, and hopefully more enlightened, customer. (I really did sell the best tools.) Sure, their unwillingness to buy did reflect somewhat on my sales ability, but not on me personally. This time, if someone doesn't want to buy my book, it's a direct reflection on me. And if they bought a tool they decided they didn't like, it wasn't my problem. If they buy this book and decide they don't like it, they're talking about something that came out of me.
:shudder:
No wonder writers have such a tough time marketing their books. I mean, I have no problem selling other writers' books. (BTW, fellow Killer Chick, JB Lynn's latest book The Hitwoman's Downward Dog should be coming out soon.) I just have a problem selling my own.
So, in the interest of improving my own marketing skills for myself, go pick up a copy of my first self-published book - Dying Embers. It doesn't slice, dice or make Julienne fries. It's doesn't have shiny orange grips or added torque. It sure as hell doesn't get 34 miles to the gallon on the highway. But it should be a gripping and enjoyable read. It's cathartic as hell for anyone who's ever wanted to get back at their former boyfriends. And it goes well with a half-gallon of double-fudge-brownie ice cream.
Wednesday, June 6, 2018
Marketing Stuff Again
Mornin' Folks.
With a lack of anything else on my mind right now, I thought I'd talk a bit more about my marketing efforts, how they're working for me, and what's next.
First off, I realize you have to have money to do marketing. At least any effective marketing. I mean, there are Facebook groups you can post to that sometimes can bring you sales without you having to shell out any dough, but that's rare. And it's inconsistent. Hit or miss, if you will.
But, not every outlet will break the bank. There are some nice little venues that can give you at least an equal ROI. (You pay $6 and you make about $6.) You might even make a little money over and above, which is always nice. And it helps the soul to see people actually buying your books, even if the money isn't rolling in.
Last month, I had that ENT ad which cost me $40 and a smaller ad with PUFB that cost $8. I'm still seeing residual sales from those. Mostly in page reads with Kindle Unlimited, but hey, those page reads bring in money, so they count as sales. I've already had almost as many page reads this month as last month and this month beats every other month but May this year. And it's only the 6th.
Plus, I'm still seeing some page reads for DE and that sale was in April.
I'm not making money hand over fist, but I'm about 2/3rds of last year's total sales over the first 5 months of this year. And last year I did very little advertising. Because the money to do it just wasn't there. But that's another story, eh?
Looking ahead, I've got Kindle Countdown Deals set for the 19th thru the 26th of this month on Accidental Death and Natural Causes. I've already set up an ad for AD with a place called ebooksHabit on the 21st ($10). And I'll set up something with Author Billboard for both AD and NC for the 22nd (she only runs her newsletter on Fridays) which will cost me $6 ea. We'll see how those work. If I sell at least 32 books and pay for the ads, the rest is gravy.
I don't care what the dieticians say, gravy is good.
In August, I'll run sales for the Once Upon a Djinn books again with as much advertising as I can swing in anticipation of the release of Sleeping Ugly - which isn't part of the genie series, but its a paranormal, so I hope I'll get some crossover readers there.
What I really need is more reviews because there are lot of advertising venues that won't accept an ad for books with less that 5 Amazon reviews (or under 4 stars, but that's not a problem right now). Which means I can't push ads for the majority of my books at those outlets. I wish all the people reading my books on KU would write reviews. Not sure why they don't. =o(
I could also use a big lottery win. I think reviews will be easier to get. But only slightly.
With a lack of anything else on my mind right now, I thought I'd talk a bit more about my marketing efforts, how they're working for me, and what's next.
First off, I realize you have to have money to do marketing. At least any effective marketing. I mean, there are Facebook groups you can post to that sometimes can bring you sales without you having to shell out any dough, but that's rare. And it's inconsistent. Hit or miss, if you will.
But, not every outlet will break the bank. There are some nice little venues that can give you at least an equal ROI. (You pay $6 and you make about $6.) You might even make a little money over and above, which is always nice. And it helps the soul to see people actually buying your books, even if the money isn't rolling in.
Last month, I had that ENT ad which cost me $40 and a smaller ad with PUFB that cost $8. I'm still seeing residual sales from those. Mostly in page reads with Kindle Unlimited, but hey, those page reads bring in money, so they count as sales. I've already had almost as many page reads this month as last month and this month beats every other month but May this year. And it's only the 6th.
Plus, I'm still seeing some page reads for DE and that sale was in April.
I'm not making money hand over fist, but I'm about 2/3rds of last year's total sales over the first 5 months of this year. And last year I did very little advertising. Because the money to do it just wasn't there. But that's another story, eh?
Looking ahead, I've got Kindle Countdown Deals set for the 19th thru the 26th of this month on Accidental Death and Natural Causes. I've already set up an ad for AD with a place called ebooksHabit on the 21st ($10). And I'll set up something with Author Billboard for both AD and NC for the 22nd (she only runs her newsletter on Fridays) which will cost me $6 ea. We'll see how those work. If I sell at least 32 books and pay for the ads, the rest is gravy.
I don't care what the dieticians say, gravy is good.
In August, I'll run sales for the Once Upon a Djinn books again with as much advertising as I can swing in anticipation of the release of Sleeping Ugly - which isn't part of the genie series, but its a paranormal, so I hope I'll get some crossover readers there.
What I really need is more reviews because there are lot of advertising venues that won't accept an ad for books with less that 5 Amazon reviews (or under 4 stars, but that's not a problem right now). Which means I can't push ads for the majority of my books at those outlets. I wish all the people reading my books on KU would write reviews. Not sure why they don't. =o(
I could also use a big lottery win. I think reviews will be easier to get. But only slightly.
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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