Building a Fiction Empire

[rybanez]

With some self-publishing success in the past (under various pen names), I've started releasing novels under my real name in 2024.

The plan:

• Publish on every platform possible (83% of the books in the sub-genre I’m publishing in are enrolled in Kindle Unlimited!)
• Release a book a month for the first three months, then offer a box set in October. Begin releasing every two months while building a backlog of books.
• $10/day FB ad spend from launch. All revenue goes back into ads as I launch new books. Scale up ads that are proving to be profitable (using attribution data).
• Provide value to fellow writers via private FB groups.

Progress so far:

• Outlined and wrote first 5 books in the series. Book 1 has been launched in ebook and paperback formats. All covers, blurbs, editing, and formatting for Books 2-4 is complete. Ordered proofs and early reader copies for Books 2-4. Getting everything set up for the first Box Set as well.
• Set up web site, newsletter sign up form & auto responder, and social media accounts.
• Set up an Etsy shop for ebooks and paperback. I'm also set up at Amazon, Barnes & Noble Press, Kobo, and Google Play. Distributing to all other platforms via Draft2Digital.
• Prepared marketing creatives for FB ads and launched first FB ads (testing using Dynamic Creative). Ran a week-long Kobo promo on their site. Applied to an upcoming Apple promo.
• Distributed ARCs.
• Joined several FB groups for authors in my genre and have been focused on providing value daily.

Next steps:

• Second draft of Book 5
• Outline Book 6
• Book 2 release
• Analyze data from advertising and test new ads

Will post an update at least once a month with progress made as well as what I have learned along the way.

Thank you for reading!

(It’s been a while since I’ve posted on this forum. In 2021, my wife and I had our first child and a second one arrived in 2023, so I’ve had my hands full. Now things are calming down, and I finally have the time to commit to this project.)

 

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[DWX]

With some self-publishing success in the past (under various pen names), I've started releasing novels under my real name in 2024.

The plan:

• Publish on every platform possible (83% of the books in the sub-genre I’m publishing in are enrolled in Kindle Unlimited!)
• Release a book a month for the first three months, then offer a box set in October. Begin releasing every two months while building a backlog of books.
• $10/day FB ad spend from launch. All revenue goes back into ads as I launch new books. Scale up ads that are proving to be profitable (using attribution data).
• Provide value to fellow writers via private FB groups.

Progress so far:

• Outlined and wrote first 5 books in the series. Book 1 has been launched in ebook and paperback formats. All covers, blurbs, editing, and formatting for Books 2-4 is complete. Ordered proofs and early reader copies for Books 2-4. Getting everything set up for the first Box Set as well.
• Set up web site, newsletter sign up form & auto responder, and social media accounts.
• Set up an Etsy shop for ebooks and paperback. I'm also set up at Amazon, Barnes & Noble Press, Kobo, and Google Play. Distributing to all other platforms via Draft2Digital.
• Prepared marketing creatives for FB ads and launched first FB ads (testing using Dynamic Creative). Ran a week-long Kobo promo on their site. Applied to an upcoming Apple promo.
• Distributed ARCs.
• Joined several FB groups for authors in my genre and have been focused on providing value daily.

Next steps:

• Second draft of Book 5
• Outline Book 6
• Book 2 release
• Analyze data from advertising and test new ads

Will post an update at least once a month with progress made as well as what I have learned along the way.

Thank you for reading!

(It’s been a while since I’ve posted on this forum. In 2021, my wife and I had our first child and a second one arrived in 2023, so I’ve had my hands full. Now things are calming down, and I finally have the time to commit to this project.)

Sounds like you've got your publishing system down-pat. Congrats.

Many fiction authors are ditching KU for a wider reach, some going as far as setting up their own direct stores (I'm one such rebel ). I see this being a lasting trend for all creators/creatives going forward.

Curious, are you using AI in any part of your writing/publishing process?

I know it's a controversial topic in the author community, but I'm using it to great effect.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

With some self-publishing success in the past (under various pen names)

I think you'll find that things are vastly different this time. If you can crack the code, would love to hear it.

83% of the books in the sub-genre I’m publishing in are enrolled in Kindle Unlimited!)

Lemme guess, romantasy?

 

[rybanez]

I think you'll find that things are vastly different this time. If you can crack the code, would love to hear it.



Lemme guess, romantasy?

It's a whole different world than back when I started in 2010. Pretty much pay-to-play at this point (though it's been this way for a while).

Not in a romance genre. Wholesome mysteries.

 

[rybanez]

Sounds like you've got your publishing system down-pat. Congrats.

Many fiction authors are ditching KU for a wider reach, some going as far as setting up their own direct stores (I'm one such rebel ). I see this being a lasting trend for all creators/creatives going forward.

Curious, are you using AI in any part of your writing/publishing process?

I know it's a controversial topic in the author community, but I'm using it to great effect.

With the lowering payouts and putting all your eggs into the Zon basket, it's not surprising.

Am looking into a direct store on my own site likely next year. Went with Etsy for now for sales tax simplicity, but would rather have more control in the long run.

Not using AI except for a few menial tasks to save time (character name gen, preliminary research, etc) and for some ad images.

 

[DWX]

With the lowering payouts and putting all your eggs into the Zon basket, it's not surprising.

Am looking into a direct store on my own site likely next year. Went with Etsy for now for sales tax simplicity, but would rather have more control in the long run.

Not using AI except for a few menial tasks to save time (character name gen, preliminary research, etc) and for some ad images.

Yeah, the sales tax thing is a bit of a negative when running your own stall, but luckily there are apps that can manage some of the heavy lifting.

Look forward to your updates.

 

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[rybanez]

July Sales: $131.50
- Amazon: $113.42
- Barnes & Noble: $18.08

July Expenses: $346.41
- Facebook Ads: $208.15
- Kobo Promo: $40.00
- Etsy Ads: $1.73
- Proofs/Early Reader Copies (Books 1-4): $51.63
- Inventory (Author Copies of Book 1): $38.90
- Genius Link: $6.00

July Total P/L: -$214.91

Paid units: 61
Free units: 140

Released my debut book this month on all major platforms, priced at $2.99 for ebook and $9.99 for paperback. Later in the month I ran a week-long promo on Kobo, a retailer I’m trying to gain traction on. Gave away 134 copies and got 1 review from it. We’ll see if sales follow now that Book 2 has launched in the beginning of August. Also gave away 6 copies on Booksprout and so far got 5 reviews from that.

A note on expenses:

The web site is hosted by Siteground, which I use for all my projects. I didn’t include it in the expenses since I’d be paying the Siteground fee anyway. So for this project, I pay $10.16 a year for the domain.

Advertising Methodology:

I’m slowly testing Facebook ads with a $10/day budget. Each week I test a different part of the ad, using Dynamic Creative. Then I keep what received the most spend and test a new part.

So far,

Week 1: Test 4 images, same strapline

Week 2: Test winning image against 4 straplines and reader review quotes (including the strapline from previous week)

Week 3/4: Keep winning image/strapline combo and test 5 headlines

Main link of ad goes to Amazon with attribution link. In the primary text is a Genius Link to all retailers (which also includes Amazon attribution link for that particular ad).

Next Actions:
- Outline Book 6
- 2,000 words written each morning
- Finish drafting a short piece for anthology (for later use in my own collections, reader magnets, etc)
- Create and test new Facebook ads weekly (raise daily budget if breaking even overall on a weekly basis)
- Keep engaging with readers/writers in my genre on various Facebook groups (20 mins a day)

 

[Cameraman]

July Sales: $131.50
- Amazon: $113.42
- Barnes & Noble: $18.08

July Expenses: $346.41
- Facebook Ads: $208.15
- Kobo Promo: $40.00
- Etsy Ads: $1.73
- Proofs/Early Reader Copies (Books 1-4): $51.63
- Inventory (Author Copies of Book 1): $38.90
- Genius Link: $6.00

July Total P/L: -$214.91

Paid units: 61
Free units: 140

Released my debut book this month on all major platforms, priced at $2.99 for ebook and $9.99 for paperback. Later in the month I ran a week-long promo on Kobo, a retailer I’m trying to gain traction on. Gave away 134 copies and got 1 review from it. We’ll see if sales follow now that Book 2 has launched in the beginning of August. Also gave away 6 copies on Booksprout and so far got 5 reviews from that.

A note on expenses:

The web site is hosted by Siteground, which I use for all my projects. I didn’t include it in the expenses since I’d be paying the Siteground fee anyway. So for this project, I pay $10.16 a year for the domain.

Advertising Methodology:

I’m slowly testing Facebook ads with a $10/day budget. Each week I test a different part of the ad, using Dynamic Creative. Then I keep what received the most spend and test a new part.

So far,

Week 1: Test 4 images, same strapline

Week 2: Test winning image against 4 straplines and reader review quotes (including the strapline from previous week)

Week 3/4: Keep winning image/strapline combo and test 5 headlines

Main link of ad goes to Amazon with attribution link. In the primary text is a Genius Link to all retailers (which also includes Amazon attribution link for that particular ad).

Next Actions:
- Outline Book 6
- 2,000 words written each morning
- Finish drafting a short piece for anthology (for later use in my own collections, reader magnets, etc)
- Create and test new Facebook ads weekly (raise daily budget if breaking even overall on a weekly basis)
- Keep engaging with readers/writers in my genre on various Facebook groups (20 mins a day)

Remember to enrol in all the platform Affiliate schemes, especially as you're using Genius Link. You can earn a nice little boost from Amazon, Google, and Apple. My affiliate commissions for Amazon UK and the US sometimes achieve bonus rates, just from the sales I make on traffic I send to look at my books.

 

[Landonclogsalot]

Keep us posted!

 

[rybanez]

August Sales: $145.19 (+$13.69)
- Amazon: $122.92 (+$9.50)
- Barnes & Noble: $20.17 (+$2.09)
- Apple Books: $1.78 (+$1.78)
- Hoopla: $0.32 (+$0.32)

August Expenses: $369.63 (+$23.22)
- Facebook Ads: $344.83 (+$136.68)
- Etsy Ads: $0.79 (-$0.94)
- Proofs: $18.01 (-$33.62)
- Inventory: $0.00 (-$38.90)
- Genius Link: $6.00

August Total P/L: -$224.44 (-$9.53)

Paid units: 56 (-5)
Free units: 6 (-134)

Had a couple of rough weeks as I worked on dialing in FB ads. Each week, tested different parts of the ad in this order: Image, Headline, and Primary Text. Now using the data to hone in on what worked and do a few more A/B tests to find the winner.

Released my second book at the beginning of August ($2.99 for ebook and $9.99 for paperback). Gave away 20 copies of Book 1 via Voracious Readers Only, which allowed for adding the participants of the giveaway to my newsletter. In order to decide if I should continue to use VRO, I used an attribution link to see if any of these first 20 subscribers went on to purchase Book 2. So far, none of these folks bought Book 2, though they posted honest reviews.

Gave away a few more copies via Booksprout to help gather a few more early reviews.

Finished drafting Book 6 (slated for a March 2025 release).

Raffle

My newsletter welcome e-mail encourages new e-mail subscribers to reply in order to enter in a raffle for a signed paperback. So far, a few people have replied, and I announced the winner in a weekly newsletter.

Anthology

I finished and submitted an anthology piece (9,200 words), for which it was accepted. Anthology will be released in mid-October. Planning on writing more for anthologies in the future. This will allow for:

1.) Additional entry points into my work

2.) More material to package and sell in various formats/languages in the future (after the publisher’s exclusive rights expire (90 days))

Cover revamp

Decided to revamp the series covers to ensure they telegraph the sub-genre to prospective readers. Put new design in front of folks in a FB group I’ve been actively providing value to over the past few weeks. Received amazing feedback from fellow authors and a cover designer who works on some of the bestsellers in my genre. Tested old and new cover concepts as FB ads over a full week as a final test of which one gets the most attention. The new cover was the clear winner.

Next Actions:

- Outline Book 7
- Prepare Book 4 for launch - November release, will release every two months from here on out
- Write exclusive story to use as reader magnet for newsletter.
- Create and test new Facebook ads weekly (holding daily budget steady until I start seeing ROAS of 1.0 or higher)
- Start testing 2 other traffic sources in order to determine conversion rates and cost-per-sale. Testing Amazon Ads and Pinterest Ads next.
- Engage with readers/writers in my genre on various Facebook groups (20 mins a day)

(edited for formatting issues)

 

[StrikingViper69]

How are you writing a book every 1-2 months? Are you using AI? How long are they?

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

Are the books any good? Are readers telling other readers?

 

[rybanez]

How are you writing a book every 1-2 months? Are you using AI? How long are they?

Not using AI except for initial research and ad images. No AI is used for any outlining or writing.

Each book is around 30k words. An outline takes a few days, then I dictate each scene with my phone. With dictation, I am able to write about 3,000 words an hour, and often write while on the go or out for a walk.

Have been studying craft for over a decade and have read extensively in the genre in which I'm now writing.

 

[rybanez]

Are the books any good? Are readers telling other readers?

Some non-ARC organic reviews have trickled in, with folks saying they thought it was a great read and fell in love with the characters. Not sure if readers are telling other readers yet, though some people are tagging their friends in the comments on the ads.

 

[rybanez]

September Sales: $372.70 (+$229.51)
- Amazon: $325.26 (+$202.30)
- Barnes & Noble: $19.15 (-$1.02)
- Apple Books: $1.78 (+$0)
- Hoopla: $3.21 (+$2.89)
- Etsy: $11.37 (+$11.37)
- Google Play: $5.23 (+$5.23)
- Kobo: $6.70 (+$6.70)

September Expenses: $840.26 (+$470.63)
- Facebook Ads: $562.27 (+$217.44)
- Pinterest Ads (initial test): $84.99 (+$84.99)
- Amazon Ads (initial test): $148.10 (+$148.10)
- Etsy Ads: $0.36 (-$0.43)
- Proofs: $0 (-$18.01)
- Inventory: $38.54 (+$38.54)
- Genius Link: $6.00

September Total P/L: -$467.56 (-$243.12)

Paid units: 159 (+103)
Free units: 2,618 (+2,612)
newsletter subs: 76

September saw the first purchase of a signed paperback. Also, the reader reviews/ratings keep rolling in, and so far they are overwhelmingly favorable. Starting to get a feel for what the readers like/dislike and will continue to seek feedback in order to improve.

Losses increased this month as different ad creatives and platforms were tested.

Tested Pinterest Ads, which converted terribly. Not sure if this is due to the way Pinterest users consume content (and ads). The attribution window for the links is 14 days, and from what I’ve read, conversions can take up to 30 days to occur.

Also tested Amazon Ads. These had good conversion rates and decent cost per sale, though it was difficult to control spend while ensuring deliverability of ads.

Stopping all Pinterest and Amazon ads in order to focus on one marketing channel: Facebook Ads.

As for releases: Third book came out at the beginning of September ($2.99 for ebook and $9.99 for paperback). Put Book 4 on pre-order at $2.99, which is the discount price for all books from Book 4 and on (regular price will be $3.99).

Mailing List

Have been focusing on attracting readers to the newsletter by offering a high-quality exclusive story that is promoted in the front/back matter of each book. Will be giving Book 1 away more often now that books and web site have been optimized for newsletter sign-ups. Will start tracking subscribers on a monthly basis.

Next Actions:

- Outline Book 7, start drafting
- Revisions for Book 6
- Prepare Book 5 for pre-order
- Create and test new Facebook ads weekly (holding daily budget steady until ROAS = 1.0 or higher)
- Engage with readers/writers on various genre-specific Facebook groups (20 mins a day)

 

[StrikingViper69]

Would offering Book 1 at cost, with an upsell to the rest of the books in the series, work as a way to get some sales rolling in?

Where are your Facebook ads pointing to - Amazon, Etsy?

 

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[rybanez]

Would offering Book 1 at cost, with an upsell to the rest of the books in the series, work as a way to get some sales rolling in?

Definitely worth testing. Had about 30% sell-through from Book 1 to Book 2 when both were at $2.99 for ebook, $9.99 for paperback. Since reducing Book 1 ebook to free, sales of Book 2 and 3 increased during the first half of October.

Where are your Facebook ads pointing to - Amazon, Etsy?

Main link is pointed to Amazon (attribution link), though there is a Genius Link in the primary text giving readers the choice of their preferred retailer.

 

[StrikingViper69]

Definitely worth testing. Had about 30% sell-through from Book 1 to Book 2 when both were at $2.99 for ebook, $9.99 for paperback. Since reducing Book 1 ebook to free, sales of Book 2 and 3 increased during the first half of October.

Main link is pointed to Amazon (attribution link), though there is a Genius Link in the primary text giving readers the choice of their preferred retailer.

What’s the conversion rate for the ad? I sell my book through Facebook ads and shopify, I hadn’t considered pointing ads to Amazon before

 

[rybanez]

What’s the conversion rate for the ad? I sell my book through Facebook ads and shopify, I hadn’t considered pointing ads to Amazon before

When Book 1 was $2.99, the best ad had a 4.13% conversion rate (on 1,018 clicks). Cost per sale ended up being $6.10 -- so only good with a longer series.

Current tests running the ads to the free Book 1 is up to 67.90% conversion with cost per "sale" at $.07 -- a bit higher than I'd pay per "sale" using promo sites, which tend to be 2-5 cents per copy given away.

 

[rybanez]

October Sales: $204.61 (-$168.09)
- Amazon: $174.73 (-$150.53)
- Barnes & Noble: $19.57 (+$0.42)
- Apple Books: $9.06 (+$7.28)
- Hoopla: $0 (-$3.21)
- Etsy: $0 (-$11.37)
- Google Play: $0 (-$5.23)
- Kobo: $0 (-$6.70)
- Kobo Plus (Sept): $1.25 (+$1.25)

October Expenses: $546.07 (-$294.19)
- Facebook Ads: $392.59 (-$169.68)
- BookBub Ads (initial test): $30.02 (+$30.02)
- Newsletter Promos: $110.00 (+$110.00)
- Pinterest Ads: $0 (-$84.99)
- Amazon Ads: $0.35 (-$147.75)
- Etsy Ads: $0 (-$0.36)
- Proofs: $7.11 (+$7.11)
- Inventory: $0 (-$38.54)
- Genius Link: $6.00

October Total P/L: -$341.46 (+$126.10)

Paid units: 96 (-63)
Free units: 7,597 (+4,979)
Newsletter subs: 124 (+48)

More readers have been giving Book 1 a chance now that it’s free (unsurprisingly). Reviews on all platforms are rising, and Book 1 is quickly approaching 200 ratings on Amazon alone.

As for sell-through figures, it might take a month or two to get a handle on those. Full-price Book 1 to Book 2 over 3 months was around 30%. Expecting this to fall to the 2-5% range, now that Book 1 is free.

Number of paid units dropped as advertising was decreased. Not only that, since Book 1 is free, there are only three books available for purchase (and one is a pre-order).

Goal is to hit an inflection point where ad spend is fully supported by revenue reinvestment. However, it’s likely there will need to be more books out in the series to achieve this. To help stave off further losses, any ad platforms that didn’t perform well during tests were cut off.

Newsletter Testing:

Starting to advertise in genre-specific newsletters. Though not nearly as scalable as Facebook ads, some newsletters have the lowest cost per copy given away.

Tested 3 newsletter promo sites in October. Cost per download for the newsletters I’ve tested so far:

BookDoggy: $0.045
ManyBooks: $0.34
BookRaid: $0.20

(Note: Since I’m running Facebook Ads daily, I had to calculate based on the increase above the average baseline numbers for downloads.)

So far, BookDoggy is going into the winners group. I’ll be testing several other sites over the coming months to see what gives the lowest cost per download.

With Facebook, cost per download has been as low as $0.07, but results seem to deteriorate quickly as the ads run over the course of several weeks. The problem may be with the targeting, so more testing is needed to see if different targeting improves results for the winning ads.

Dictation:

Upgraded to a Sony mono recorder for dictation, using MacWhisper to transcribe. The transcription software is very accurate, so it saves me about 15 hours per book that used to be spent fixing errors in my phone’s native transcription software.

Next Actions:

- Book 8, finish drafting
- Book 9, outline
- Create and test new Facebook ads weekly (holding daily budget steady until ROAS = 1.0 or higher)
- Engage with readers/writers on various genre-specific Facebook groups (20 mins a day)

 

[StrikingViper69]

When Book 1 was $2.99, the best ad had a 4.13% conversion rate (on 1,018 clicks). Cost per sale ended up being $6.10 -- so only good with a longer series.

Current tests running the ads to the free Book 1 is up to 67.90% conversion with cost per "sale" at $.07 -- a bit higher than I'd pay per "sale" using promo sites, which tend to be 2-5 cents per copy given away.

apologies, only just saw this.

Does that cost per sale include Amazon's many fees? Or is that just how much the Facebook ads cost?

 

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[rybanez]

apologies, only just saw this.

Does that cost per sale include Amazon's many fees? Or is that just how much the Facebook ads cost?

It's just how much the Facebook ads cost per sale.

 

[rybanez]

November Sales: $320.29 (+$115.68)
- Amazon: $211.11 (+$36.38)
- Barnes & Noble: $40.30 (+$20.73)
- Apple Books: $49.57 (+$40.51)
- Everand: $5.93 (+$5.93)
- Hoopla: $0 (+$0)
- Etsy: $0 (+$0)
- Google Play: $11.15 (+$11.15)
- Kobo: $2.23 (+$2.23)
- Kobo Plus (Oct): $0 (-$1.25)

November Expenses: $421.39 (-$124.68)
- Facebook Ads: $318.28 (-$74.31)
- BookBub Ads (initial test): $0 (-$30.02)
- Newsletter Promos: $90.00 (-$20)
- Amazon Ads: $0 (-$0.35)
- Proofs: $7.11 (+$0)
- Genius Link: $6.00

November Total P/L: -$101.10 (+$240.36)

Paid units: 149 (+53)
Free units: 8,023 (+426)
Newsletter subs: 194 (+70)

Losses are narrowing in November, though the current issue is sell-through. Was expecting sell-through to fall somewhere in the 2-5% range, now that Book 1 has been free for two months. However, here are the actual sell-through figures (using 2 months of sales data):

Book 1 (free) to Book 2 (paid): 0.8%
Book 2 (paid) to Book 3 (paid): 66%
Book 3 (paid) to Book 4 (paid): 97%

Definitely doing something wrong. Not sure what it is, exactly, but something about Book 1 is missing the mark. Will monitor these numbers over the coming months to see if there’s any improvement.

Newsletter Testing:

Tested 1 promo site newsletter in November. Here are the results for a first run:

Freebooksy: $0.033

I’m shooting for a cost per download of around 5 cents for promo sites. So Freebooksy is definitely a winner.

Winners Group:

BookDoggy: $0.045
Freebooksy: $0.033

This group of promo sites will be used for launches in the future. Since tests are individual, I’ll be able to pinpoint which ones work best in order to stack them later on for maximum firepower.

Facebook is still becoming more expensive in giving away free books. Maybe it’s ad fatigue.

Pivot:

As stated earlier, will continue to monitor sell-through figures. Tests need to be run with a new series to see if reader expectations can be sufficiently met. Will plan and write a new series for 2025.


Next Actions:

- Draft new series to test in 2025
- Create and test new Facebook ads weekly (holding daily budget steady until ROAS = 1.0 or higher)
- Engage with readers/writers on various genre-specific Facebook groups (20 mins a day)

 

[minimalrosie]

Wow - this is a real insight into self-publishing. I've written for years but never gone for it.
Your output is fantastic, 2k words a day is excellent.

Are you on BlueSky? It's the new Twitter/X. It has excellent engagement and a huge writing community.

 

[Cameraman]

November Sales: $320.29 (+$115.68)
- Amazon: $211.11 (+$36.38)
- Barnes & Noble: $40.30 (+$20.73)
- Apple Books: $49.57 (+$40.51)
- Everand: $5.93 (+$5.93)
- Hoopla: $0 (+$0)
- Etsy: $0 (+$0)
- Google Play: $11.15 (+$11.15)
- Kobo: $2.23 (+$2.23)
- Kobo Plus (Oct): $0 (-$1.25)

November Expenses: $421.39 (-$124.68)
- Facebook Ads: $318.28 (-$74.31)
- BookBub Ads (initial test): $0 (-$30.02)
- Newsletter Promos: $90.00 (-$20)
- Amazon Ads: $0 (-$0.35)
- Proofs: $7.11 (+$0)
- Genius Link: $6.00

November Total P/L: -$101.10 (+$240.36)

Paid units: 149 (+53)
Free units: 8,023 (+426)
Newsletter subs: 194 (+70)

Losses are narrowing in November, though the current issue is sell-through. Was expecting sell-through to fall somewhere in the 2-5% range, now that Book 1 has been free for two months. However, here are the actual sell-through figures (using 2 months of sales data):

Book 1 (free) to Book 2 (paid): 0.8%
Book 2 (paid) to Book 3 (paid): 66%
Book 3 (paid) to Book 4 (paid): 97%

Definitely doing something wrong. Not sure what it is, exactly, but something about Book 1 is missing the mark. Will monitor these numbers over the coming months to see if there’s any improvement.

Newsletter Testing:

Tested 1 promo site newsletter in November. Here are the results for a first run:

Freebooksy: $0.033

I’m shooting for a cost per download of around 5 cents for promo sites. So Freebooksy is definitely a winner.

Winners Group:

BookDoggy: $0.045
Freebooksy: $0.033

This group of promo sites will be used for launches in the future. Since tests are individual, I’ll be able to pinpoint which ones work best in order to stack them later on for maximum firepower.

Facebook is still becoming more expensive in giving away free books. Maybe it’s ad fatigue.

Pivot:

As stated earlier, will continue to monitor sell-through figures. Tests need to be run with a new series to see if reader expectations can be sufficiently met. Will plan and write a new series for 2025.


Next Actions:

- Draft new series to test in 2025
- Create and test new Facebook ads weekly (holding daily budget steady until ROAS = 1.0 or higher)
- Engage with readers/writers on various genre-specific Facebook groups (20 mins a day)

You seem to have given up on the Amazon ads. Why is that? In my experience, it's difficult to create a positive return on Facebook ads. They are great for generating new traffic, but you must be prepared to spend without seeing an initial benefit. They are also best suited to book series if you can hook the new reader in.

In contrast, Amazon ads have always given me a positive return and account for the bulk of Amazon sales. I aim to keep my cost of sales between 15% and 20% in the UK and US. Even the automated ads achieve this and are good value and very easy to set up.

I'm interested in understanding why you moved away from them after the initial test.

 

[rybanez]

Wow - this is a real insight into self-publishing. I've written for years but never gone for it.
Your output is fantastic, 2k words a day is excellent.

Thank you. What's holding you back from self-publishing?

2k/day is a lot easier to achieve with dictation, which is my default method to complete first drafts these days.

Are you on BlueSky? It's the new Twitter/X. It has excellent engagement and a huge writing community.

Have given Bluesky a look, but don't want to stretch myself too thin with social media.

 

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[rybanez]

You seem to have given up on the Amazon ads. Why is that?

Before setting Book 1 to free, I had good conversion rates and decent cost per sale with Amazon Ads, though I found it difficult to control spend while ensuring deliverability of ads.

Facebook, on the other hand, was more predictable with spend and deliverability, though I agree it's best for longer series and might be best for a paid Book 1 (which I don't currently have).

Haven't not yet run tests for Amazon Ads pointing at a free Book 1, it's something I will be experimenting with in the near future.

 

[Cameraman]

Before setting Book 1 to free, I had good conversion rates and decent cost per sale with Amazon Ads, though I found it difficult to control spend while ensuring deliverability of ads.

Facebook, on the other hand, was more predictable with spend and deliverability, though I agree it's best for longer series and might be best for a paid Book 1 (which I don't currently have).

Haven't not yet run tests for Amazon Ads pointing at a free Book 1, it's something I will be experimenting with in the near future.

When you decide to run some more tests, try the Auto Target option. I mention it because I've had people tell me they ignore it because it doesn't give them enough control.

It used to perform pretty poorly, but it has improved in the last couple of months. It now seems to be finding a lot of new customers for me at a very reasonable cost. I've seen the same improvement in performance in my ads for different countries.

My problem is not being able to spend enough on Amazon ads, although it's begun to increase.

 

[StrikingViper69]

When you decide to run some more tests, try the Auto Target option. I mention it because I've had people tell me they ignore it because it doesn't give them enough control.

It used to perform pretty poorly, but it has improved in the last couple of months. It now seems to be finding a lot of new customers for me at a very reasonable cost. I've seen the same improvement in performance in my ads for different countries.

My problem is not being able to spend enough on Amazon ads, although it's begun to increase.

What sort of profit do you see on books you sell using Amazon ads? What sort of cost per sale do you get?

 

[Cameraman]

What sort of profit do you see on books you sell using Amazon ads? What sort of cost per sale do you get?

That's a difficult one to answer because it varies from book to book.

I have changed my pricing strategy over the years to have a higher profit margin where possible. On an eBook, I aim to hit 60% of the list price after the tax and Amazon distribution costs, etc, have come off but it's usually around 55%. With the paperbacks, I see around 35% - 40% of the list price. On my current list prices, I expect to see around £5 profit on an eBook and £10-12 on a paperback sale.

Amazon Ad spend then takes a chunk out of the overall sales at around £500 a month, but I try to keep my cost of sales to 15%. I don't get too hung up on the detailed picture (other than trying to cut costs). My aim is to build customers with a high lifetime value and have them join my newsletter. My Amazon sales are now as much a marketing channel as a profit centre.