The Ad Experience

By JJ Marsh

This summer, I published the sixth and last in my current crime series. After spending ten years writing, my aim was to start serious selling. My platform was pretty well established but to change up a gear, I needed to nail ads.

Hello Facebook, hello Amazon.

First I learned as much as I could for free online. I looked at Mark Dawson’s Self Publishing Formula 101 and knew I should understand more about advertising before enrolling on such a course. Otherwise I’d waste both time and money. (Having said that, Mark, James and the team are immensely generous with all their advice via their podcast/books.) Check them out.

So this Scaredy-Cat started with a reassuring Welsh voice: David Penny’s ALLi video on the basics. David’s slow, patient explanation of each step made me confident enough to try it out.

Then Adam Croft’s interview with the ever-helpful The Creative Penn added more ammunition, followed up with Reedsy’s course and various other marketing advisors.

Time to dip my toe in the water.

Lovely ad for the first in my series. But I dropped the price, thinking it would be an incentive. First mistake of many. (See Lesson 1.) In June, my first month of ad spend, I lost around £100. After studying more carefully and making adjustments, in month two, I made a decent profit. Feeling more confident, I tried new ads. Month three, I’ve quintupled my sales and I’m getting an ROI of 40% plus a whole host of new readers.

I am not an expert and far wiser minds will offer more sophisticated and expert advice. So as a seasoned writer but amateur marketer, here are the lessons I learned.

Lesson 1. Ads work best for higher-priced products such as boxsets but rarely for single books or special offers. (Advertising a discounted book is best done on the many freebie/bargain channels.) However, if you have a well-branded series, especially crime/historical fiction/sci-fi & fantasy, it’s worth trying FB/AMS ads.

Lesson 2: Image is crucial - simple, striking designs, featuring the book(s) work best.
On Facebook, you have more design influence. Blue is a bad idea as it blends with FB tones and won’t stand out but orange/yellow work well. Here’s a successful Facebook ad for one of mine, chosen especially to go with a “holiday read” promotion.

Lesson 3: Use congruence – text on ad which matches what the potential buyer sees on your sales page. (In my case; Europe, crime, Beatrice Stubbs, series, detective) Don’t be afraid to use the tagline in your ad or anything that reassures the reader they’re in the right place. And if you’re advertising on mobile/cell phones, make sure the image works in black and white.

Lesson 4: When it comes to Amazon, your only choice is to use the book cover as your image. I know Tread Softly is the most appealing and award-winning cover in my collection, so I chose to advertise that one in addition to my boxset.

The only other element you can control (apart from Keywords - see below) is the copy. You only have 150 characters. Here’s what went with the cover above.

Basque Country, Spain.
A true detective is never off duty.
Beatrice Stubbs is up to her neck in corruption, blackmail and Rioja.

Lesson 5: Link to the Amazon page for the appropriate country – ie, if advertising in the US use Amazon.com and Amazon.de for Germany, etc. You can also use Authl.it to make sure the link redirects your readers to their home site.

Lesson 6: Target carefully. This is IMPORTANT. Make a profile of your ideal reader. Look at Also-boughts of yours and similar writers in your genre. Use Facebook's Audience Insights feature. Amazon offers a variety of tools and suggestions but you know your book and its place 'on the shelf' better than anyone. It sounds stupidly obvious but reach readers who will read and enjoy your work. I write not-gory, intelligent European crime fiction. If I target fans of erotica and sci-fi or slasher horror, I'm onto a loser. If I target fans of Kate Atkinson, Louise Penny, Kathy Reichs or Henning Mankell, I'm far more likely to find friendly readers.

On Amazon, use whole phrases or titles as Keywords and aim for around 200. It will force you to drill down into your niche market if nothing else.

On Facebook, select only their appropriate suggestions and add plenty of your own, based on all the research you've already done. Narrow to your ideal reader by using the Lookalike feature. Facebook can generate similar audiences to those who already like your page.

Lesson 7: Duplicate ads and change one element at a time. Received wisdom says 3 ads per ad set, which costs you no more than one. When you can see which one is working, ditch or change the others. (Leave them for at least 3 days before tinkering. Stats take a while to filter through.) This one for Raw Material took three weeks of refining till it took off.

Lesson 8: Watch what works. Remember you pay per click. Refine and hone.
Check keywords daily on Amazon and change those which get a lot of clicks but no sales.  Also pause those which get few impressions. CPC (cost per click) on Amazon should be $0.70 or less.

On Facebook, watch which ads get most impressions and clicks. After following Lesson 5 above, check which ads are working and either stop or alter the lowest performer. (Tip – what you think is your best ad may not be the same for your readership.) Received wisdom suggests your CPC should be around $0.30.

Lesson 9: If an ad is working – eg you’re selling more than you’re spending, increase your budget by 50%. Remember The Read-Through Effect – if readers enjoyed the first, it results in sales for the rest of your backlist. I’m now advertising only two books and one boxset, but consistently selling all eight (six individual books, two boxsets) every day.

Lesson 10: Respond. If people sign up to your list or like your Facebook author page or have questions, make time for them. Build a relationship and engage. Don’t bombard them but make them feel welcome and part of a community.

Extra tip: Trust your designer.
This is my most successful ad to date – it’s working in the US, Canada, Australia, Europe and is soon to land in India. Thanks to JD Smith Design who rejected my chosen pic and used one of her own.
As always, she was right.