Tag Archives: advertising

Generating Interest

Advertising

Recently, my sales have slowed to a trickle, along with my Amazon ad impressions, so I decided to give Facebook ads a try. The opinions of Facebook ads in the indie-book business group I joined are pretty mixed. Some other authors have had success with Amazon ads and none with Facebook ads, while others experience the opposite. 

I searched through the group’s previous posts and responses on the topic, but there were no conclusive or overwhelming answers or experience in either direction. It is a very mixed bag, even within the same genres. So, I decided to do some research through trial and error.

Dusting off my Canva skills, I created two images (main post image and the one below) and ran with a few different headlines and a link taking folks to the Amazon page where they could buy the book. 

I Made a Sale!

I still celebrate every sale and preorder, but the conversions are nowhere near enough to cover advertising costs. It means my advertising is not doing its job and I need to make some changes. 

  1. I need dynamic ads…which means researching dynamic ads. This one will have to wait until I send Hidden Sanctuary to my betas.
  2. I need more reviews. The best I can do here is remind and provide easy links whenever possible. If you haven’t left a review yet, log into Amazon now and do so today!
  3. I need to finish the series. I’m working on it!
  4. I may need to change the description or title. 
    • The description part is easy enough. Understanding how to change it to entice readers to buy will be the challenge. I’m also considering going into KU, but more research is required before clicking that button.
    • Title changes are a can of worms. 
      • Sub-titles will be the first thing I work with because those are modifiable on KDP. 
      • Changing full titles means new covers and a complicated mess of publication drama. I do not see myself doing this. My time is most valuable in writing more books. 

Onward!

Eventually, I will get to a reader magnet short story. If you have read Hidden Memory, do you have a favorite character? Is there someone or something about whom you want to know more? Do you have a favorite scene or quote I should feature?

On another topic: Should I do a launch party for Hidden Sanctuary this August? A virtual launch party? 

Let me know answers to these questions here or on my social media accounts. In the meantime, thank you for your support, and don’t forget to leave that review!

Signing Event of the Century

…and by that, I mean my first signing event ever, and we are in a century. If you follow me on Facebook, you may have noticed the event I set up this morning for an official book signing! 

The broader event is called the “Meeker Street Nerd Party,” and is organized by a group of businesses located on Meeker Street in Kent. 

The Nerd Party promotes downtown local, small businesses by highlighting nerd culture in a street-wide event.  Small businesses between 2nd & 4th Ave on W. Meeker will host local makers, artists, and authors who specialize in nerd culture, science fiction, fantasy, horror — books, games, toys, and more.

– from the Nerd Party event page

With my paperback released—and looking amazing—I reached out to the event organizers and asked if they had any spots left I could fill. The answer was a resounding “well, all the good spots are taken, so you will probably be in an out of the way location.”

I jumped all over that. I’m calling it a “find Tiffany” scavenger hunt. As a prize, you can have a bookmark or wax seal, both of which I have ordered supplies to create these giveaways. I will also have copies of the paperback for sale if you have not already ordered yours from Amazon. 

If you are in the Seattle-Tacoma area on the evening of February 26th, 2022, then come to Kent and visit me in my corner of the bookstore! More information on the Party is here, and on my signing is here. I hope to see some of you there!

(Related note: If you received my newsletter on 1/15/22, you still have until the end of January to reply with your entry to try to win the signed paperback giveaway!)

Advertising

Also this week, I took the “5-day Author Ad Profit Challenge.” It is a free course via videos and social media put on by the Ad School. I’m only recently starting my advertising journey, so I thought a crash course was a great idea and signed up. 

I watched the videos during my lunch break and worked on the homework assignments in the evenings. The class focuses on creating Amazon Ads via their website and writing better ad copy (the hook lines you see on ads). I found the latter most helpful because I had already explored the ad website to some extent, but the tips for using the different types of ads Amazon offers were also beneficial.

Time will tell if the class can help turn my advertising profitable instead of what I’m calling a loss-leader. Overall, if you are interested in learning about Amazon ads and writing better copy, then I would recommend the free class, but make sure you have enough time to put into the assignments. As for the paid class, I am still undecided. Probably not this year, but I might consider it part of next year’s growth and training after Hidden Sanctuary is released on time. 

Happy Saturday all!