Conundrum
I mentioned late last week that I was interested in seeing how many sales I got from Barnes & Noble for Next Time. The US ad seemed to be garnering a lot of clicks pointing to the book’s B&N page. When I got the results Monday, the weekly B&N sales were okay but not great. Doing some simple math, it seems like about 10% of the time someone whose preference is B&N got to the B&N page, they bought the book. In contrast, the Amazon ratio looks more like 20-25%, which isn’t bad. I mean, neither one is great and I should probably look up the standards so I know what’s normal. Not sure what to do about it on B&N since I don’t directly control the page. The book description and info about reviews is the same as other sites. Maybe I just need some people to leave their ratings and others will follow - again, something I don’t control. It already has 7 ratings on Amazon for a 4.6 rating, which I think helps others in their decision-making. I’ve also heard that people have to see an ad multiple times before taking action, which seems fair. Also, the ads overall seem to be doing quite well as far as number of overall clicks, and as we’ve learned from the past, don’t change them when they’re working well.
Halfway
We’ve made it halfway through 2024 already. Congratulations. This is usually a good time to take stock of what’s happened compared to the original plans for the year. For ease of reference, here they are, along with my comments:
Publish Next Time - Done! Released on June 11th
Promote Next Time and First - Yeah, been doing the heck out of that and spending lots of money on ads and promos
Do a featured advertising deal with First - Did several with varying degrees of success
Do a new release advertising deal with Next Time - I didn’t do the formal “new release” deal with BookBub, but I did do additional ads and budget for the first month of the release
Finish writing the first book in the new series - About halfway finished, but pivoted to writing the sequel to First. I can likely still finish this book in 2024
Write the second book in the new series - Doubtful, but you never know. The sequel to First is taking the place of this one.
Publish the first book in the new series - Also doubtful. It could happen, but it would be a change in my publishing schedule.
Set a publishing date for Assignment Day - It will see the light in 2025. By the end of this year I should have something concrete in mind.
Get a total of 500 reviews for all the published books across all sites where sold - This’ll be a stretch. I’m currently just below 90 total across Amazon and Apple, but if you add in Goodreads it’s another 50 or so.
Be a guest on at least three podcasts - I’m scheduled for an interview in a couple of weeks. I’ll have to work on the other two.
Not bad so far, but more work to do. Onward and upward!
Effectiveness
Sometimes it takes a few days for an ad to take off. Other times, they immediately start collecting clicks. And sometimes you’re surprised. The night before last I did a final evening check on the ads I have going right now and found all of them doing exceptionally well. That’s a good sign, but as we’ve discussed before, getting a click on an ad doesn’t mean somebody bought the book. Usually not, in fact. However, on this particular night I was excited to find Next Time had risen to #7 in its category ranking in the UK. I take that to mean the ad was effective enough for a good portion of people to buy the book when they got to the page on Amazon. And to be clear, the description of the book has to be effective as well or people will take about five seconds and hit the back button. I’ve also been monitoring the book’s Barnes & Noble page since the US ad has garnered a lot of clicks pointing to B&N. They don’t provide category rankings on the book’s page (at least that I can find), but the book’s Sales Rank has been steadily rising all week. Let’s see what the weekend brings.
Click Click
Those are the sounds of people clicking on my ads. Remember what I said in the previous post about the study saying people don’t read as much during the summer months? Based on the number of clicks my ads received the past few days, I’m not sure I agree with that analysis. Of course, mine is a sample size of one person. I’m running five ads right now: one global ad for Next Time, UK and USish targeted ads for Next Time, and UK and USish targeted ads for First. Both books jumped up the Amazon rankings yesterday, The Next Time ads are getting a lot of clicks to Barnes & Noble links, and I’m keeping track of the sales rank there as well. First crept up to #17 in UK Space Exploration Science Fiction, the highest it’s been by one spot. One reason for the high number of clicks, particularly for Next Time, could be that not only did I target the readers of certain authors, but I also whittled down the campaign to target people who read Time Travel Romances. In other words, they like that kind of book and are more likely to click on an ad for something in the genre.
Why did I use the term “USish” up above? Because I created BookBub ads specific to the UK, showing the cost in pounds instead of dollars. The other ad I run is not only for the US, but also goes to Canada and Australia. Those bookseller sites show the cost in dollars, so there’s no need to make ads specific to those countries. I mean, I could, but they’d be the same ad. Hence the term USish, which is easier to type than US and Other Countries.
Summer
Summer has definitely landed in Texas. Our temperatures are supposed to be in the 100-degree range over the next week and probably beyond. I saw something the other day that said people don’t buy as many books during summer as they do during the colder months. I thought that seemed a little odd since I read year-round, and I think of people traveling and sitting on the beach, reading as they do so. But then again, it makes sense that people read more when the weather turns frigid, staying in inside and doing fewer outdoor activities. Maybe if people read all year long instead of seasonally, the world would be a better place. Just an idea.
First Sequel
In my previous post, I wrote about pondering a sequel to Next Time. My current project is actually a sequel, but to First. I’m probably about a third of the way through it, or maybe a little more. How’s it going, you ask? Pretty well, I think. There are already things I know I’ll need to go back and shore up, but that’s normal for how I write a first draft. I had a couple of false starts with this one, but I feel like I’ve got the right idea now. This one’s a little different from other books I’ve written in that it has two narrators, which switch back and forth with each chapter. The ideas I had before really didn’t lend themselves to a whole book and it was when I had the inspiration to tell two stories - two for the price of one! - that things started to take off in my brain and on the page. My rule of thumb is that if it keeps me interested then I’ll keep on writing it, but if I’m bored, then the reader’s going to be bored.
Sequel?
I really haven’t thought about a sequel to Next Time, but I made an offhand remark in an interview posted on Literary Titan about it. Something along the lines of, “you never know…” I read through that interview this morning and my impression was that maybe I was too cavalier with that remark. I tend to think that the book stands on its own as a self-contained story. It has a beginning, middle, and end. We know how William and Miriam end up. Would a sequel to a book like that actually add anything? Or would it water down what I think is a great story? I know, never say never, but right now I’m not inclined to it. The story would have to be worth telling. Sure, there are gaps where other stories could take place. Or maybe the story of one of Miriam’s relatives. Does it sound like I’m trying to talk myself into it? No, just musing. I have plenty of other items to keep me busy for the next year with writing the sequel to First and getting Assignment Day polished and ready to publish next year. Maybe it doesn’t need to be said, but I’ll say it anyway: one sure way to guarantee a sequel is to sell a million copies.
Ad-ing
Continuing to run ads on BookBub and still getting lots of traction on the UK ads for First. Next Time has been slow to pick up on clicks and I’m going to mess with the image today and see if something else works. I’m still amazed that the First UK ad is still doing so well, especially when v2 of that ad tanked. Yesterday the book climbed about the highest it’s been on the Amazon UK rankings. The old ad is a bit out of date by this point, but as I learned previously, don’t mess with a good thing. The analytics for the US ad show the clicks going to Amazon outside the US and Apple. I’m still getting sales on Amazon US, though, so maybe some of the other promos are driving traffic. Was talking with another author last week about what it takes to get to be self-perpetuating sales for a book. Let’s just say I’m a long way off from that level. It’d be nice to get there someday, though.
Another Win
The new book released three days ago, but let’s not forget about the one that came out last October. Anyone remember a little book called First? Well, it won another award yesterday. And a nice one, at that. First won the Best Science Fiction Novel from the 18th Annual National Indie Excellence Awards. I’m honored for the book to rack up another award. And it’s not some fly-by-night site either. I took a look at the finalists and First beat out some good competition. I looked back at my tracking spreadsheet and saw that I mailed a copy of the book and entry form in April, but never got an acknowledgement the organizers had received them. I wasn’t sure if the book had even made it to them, so when I got the email yesterday it was a nice surprise and tbh, a little unexpected. Once again, it’s awesome to get more accolades for the book.
Launched
Next Time is now in the hands of readers as of yesterday. Seems like the launch went pretty well and I sold some copies. I ran a campaign on BookBub to get impressions instead of clicks, and the two ads burned through their budget by evening. I don’t know, maybe I should have spread that out more? Regardless, I’m continuing other ads going forward and of course, promotions through other vendors.
I also concluded my Seven Questions in Seven Weeks series yesterday, and I’ll reiterate what I said there: my goal is for people to enjoy the book. I hope the readers are sad when it ends, glad they read it, and wish it would go on a little longer so they can stay in that world with those characters. I want people to be happy they spent several hours reading it. Accolades, sales, and 5-Star reviews are fantastic, but my goal is more personal and I really hope each and every person who reads Next Time gets a lot of enjoyment from the experience.
No Sense
Remember how I had an ad running for First through BookBub a couple of weeks ago that was killing it in the UK? I updated the ad last Monday to reflect the current number of ratings, a little snippet I captured from the Amazon website. I paused the previous ad and started up the new one. Let’s review one more time: exact same ad except for the number of ratings shown, targeted to the same readers, same CPC (cost-per-click) bid, and…it tanked. The number of clicks per day barely registered. I suppose I could take this as a lesson that I shouldn’t mess with something that worked. On Friday, I paused the new ad and restarted the previous one, the ad that had gotten all the clicks. Even though it was out of date slightly because of the number of ratings, I wanted to see what would happen and what do you know? The clicks went through the roof again. It makes absolutely no sense to me why one would work and one wouldn’t. You better believe I’m not going to mess with it for a while. Besides, tomorrow is the release date for Next Time and I’ll be a bit busy with that for the rest of the week. Put this ad nonsense down as an unsolved mystery.
Countdown
The countdown is on for the release of Next Time in only four days! Overnight I received a new review, another 5-star writeup. For those of you keeping score at home, the book is now 3-out-of-3 in 5-star reviews plus a Must-Read listing, with the review pending. That’s pretty cool to see and the book hasn’t even gone live yet. I’m hoping for a good launch day and it’d be nice to see the book jump up the charts. Lots of promotions and ads going into it, so let’s see what kind of results show up.
Looking back, it’s funny to think about writing Next Time. I started with the idea a couple of days after we returned from an overseas trip, and it’s been twenty months since then. I don’t really remember much about writing it, just that the book seemed to flow quite easily. My notes on it along with the minimal outlining I do, shows something remarkably close to my original idea. Again, not sure how that happened but judging by the reviews so far, it worked.
Hooray for the UK
Those clicks last week and the good Amazon sales rankings translated into the best week yet for First. The volume gets transmitted to my publisher every Monday morning (after I wrote the previous post) and I can see at that point the raw numbers. Even though it’s not broken out, the lion’s share must have come from the UK. The total from Apple was pretty much the US along with maybe some from Canada and Australia. I’m grateful that the book is doing well, and hope that this is the beginning of an upward trend across the globe.
Clicks
Both the UK and US ads did well over the weekend. In fact, the UK ad used up all the budget on both Saturday and Sunday, the first time I remember that happening. Obviously, clicks don’t necessarily translate into sales. The Amazon rankings reflected good results, though, and it’ll be interesting to see how many copies sold last week. First got into the top 4,000 books overall on Kindle in the UK, and Top 25 in Space Exploration Science Fiction. I’m pleased to get such good results because, as we’ve established, I’m no marketing genius.
Must-Read
This has been a good week on a couple of fronts. Next Time was included by Independent Book Review on their list of must-reads for the first half of 2024. That is incredibly cool and the book is still 11 days from release. I added links to it on the main page of this site and will definitely be using it in promo ads. The article uses the write-up from the review itself, which hasn’t gone live yet. It’s a really nice honor and adds to the positive response so far.
The other thing is that my new ads for First blew up and got lots of clicks, both in the UK and in the US. In fact, the response was the best I’ve ever had for any of the ads I’ve run on BookBub. The clicks apparently translated to sales as First made it to the top 5,000 Kindle books in the UK. Not just SF or Space Exploration, but overall Kindle books. That’s amazing. I didn’t see a corresponding rise on the US charts and it made me think something had to be wrong, like people were clicking on the ad but not buying a copy. It took me awhile but I figured it out. In the UK, every single one of the clicks took the reader to Amazon UK, and absolutely none to Apple. In the US, Canada, and Australia version of the ads, the clicks were distributed differently, with more going to Apple and very few to Amazon. Overall, I think it’s been a good week for sales, especially in the UK. Let’s get with it, Yanks!
Missed
Yesterday I totally spaced on posting here due to the US holiday. It wasn’t that I was traveling or anything, just that I spent time writing in the morning and for some reason never thought of a blog post. So, I’m combining yesterday’s and tomorrow’s post into one. Twice the value in one post. Anyway, First made it to the 50-review mark on the US Amazon site over the weekend. The UK total is 46 - not sure why there’s a difference but okay. That prompted me to create new ads for both markets, using the number of stars and overall rating in the ad. Plus, I pulled a quote from one of the reviews and used it, all of which combined into a lot of clicks. Like dozens. I haven’t seen an upsurge in the US on Amazon, but that’s because a lot of the ad clicks are going to Apple or to Amazon CA and AUS. Where I did see a big change was in the UK. My ad specific to the UK was apparently quite popular and the ranking rose very high. In fact, I took a screen shot of my book next to The Martian from the rankings page so I could post that my book was outselling it. For a day, or part of a day, at least. Lest anyone think I don’t have a sense of reality, I totally understand that The Martian has been out for years, sold millions of copies, has an exponential number of ratings compared to mine, and even has a celebrity on the front cover. It was just kind of fun to see them side-by-side with my little book one spot ahead for a moment. You have to enjoy the little things.
Pushing 50
The number of Amazon ratings of First stands at 49, with a 4.6 average. I’ve watched the number ratchet up slowly and 50 is within reach. Like I’ve said before, only a small percentage of readers actually rate a book, and I’m grateful for everyone who has. There’s not something mystical about reaching the count of 50, but maybe I can use that in some of my ad promotions. Maybe it’s not mystical, but there is something about that number in the minds of people who see it and think hey, 50 ratings is decent enough for me to give the book a try. I’ll have to think about that one. In the meantime, I’m working on promos for Next Time. This time around I’m trying to have a big release day to get it up the charts. A little different from First, so we’ll see how it goes.
Another
Received another review of Next Time late last week from Independent Book Review and it was fantastic. Probably one of the best reviews I’ve ever received. It’s supposed to go live on their website at some point and I’ll post the link on the main page. They sent me an email with a pdf preview of the write-up, and phrases like “A time-travel novel exceptionally worthy of a binge-read” and “Of the many time-travel novels I’ve read, this is undeniably among my favorites.” It ends with “If you love time-travel stories complete with action and romance, Next Time would be the best choice you’ve made in a while.” Wow, not sure it can get much better than that. I will say it’s incredibly uplifting to get such great reviews. I think it’s the best book I’ve ever written and it’s nice to see other people respond to it so positively. Less than three weeks ‘til the release date and I hope plenty of people discover the book and enjoy it.
Stars
I need to take a moment to apologize to my fellow authors. I’m guilty of this and now I know better: browsing for books but discounting a book because it only has a few reader ratings. The book might have five stars out of those ratings, but if only 15 readers rated it, then I’ve tended toward finding something else to read. And that’s wrong. I now know how tough it is to get readers to rate your book, even just by clicking on the number of stars, much less a written review. Based on my experience, you’re lucky to get 5% of readers who follow up with a rating. And probably less than that. It takes time to build up the number of ratings, especially if you’re self-published. So, no more ignoring a book just because it’s earning its stars. If the book looks interesting and I want to read it, I’m going to be part of those people who leave a rating and not let the lack of reviewers deter me.
More Promos
I’m running a promo today and another next Friday. This is the (not) fun part of self-publishing. I have the ongoing ads through BookBub, but I’ve found that without an occasional promo the sales tend to stay flat and slowly decrease over time. I don’t say that like I’m surprised, just that it takes maintenance and some occasional extra work to keep sales floating. I’ve also found that changing an ad for the better on a Friday makes a difference for the weekend, when it seems more people are browsing for something to read. Hopefully, these promos go well and I’ll have something good to report.