Does a higher Facebook Ads Budget lead to better metrics?
By: Ginger | Posted on November 15, 2024
Many authors wonder if upping their Facebook ads budget is the secret to unlocking better book sales. It’s a great question, but one without a straightforward answer. The truth is, while more money can amplify your ad performance, it’s not as simple as throwing cash at the problem. There are a variety of factors at play that could make – or break – your advertising success. That’s why today, Ginger is here to once again guide us through the world of Facebook Ads, with a special focus on the effects of scaling up your budget. He’ll break down why a bigger budget can improve metrics, how it influences ad reach, and the risks to be mindful of along the way. But before you reach for that credit card, remember: while a larger budget might get you closer to bestseller status, it could just as easily drain your wallet quickly if… Read More >
Learning Tough Lessons from Direct Sales: Part 2
By: Ginger | Posted on November 8, 2024
Last week, Ginger gave us an update on his direct sales journey, where he’s been selling his novels directly to readers instead of relying solely on the big online eBook retailers. In that post, he shared how a couple of minor hiccups slowed his momentum but were manageable enough for him to recover quickly. His final challenge, however, proved to be more substantial, ultimately warranting a post of its own. Today, Ginger goes into the details on how his overconfidence and impatience led him down a costly path, consuming more time and money than his first two missteps combined. Yet, his experiment provided valuable lessons, which he’s now sharing to help the rest of us avoid similar pitfalls when we consider building our own direct sales machine. Last week, I started an update about my adventures in direct sales. I started selling my eBooks directly to readers back in May… Read More >
Learning Tough Lessons from Direct Sales: Part 1
By: Hidden Gems | Posted on November 1, 2024
It’s been almost six months since Ginger began his direct sales journey, and while it has been profitable for him, the road to success has been far from smooth. Selling directly to customers, rather than relying solely on online eBook storefronts, is full of untapped potential but also comes with some surprising challenges. As he’s learned, running a direct sales funnel is like building a complex machine—one with countless moving parts that must work in perfect harmony. Small hiccups can lead to significant losses, while each success feels like a hard-won victory. Yet every roadblock is a learning experience, and navigating around them has allowed him to refine his process further. Today, he’s sharing two of the biggest mistakes he’s made and how he was able to fix them. Then, next week, he’ll return with another challenge he faced and go through all of the lessons he’s learned, so you… Read More >
Analyzing the Ad Performance of AI-Generated Art
By: Ginger | Posted on October 25, 2024
As authors, we’re often balancing our creative principles with the need to embrace new technologies that might boost book sales. That’s why, after recently expressing his dislike of AI-generated art in book ads, Ginger decided to run a small experiment to see how effective these ads truly are. By comparing ads using AI-generated artwork with a similar set featuring traditional art, he was able to draw some surprising conclusions. While this sample size is small and not meant to prove anything definitively, the results could be useful for any authors still debating whether to stick with traditional imagery or explore the AI route in their marketing efforts. A couple of weeks ago, I published a rant about how much I loathed seeing ads for eBooks in my Facebook feed that used AI-generated artwork, and it seems from the responses that many of you agreed with me! However, the debate raised… Read More >
Grow Your Author Platform Organically on Facebook in 2024
By: Ginger | Posted on August 30, 2024
While newer social platforms like TikTok often steal the spotlight, Facebook remains the king of the hill when it comes to author engagement and audience connection. With its unique ability to foster deep, meaningful interactions and its unparalleled reach, Facebook is still a critical tool in an author’s marketing arsenal. But how can you make this platform work for you, especially when organic growth feels like an uphill battle? In today’s blog, Ginger offers actionable strategies to transform your Facebook presence from a stagnant page into a thriving community of engaged readers. Plus, he shares a treasure trove of relevant hashtags to use in your posts, helping you draw in future fans, not just the ones who have already discovered you. So read on for a quick guide on how to use your Author Page to supercharge your social game. Recently, I was asked why most of the articles I… Read More >
From the Mailbox: Direct Sales Success
By: Ginger | Posted on August 2, 2024
Once in a while, a topic discussed on the blog generates more questions than usual and sharing the answers with the community would be more beneficial than simply replying directly to the author. Ginger’s recent Direct Sales series is one such example of this, where the interest in the topic has been high and some of the questions being asked are shared by many. Skipping the big online book retailers to sell directly to readers is a beefy topic, but one that is becoming more popular these days. Still, direct sales success is by no means a given, even if you can navigate your way through the complexity of the initial setup. There are other factors that go into whether it is right for you, and the questions Ginger is answering today reflect some of those concerns. I recently completed a series of blog posts outlining my experiences with direct… Read More >
Breaking Free: Why Direct Sales Might Be For You – Part Four
By: Ginger | Posted on July 26, 2024
This month we’ve been discussing the Direct Sales model of book selling, as many authors look at alternatives to the downsides that come with using the big online retailers. As we’ve mentioned, selling direct isn’t for everyone, but there is a lot of potential for those that can make it work and are willing to put in the effort at getting it all running. Ginger has been our guide throughout this journey, and in today’s blog he is wrapping up this series by sharing and analyzing the results he’s seen after his first month of experimentation. Not only does he provide some raw numbers, but he also notes a surprising result and discusses whether or not he is going to continue forward with the Direct Sales model in the future. As this is the final installment of a four-part series, I would urge you to start at the beginning (if… Read More >
Breaking Free: Why Direct Sales Might Be For You – Part Three
By: Ginger | Posted on July 19, 2024
If there’s one thing that the big online eBook stores have going for them, is that they are relatively easy for authors to get started on. Entering product information is straightforward, and things like billing and content delivery are handled automatically. Yet, there are a host of downsides that make authors hungry for alternatives, which is why Ginger has put together this series on Direct Sales. Today in part three, Ginger goes into detail about what exactly authors are giving up, and taking on, when making the decision to switch to the direct sales model – and it can be significant. Authors that want to follow this path must be prepared for a variety of technical tasks, added expenses, and a setup that can take weeks as opposed to the days or even hours that they’ve grown accustomed to. But for those that follow through, the reward at the end… Read More >
Breaking Free: Why Direct Sales Might Be For You – Part Two
By: Ginger | Posted on July 12, 2024
Last week, Ginger began a series on direct sales – the idea of selling a book directly to readers from your own website, instead of through one of the traditional online retailers. Today we continue this discussion with part two, where Ginger walks us through his personal reasons for wanting to give the direct sales route a try. Through disclosure of some of his actual historical sales numbers, he provides context that may help others decide if selling direct is right for them. These numbers will also be useful to compare against in the future, when he takes us through how well his direct sales experiment actually went. Last week, I started a series about how I’ve spent a month selling my books directly to readers on Facebook, rather than sending them to my product page on Amazon. The direct sales model isn’t for everyone though, so it will help… Read More >
Breaking Free: Why Direct Sales Might Be For You – Part One
By: Ginger | Posted on July 5, 2024
Welcome to the first part of Ginger’s ongoing series about direct sales. In this series, he’ll explore why self-published authors should consider selling books directly to readers, rather than relying solely on traditional online book platforms. As we’ve discussed before, authors face significant challenges in gaining visibility on sites dominated by advertising. Even when readers click on an ad, making an immediate purchase isn’t always straightforward, and the delay in receiving payment can be frustrating. Direct sales offer a way to bypass these obstacles, presenting an appealing alternative to traditional eBook stores. However, it’s not for everyone. Over the next few weeks, Ginger will guide us through the benefits of the direct sales model, his personal reasons for choosing this path, the steps involved in setting it up, and the actual results he has seen since starting. Back last year, Craig and I were excited to have Steve Pieper as… Read More >
