Whenever I post earnings figures to author forums, writers ask me about my advertising techniques. Do I prefer AMS or Facebook ads? Am I more of a Bookbub guy? Do I target authors, keywords, or ASINs, and how high do I bid? I’ve sold almost $50,000 worth of e-books and paperbacks in the first 80 […]
Book cover. Title. Burb. These comprise the holy trinity of indie publishing success. In a recent post to the 20Booksto50K forum, super indie author Craig Martelle challenged authors to post the title of their latest book, plus the first few lines from the blurb. For those of you wondering, the blurb is the description readers […]
Rather than post another monthly summary, I’m offering a two-year revenue chart to kickstart your writing in 2021. I’ve included key releases on the chart to give you an idea of where my growth came from. I write serial killer thrillers and psychological suspense in the vein of Lisa Gardner, Christopher Greyson, Lisa Regan, […]
Several years ago, legendary indie author Mark Dawson taught a generation of authors how to build a mailing list on Facebook. Since that time, cost-per-click (CPC) has risen significantly on Facebook, tempting authors to switch to list builders such as Book Funnel, Story Origin, and Prolific Works. But do list builders provide cost-effective methods for […]
I set personal records for monthly profit ($7939), KDP revenue ($9729), and page reads (1.67 million). Except for a few predictably slow days around Thanksgiving, sales and KU page reads remained consistent all month. There were no new releases in November. But the late-October release of the last book in my Darkwater Cove thriller series […]
I publish a new novel every 45 days. Just reading that aloud frightens me. Independent writers recognize the challenges inherent with a rapid publishing schedule: ordering and evaluating cover designs, writing descriptions for book covers and Amazon’s product pages, editing and proofreading, sending advance copies to the beta reading team… And so on. I couldn’t […]
Today I’m discussing how to increase Email subscription conversions, because building a large, healthy list of subscribers is critical to your success. While I’ve read documented cases of independent authors building huge fanbases and selling tons of books without mailing lists, a strong subscriber base improves the odds that you’ll achieve success. I recently conducted […]
It’s not easy for authors to advertise books in 2020. We’re facing a pandemic, an economic recession, and social unrest. The rules change daily, and what worked in advertising last week too often fails today. Want to get your books in front of readers? It’s hard. Advertising through AMS (Amazon Marketing Services) is the quickest, […]