Ian Fleming Publications Quietly Revolutionizes the Publishing Industry
By: Ginger | Posted on November 11, 2022
In yet another blow to traditional publishing’s quickly loosening grip of an industry they once entirely dominated, the estate of Ian Fleming recently announced they would be taking back control of the James Bond books and publishing them on their own. Self-publishing may have taken off by giving a voice to smaller authors that couldn’t (or chose not to) go the traditional route, but moves like this are a signal that the tide has changed, and it is quickly becoming the self-publishing path that is the more desirable one to follow – for both small time authors and big names alike. I expect that it won’t be long before we start seeing more examples of popular traditionally published authors and franchises making similar moves. On October 5, 2022, the world recognized the 60th anniversary of the celluloid James Bond – marking six decades since the first movie in the franchise,… Read More >
Is Your Freebie Lead Magnet Costing You Money?
By: Ginger | Posted on October 14, 2022
Generally when you advertise your book, you’re paying to show your ad to people in the hopes that they’ll be interested enough to click and buy it. That’s why you have to be very careful to show it to the right people, otherwise you’re simply throwing your ad dollars away. Ad platforms like Facebook let you build your audience from an existing list you provide, and many authors instinctively turn to their own mailing list of fans as the source for that. In some cases, that may very well be the best list to use, but depending on how you drew people to sign up in the first place, it may actually be just the opposite… Advertising your books on Amazon is a complex process. It might not seem like it, but there’s a veritable Rube Goldberg Machine going on behind the scenes that you can only hope will convert… Read More >
Your First 100 Clicks lead to your magic Conversion number
By: Ginger | Posted on September 9, 2022
Last week Ginger discussed spending your first $1000 on digital ads, with the goal of getting both sales and information from that spend. This week, he’s focusing more on how to interpret some of the info you gather, specifically around what those clicks tell you about your “magic” conversion number. That conversion number isn’t really magic of course, but it may seem that way in how valuable it is in terms of giving you a very clear idea as to whether or not your ads are profitable or not. Figuring out your conversion number isn’t always straightforward, though, with some ad platforms making it more transparent than others. But if you know the best place and way to figure it out, you can then use that information elsewhere. Last week, we discussed how you should spend your first $1,000 in advertising budget, and we mostly concentrated on Facebook as an… Read More >
Spending your first $1,000 on digital advertising
By: Ginger | Posted on September 2, 2022
There’s an old adage: “You’ve got to spend money to make money.” Nowhere does this wisdom apply more than in the digital advertising industry – especially when it comes to the business of selling books online. However, it’s important to make sure that any money you spend provides some kind of value – even if it isn’t initially in direct book sales. Here are some of Ginger’s guidelines regarding what authors should focus on when spending their first $1,000 on advertising their books. In 2020, advertisers spent $378 billion on digital advertising, and that looks set to double by 2024 – equivalent to the GDP of the nation of Somoa. Much of what’s driving this is access to self-service advertising platforms like Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Self-service ads generated $28.5 billion in revenue for Facebook last year, for example. Authors comprise a significant number of those advertisers. In fact, the… Read More >
Should your Amazon ads use keywords or ASINs?
By: Ginger | Posted on July 29, 2022
Advertising on Amazon is the advertising foundation for many successful self-published authors, but it has a notoriously steep learning curve in order to prove successful. One common conundrum for rookie advertisers is whether to use keywords to try and find new readers, or advertise using ASIN numbers. There are different schools of thought about this approach, so Ginger is dedicating this week’s blog post towards helping you decide which option might work best for your books. What is the difference between keywords and ASINs? Every product for sale on Amazon has an ASIN, which stands for Amazon Standard Identification Number. It’s a 9-digit code that quickly identifies exactly which product you’re trying to specify out of the millions of things you can buy on Amazon. Self-published ebooks have their own unique ASIN, while paperback books (even the Print on Demand ones made using Amazon’s printing services) have a publishing… Read More >
Latest Tips for Advertising on Amazon
By: Ginger | Posted on July 22, 2022
Over the years, we’ve posted multiple blogs about how to get the most out of Advertising on Amazon. However, things change – and some of the the advice Ginger has given authors a couple of years ago isn’t necessarily what he’d recommend today. So here are a few of his latest thoughts on how Advertising on Amazon is working these days, and what authors can do to take advantage of the changes. A Changing Landscape Technology changes. It’s inevitable. If it wasn’t, we’d still be stuck using the same interface and operating systems we were a decade ago on platforms like Facebook and Amazon. There are multiple reasons why ecommerce and social media platforms update their layout and interface, and many of the choices the folks in Silicon Valley make don’t necessarily make a lot of sense to the likes of us. However, there’s no use complaining about these updates… Read More >
A Template for Your Book Launch
By: Ginger | Posted on July 8, 2022
Most established authors have their own strategy for book launch that they swear by, but while there are probably a lot of similarities, it’s likely there are just as many differences between them as well. That’s because every author and book is different, and what works for some may fail for others. As with so many things, you have to test and try different things to find what works best for you, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t helpful to have a starting point. This week, Ginger is sharing his own template for launching a book in the hopes that it can help both authors that are starting out, or more established authors that might be looking to try something new. Even if it’s not an exact fit for your own launch, hopefully it will at least be enough to point you towards the path to success. The other day,… Read More >
The Book Marketing Trio You Need to Succeed
By: Amy L. Bernstein | Posted on April 8, 2022
When it comes to sending out queries or even publishing, there are three challenging forms of book marketing copy that authors need to master. All three are essential, though they each serve a different purpose, but what they have in common is that they need to be compelling and to the point, without any wasted words, in order to capture the interest of their intended audiences as quickly as possible. Author Amy Bernstein has plenty of experience writing all three forms, and is here today to help explain when and where to use each one, as well as tips and best practices on writing them in the first place. A Logline, Synopsis, and Flap Copy meet up at a writers’ conference (or a bar, if you’re in that mood). The Logline utters two sentences, then shuts up. The Synopsis blabs on and on indiscreetly, and the Flap Copy gets everyone’s… Read More >
Amazon delivers another blow to traditional publishing
By: Ginger | Posted on April 1, 2022
In recent weeks, Amazon has done something previously considered unthinkable – offering up the option for authors to advertise their books using Advertising on Amazon even if they’re traditionally published, or the rights to those books are held by somebody else. In doing so, they’ve delivered yet another gut punch to traditional publishing by providing authors that aren’t yet self-published with an opportunity to test whether they can do a better job of promoting their own books, while at the same time getting a view into just how much money they’re leaving on the table. If you’ve visited your Author Central account on Amazon recently – the one where you can post your biographical details, and curate all the books you’ve written or contributed to – you’ll notice a new tab called Reports & Marketing. On that page, you’ll see the option to go directly to the Advertising on… Read More >
Publish like a bestseller (even before you are)
By: Ginger | Posted on March 25, 2022
For those that work regular jobs, there’s a saying that goes, “Do the job you want, not the job you have.” Essentially, that just means that if you want to get promoted or move up in your job, you should start by proving that you can handle what that higher position has in store for you. But does that still apply to self-published authors that don’t work for anyone but themselves? Of course it does, because after all, you may not be trying to prove anything to anyone but yourself but at the end of the day, isn’t that the person you want to impress the most anyway? The truth is, there is always more success to be had, or higher levels to reach for in your career, and sitting back on your laurels is no way to get there. As Ginger describes below, the best way to capitalize on… Read More >
