Episode Details

This week we discuss what advertising is actually working for our romance, urban fantasy and cozy mystery books. From facebook to series promotions, we’ve picked up some helpfully tips and strategies for getting the most bang of your advertising buck!

Trudi’s notes on Facebook Ads:

– need more than one book to make it work. (at least to make a profit, if your goals are to get eyes on your book, or get a rank, that might be different.) My new series ads aren’t making me money, because there’s only one book. That’s why I’m frantically writing the next books in the series.
– baby steps and you need to have patience. Small iterations win the day. Don’t freak out and give up (like I have in the past) and say they don’t work. Because they work for some people, so why not you too?
– Set a budget, make a plan, check every day, but not for long. (data rules the world)
– don’t spend all your time on your image, it’s a waste of time. (not a complete waste of time, it’s just that the ad image that wins in a test isn’t always the one you think is the best image.)
– Don’t forget to iterate your Amazon page. (this is super important. It doesn’t matter if you have a kick ass ad, if they’re not buying because you’ve got a lame Amazon page, then it’s a waste of time)
– Read through is really important for ads
– Test everything, including the buttons. (with or without, different ones etc). This can add 5-10% to your conversion, and every little bit helps.
– Different things work for different genres. What works for one author might not work exactly the same way for you, but that’s okay. Test until you find what works for you

Cheryl’s Notes on Series Promotion through Written Word Media:
Book One Free
Book Two 99cents
Book Three 2.99
Book Four full price

Cheryl also discusses how she’s approach promo stacking and using Bookbub ads and new release promo.

Wendy’s notes on facebook and fear:

FB – doing a budget beginning of each month. Allocate how much to spent on -backlist, -new release etc, -email newsletter signups. Break down each book etc
FB- get in and just do it!

Wendy also discusses rebranding an entire series, and getting traction without a bookbub; using other platforms and 5 free days promo.

As promised, here are Wendy’s before her rebranding makeover:

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