[Agape Perez]

Recently I took out an amazon book discovery ad for newly-published and overlooked books.

The ROI was zero.

The $15 dollar cost was nothing to cry over. Yet, in the grand scheme of things that money could have been used to gift my e-book to five potential reviewers for reviews, in-which I'm in desperate need of.

As I reflect on my decision, it had me thinking did I make a rookie mistake? I rarely see in these threads my fellow authors talking about coupling their ENT, Bookpub, or FussyLibrarian promotion with a kindle board advertisement for greater exposure.

Does the smart money avoid using kindle board advertisements?

Was I promoting my novel in a place where the readership as long sailed off, and all that is left is like minded people like myself. Authors who are looking to promote their product, and become visible, more then they are looking for the next great book to read?

[br]Agapé Perez | Author website |

 

[Silly Writer]

Like any other promo, sometimes it works... Sometimes it doesn't. Lots of variables in play.

I've used it once, and I think I got a dozen sales. Sorry it didn't work for you.

 

[hardnutt]

There are several terrific threads on here about promotion sites, those that are worth it and those that aren't. Have a hunt for them through the search bar.

 

[cinisajoy]

I am confused.    Did you advertise on Amazon or here?  Did you do any other promotions?  Let me take a look at your product page.

 

[hardnutt]

You'll find a number of promotion sites mentioned on this thread: http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,209465.0.html

If you look at one of C Gockel's threads on this post, you'll find a link where she's put together a terrific list of promo sites.

She's also done a graph on which sites gave her the best results.

 

[Silly Writer]

I am confused. Did you advertise on Amazon or here? Did you do any other promotions? Let me take a look at your product page.

Oops, saw 'Kindle Boards' and thought the OP meant here.

 

[cinisajoy]

Everything looks good on your book page.

He said Amazon Discovery and kindleboards.    That is why I got confused.

 

[Elizabeth Ann West]

If you want a real answer :

Very few books see an immediate ROI when they first start advertising. It all builds. But you have to be careful to build smartly.

Your cover, I can't read your author name in thumb, and I don't particularly feel compelled to click it because where the title is positioned, and the small author name, it's very off balance. I can't even tell it's someone controlling a bunch of screens, which is very scifi and well done for the genre, because the area below the floating blue boxes is too dark. When you advertise, readers will see your book as you see it in your signature, thumbnail 99% of the time.

You're also not ready for prime time yet. Your author site is bare. You say come here to join my newsletter, as a reader my question is why?

You're not alone, we ALL started off this way. We ALL bought into the myth that because we wrote a book and have it for sale people would be interested in following us. The truth is YOU have to be interesting for people to follow you because you are an author.

Put some excerpts of the book up, a chapter or two so people can start reading it on the web and go "oooh I need to read more" and click.  If your scifi is clean for a Christian audience (I noticed your dedication in the front matter) use that as a keyword phrase for your blog. There are many readers out there looking for clean fiction. Also, there's a few threads here where authors who use the author name for the main character name have regretted it. Right now, you're writing Agape's story, but when that's done, and you've built this fanbase, there's nothing to alert your readers you've written another book, another story world etc.

Hope that helps.

 

[Agape Perez]

Thanks to all for your helpful feedback. My book cover rocks but the intricate details don't translate in thumbnail size, too bad. Still I will keep your suggestions in mind.
Thanks again

 

[Elizabeth Ann West]

Your book cover DOES rock, absolutely! The trick it takes many of us longer to latch onto is that we have to sell books with a picture that is only about 150 pixels tall. It's a very different design aesthetic than the real estate you get on say a paperback size selling in a book store.

Keep at it and don't give up. There's so much to learn when it comes to selling books, all of us learn something new just about everyday.