Kate Baggott's Blog: Cornfields of the Sea, page 5
January 7, 2014
Something Happened!
For those of you who have been following my adventures in Goodreads Self Service Advertising, I am pleased to announce that something has happened:
I got a click through. One user on one of 4,507 screens that have viewed the ad clicked on it.
That said, have I mentioned that there are several ways to buy Love From Planet Wine Cooler? I use the royalties to buy my kids their school milk cards and the price just went up from $12 to $14 for 20 doses of milk.
I got a click through. One user on one of 4,507 screens that have viewed the ad clicked on it.
That said, have I mentioned that there are several ways to buy Love From Planet Wine Cooler? I use the royalties to buy my kids their school milk cards and the price just went up from $12 to $14 for 20 doses of milk.
January 3, 2014
A Tale of Two Marketing Campaigns
I spent my Christmas vacation on marketing campaigns for Love from Planet Wine Cooler.
My idea of fun has clearly changed as I've matured.
On the upside, there is no hangover, just compare and contrast analysis.
Two days before Christmas, I decided to invest $55 in a Goodreads self-service advertising experiment. As promised, I wrote an update that highlighted how quickly nothing can happen.
As of this moment of writing on January 3, 2014, the Goodreads Ad has been viewed 1,833 times. I targeted women over the age of 21 who read chick lit, contemporary fiction,E-books and women's fiction. So far, no one has clicked on the add. I changed the text to make it more compelling at about the 900 views mark. My next change will be to target readers of Jennifer Weiner and Marian Keyes to see if they are more receptive to a new author.
While I was marketing, I decided to experiment with a free promo on Amazon.
While Love From Planet Wine Cooler remains my primary title, I thought giving readers a taste of my other work might spark some more interest in it. I chose to offer a piece of erotica called The Critical Pose that has been selling a copy every month or so. While missing that twenty-seven cents in income is certainly a loss, I decided to risk it.
I promoted the promotion via my Facebook group, my Twitter feed,and this blog. While the campaign was short, just 24 hours, there was a lot of data to track.
In total, 116 people downloaded the ebook. Since I can generally count on 90 to 120 people to click on a link I post to a story or article, that number comes as no surprise, but the added reader app does present a barrier for some people, so I am generally pleased. For the first time, there was activity to report from the Italian and the Japanese arms of Amazon. In each place one reader downloaded the story.
More exciting were the new reviews posted on the UK, US and Canada sites.
In terms of both advertising and promos, was there a change to the bottom line? Well, no. In December I sold just one download of Love from Planet Wine Cooler and I know exactly who bought it. According to my friend, business writer Anita Windisman, all marketing in this day and age is so highly customized that we all have to go to our customers one-to-one and make one sale at a time.
So far, that has been the one true tip I can pass along to other authors.
My idea of fun has clearly changed as I've matured.
On the upside, there is no hangover, just compare and contrast analysis.
Two days before Christmas, I decided to invest $55 in a Goodreads self-service advertising experiment. As promised, I wrote an update that highlighted how quickly nothing can happen.
As of this moment of writing on January 3, 2014, the Goodreads Ad has been viewed 1,833 times. I targeted women over the age of 21 who read chick lit, contemporary fiction,E-books and women's fiction. So far, no one has clicked on the add. I changed the text to make it more compelling at about the 900 views mark. My next change will be to target readers of Jennifer Weiner and Marian Keyes to see if they are more receptive to a new author.
While I was marketing, I decided to experiment with a free promo on Amazon.
While Love From Planet Wine Cooler remains my primary title, I thought giving readers a taste of my other work might spark some more interest in it. I chose to offer a piece of erotica called The Critical Pose that has been selling a copy every month or so. While missing that twenty-seven cents in income is certainly a loss, I decided to risk it.
I promoted the promotion via my Facebook group, my Twitter feed,and this blog. While the campaign was short, just 24 hours, there was a lot of data to track.
In total, 116 people downloaded the ebook. Since I can generally count on 90 to 120 people to click on a link I post to a story or article, that number comes as no surprise, but the added reader app does present a barrier for some people, so I am generally pleased. For the first time, there was activity to report from the Italian and the Japanese arms of Amazon. In each place one reader downloaded the story.
More exciting were the new reviews posted on the UK, US and Canada sites.
In terms of both advertising and promos, was there a change to the bottom line? Well, no. In December I sold just one download of Love from Planet Wine Cooler and I know exactly who bought it. According to my friend, business writer Anita Windisman, all marketing in this day and age is so highly customized that we all have to go to our customers one-to-one and make one sale at a time.
So far, that has been the one true tip I can pass along to other authors.
December 28, 2013
A Gift Tomorrow
A few years ago I found myself in desperate need of money. Like most authors in my position, my thoughts turned immediately to erotica. Like most authors, I was innocent enough to think there was money in the art. What I wrote is "very vanilla" as they say in the trade, so I don't think it will offend anyone.
That said, I wrote it and if I never see more than the $3 I've earned for it so far, I would like people to read it and review it. Tomorrow, as a gift to all my loyal readers, friends, followers and subscribers, I thought I would give you a late Christmas present.
The Critical Pose will be free on Amazon tomorrow for just 24 hours. I will try to keep my blushing in check and then, we will all forget that I ever wrote anything remotely smutty.
That said, I wrote it and if I never see more than the $3 I've earned for it so far, I would like people to read it and review it. Tomorrow, as a gift to all my loyal readers, friends, followers and subscribers, I thought I would give you a late Christmas present.
The Critical Pose will be free on Amazon tomorrow for just 24 hours. I will try to keep my blushing in check and then, we will all forget that I ever wrote anything remotely smutty.
The First Goodreads Ad Experiment Update
Here is the first report in my series on the $55 Goodreads Ad Experiment.
I did a little math. According to Goodreads, they have a click-through rate of 0.05%. That means one user per 2000 who view the ad clicks on it. As far as these things go, that is pretty much an industry standard. I have only ever intentionally clicked on an ad 2 or 3 times since I started using the Internet in 1995. My experience on Twitter is similar, statistically speaking. About one in 2000 "followers" actually buys my book (I've probably come into contact with between 2500 and 3000 followers over the past few years considering changing following/unfollowing patters).
My per-click bid of 11 cents meant that the ad for Love From Planet Wine Cooler was being viewed about 100 times per day. That means I could expect a single click-through after about 20 days. At that rate, the $55 experiment would last about 3 years. As interested as I am in experiments, if I had that kind of attention span, I would have a Phd.
A few days, I increased my bid to 12 cents and the number of views increased to 140-150 per day. Today, I increased it to 13 cents to see if the general click-through rate translates directly to my campaign.
What is more interesting is whether or not a click-through translates into a sale.
I did a little math. According to Goodreads, they have a click-through rate of 0.05%. That means one user per 2000 who view the ad clicks on it. As far as these things go, that is pretty much an industry standard. I have only ever intentionally clicked on an ad 2 or 3 times since I started using the Internet in 1995. My experience on Twitter is similar, statistically speaking. About one in 2000 "followers" actually buys my book (I've probably come into contact with between 2500 and 3000 followers over the past few years considering changing following/unfollowing patters).
My per-click bid of 11 cents meant that the ad for Love From Planet Wine Cooler was being viewed about 100 times per day. That means I could expect a single click-through after about 20 days. At that rate, the $55 experiment would last about 3 years. As interested as I am in experiments, if I had that kind of attention span, I would have a Phd.
A few days, I increased my bid to 12 cents and the number of views increased to 140-150 per day. Today, I increased it to 13 cents to see if the general click-through rate translates directly to my campaign.
What is more interesting is whether or not a click-through translates into a sale.
December 26, 2013
Holiday Stories for You
The days between Christmas and the New Year were made for reading. I insist upon it in my own life and try to make allowances for those who curtail socializing to stay in with a book. Really, reading fiction is wish fulfillment for grown ups. So are naps. And leftovers.
There are two stories I've written on a holiday theme for you to take a look at between naps.
For those of us who have lost someone too early, after too terrible an illness, after too much love to do without, I wrote The Last Bluebird. It is not a downer. It's about that cycle we all return to and must learn to accept.
And then, I wrote something completely different for another holiday season. Be a bit careful with this one because it might make you need a nap...with someone.
For those of you who got calendars for Christmas, here is what January might have in store, in the fictional sense, if you like firemen. This story also appears in my book, Love from Planet Wine Cooler.
There are two stories I've written on a holiday theme for you to take a look at between naps.
For those of us who have lost someone too early, after too terrible an illness, after too much love to do without, I wrote The Last Bluebird. It is not a downer. It's about that cycle we all return to and must learn to accept.
And then, I wrote something completely different for another holiday season. Be a bit careful with this one because it might make you need a nap...with someone.
For those of you who got calendars for Christmas, here is what January might have in store, in the fictional sense, if you like firemen. This story also appears in my book, Love from Planet Wine Cooler.
December 23, 2013
Introducing The $55 Experiment
It's often said that you need to spend money to make money.
I'm not a gambler, but I do like the song and if there is ever a time to learn something from Kenny Rogers, especially via the Muppet Show, it's probably during this era of unrestrained hopefulness and rampant insecurity. Not that I am an advocate of casinos or any other kind of voluntary tax. In fact, I try to stay away from any business that might make organized crime another cent.
That said, I've started a $55 experiment on a Goodreads ad for Love From Planet Wine Cooler.
For most investments, self-publishing has been relatively risk-free for me. I had a lot of help from friends to do the cover and copy edit. Almost all of the stories had been published elsewhere before they appeared in the collection, so I got paid for writing them before I even tried to sell the book.
$55 is not a huge amount, but the difference between gambling and an experiment is writing down the observations and drawing conclusions based on those experiments. I will be sharing the observations about this experiment here on this blog.
To be honest, I have not followed the Goodreads ad best practices that they outlined in a Powerpoint slideshow I scrolled through.
According to their guide, I should have bid 50 cents per click-through and I only bid 11 cents. This will effect how often and at what time of day my ad appears on the site. I also put my own site, http://www.katebaggott.com as the destination of my click through rather than my Goodreads author profile. I will see how things go and switch to their way if things look really dismal.
I'm not sure if you can view my campaign dashboard, but as I write this, my ad had been viewed 13 times and has a 0% click through rate. Since it has only been up for an hour or two, that's not bad.
If any of the other authors reading this would like to share their experiences with a campaign like this, I would really like to hear them!
I'm not a gambler, but I do like the song and if there is ever a time to learn something from Kenny Rogers, especially via the Muppet Show, it's probably during this era of unrestrained hopefulness and rampant insecurity. Not that I am an advocate of casinos or any other kind of voluntary tax. In fact, I try to stay away from any business that might make organized crime another cent.
That said, I've started a $55 experiment on a Goodreads ad for Love From Planet Wine Cooler.
For most investments, self-publishing has been relatively risk-free for me. I had a lot of help from friends to do the cover and copy edit. Almost all of the stories had been published elsewhere before they appeared in the collection, so I got paid for writing them before I even tried to sell the book.
$55 is not a huge amount, but the difference between gambling and an experiment is writing down the observations and drawing conclusions based on those experiments. I will be sharing the observations about this experiment here on this blog.
To be honest, I have not followed the Goodreads ad best practices that they outlined in a Powerpoint slideshow I scrolled through.
According to their guide, I should have bid 50 cents per click-through and I only bid 11 cents. This will effect how often and at what time of day my ad appears on the site. I also put my own site, http://www.katebaggott.com as the destination of my click through rather than my Goodreads author profile. I will see how things go and switch to their way if things look really dismal.
I'm not sure if you can view my campaign dashboard, but as I write this, my ad had been viewed 13 times and has a 0% click through rate. Since it has only been up for an hour or two, that's not bad.
If any of the other authors reading this would like to share their experiences with a campaign like this, I would really like to hear them!
December 21, 2013
Unsubstantiated Happiness
A few days ago I had a feeling something wonderful was about to happen.
I drew another breath.
It was wonderful.
My lungs are working, my heart is beating, my children are safe and near, we have a home in my mother's house that is warm and loving.
There was a time in my tradition when we called these moments of gratitude and wonder a state of grace. I'm too clumsy to take that title. Instead I will call it a moment of unsubstantiated happiness.
This year, there have been several times when I have looked around me and realized that there is nothing better than being who I am, where I am, doing exactly what I am doing surrounded by the people I am with.
There is plenty of reason for worry and concern. Mostly, I work hard and well but I don't have any income, client or job security. I make sure my children do their homework and make up for the year of school they missed in the change from one system to another. Still, I cannot be sure they are learning enough for whatever challenges that are to come. I have little conflicts with my mother that support the old adage that two women should never share a kitchen. These things, while troublesome, are not real troubles.
This year, I spent a lot of time thinking about my grandparents and their experiences growing up during The Great Depression. Clearly, there are similarities between what they lived through then and what life is like for many, many people now.
My family is lucky. Our biggest immediate problem is that we can't buy a new laptop for Christmas. And, while it might be the son's wish, sometimes it's best to hear these words: "First world problem, kid. Suck it up."
I think the children (my friend Frances insists that only goats have kids, so I am writing this line with her in mind)got the idea when we made our donation of dollar store toys to Community Care with hopes that our small gift might bring someone else a little joy.
We wished it together, drew another breath and it is still wonderful.
May you have your own moments of unsubstantiated happiness. They're wonderful. Merry Christmas.
I drew another breath.
It was wonderful.
My lungs are working, my heart is beating, my children are safe and near, we have a home in my mother's house that is warm and loving.
There was a time in my tradition when we called these moments of gratitude and wonder a state of grace. I'm too clumsy to take that title. Instead I will call it a moment of unsubstantiated happiness.
This year, there have been several times when I have looked around me and realized that there is nothing better than being who I am, where I am, doing exactly what I am doing surrounded by the people I am with.
There is plenty of reason for worry and concern. Mostly, I work hard and well but I don't have any income, client or job security. I make sure my children do their homework and make up for the year of school they missed in the change from one system to another. Still, I cannot be sure they are learning enough for whatever challenges that are to come. I have little conflicts with my mother that support the old adage that two women should never share a kitchen. These things, while troublesome, are not real troubles.
This year, I spent a lot of time thinking about my grandparents and their experiences growing up during The Great Depression. Clearly, there are similarities between what they lived through then and what life is like for many, many people now.
My family is lucky. Our biggest immediate problem is that we can't buy a new laptop for Christmas. And, while it might be the son's wish, sometimes it's best to hear these words: "First world problem, kid. Suck it up."
I think the children (my friend Frances insists that only goats have kids, so I am writing this line with her in mind)got the idea when we made our donation of dollar store toys to Community Care with hopes that our small gift might bring someone else a little joy.
We wished it together, drew another breath and it is still wonderful.
May you have your own moments of unsubstantiated happiness. They're wonderful. Merry Christmas.
October 26, 2013
Entertaining Mischief and Mistakes
When I was 19 I had cancer. It was Hodgkin's Disease, which if you have to have cancer is the kind to get. Treating the disease was one bad year out of my life and, since then, I might have lived differently than others who haven't faced threats like serious illness.
Whatever life has to offer, I want to try it.
That does not mean it's all reckless abandonment, but I have taken some big risks.
I haven't been as careful with my career or guarded my future earning potential as carefully as other, smarter people. I have loved and created relationships based purely on that golden light of beauty and longing I saw in another, without ensuring that we had all the other boring components to go through life together with cooperation and care. I have indulged my children in their thoughts, feelings and impulses just because life is short and childhood is just a few seconds of being nurtured and held close unconditionally.
And, I've worked and written and taught and learned every moment of every day of my life. Once, I showed my resume to someone who said, "I see you do exactly what you want to do and nothing else."
That's not 100% true, but I wish it was.
Of course I have made sacrifices and compromises, but I have also never done anything I am ashamed of. Writing, teaching, consulting, editing and ghost writing all rely on the same skill sets and character traits. Doing all of them keeps me connected to every aspect of life and strengthens my connections to friends and family and colleagues.
I experiment. Sometimes I make entertaining mischief and sometimes I make mistakes. It's all part of the art of living. I'm not sure it's great for my development as a writer, as an artist, but if it strengthens my sense of community, my sense that there is a reason for everything, then I feel more complete and I think that is worth celebrating.
Speaking of celebrations, I recently got to read at the Toronto launch of Friend. Follow. Text. It was one of those moments in life that could have gone all wrong. I had to jump on the bus to Toronto immediately after work and, of course, rush hour traffic and bus company schedules conspired to make me late. I missed the other readings, I left friends I wanted to meet there waiting and the DJ had found the crowd's groove by the time I arrived. And still, everything worked out. Editor Shawn Syms stopped the music and told me to project, so I raised my voice and there, in the crowded Cafe, I used my story from the book to connect with everyone there. It was a moment that made me so happy to be alive.
And those are the moments I am always searching for. Whether I am writing about adopting our dog,or back to school shopping, or putting together a collection of short stories like Love From Planet Wine Cooler. It's all about experimenting until that connection with others is created and shared.
Whatever life has to offer, I want to try it.
That does not mean it's all reckless abandonment, but I have taken some big risks.
I haven't been as careful with my career or guarded my future earning potential as carefully as other, smarter people. I have loved and created relationships based purely on that golden light of beauty and longing I saw in another, without ensuring that we had all the other boring components to go through life together with cooperation and care. I have indulged my children in their thoughts, feelings and impulses just because life is short and childhood is just a few seconds of being nurtured and held close unconditionally.
And, I've worked and written and taught and learned every moment of every day of my life. Once, I showed my resume to someone who said, "I see you do exactly what you want to do and nothing else."
That's not 100% true, but I wish it was.
Of course I have made sacrifices and compromises, but I have also never done anything I am ashamed of. Writing, teaching, consulting, editing and ghost writing all rely on the same skill sets and character traits. Doing all of them keeps me connected to every aspect of life and strengthens my connections to friends and family and colleagues.
I experiment. Sometimes I make entertaining mischief and sometimes I make mistakes. It's all part of the art of living. I'm not sure it's great for my development as a writer, as an artist, but if it strengthens my sense of community, my sense that there is a reason for everything, then I feel more complete and I think that is worth celebrating.
Speaking of celebrations, I recently got to read at the Toronto launch of Friend. Follow. Text. It was one of those moments in life that could have gone all wrong. I had to jump on the bus to Toronto immediately after work and, of course, rush hour traffic and bus company schedules conspired to make me late. I missed the other readings, I left friends I wanted to meet there waiting and the DJ had found the crowd's groove by the time I arrived. And still, everything worked out. Editor Shawn Syms stopped the music and told me to project, so I raised my voice and there, in the crowded Cafe, I used my story from the book to connect with everyone there. It was a moment that made me so happy to be alive.
And those are the moments I am always searching for. Whether I am writing about adopting our dog,or back to school shopping, or putting together a collection of short stories like Love From Planet Wine Cooler. It's all about experimenting until that connection with others is created and shared.
August 15, 2013
It's Time for Little Celebration
CONGRATS to Marianne who won the little Celebration little Contest I outlined below.
_____
It's summer in my part of the world and my little family and I have been enjoying ourselves with visits to weddings, pow wows, libraries and swimming pools.
I think it's time to share a little joy.
The first Kindle device, or Kindle app owner, to leave a comment below and email me with the subject line "I Am First" will win a copy of my eBook Love from Planet Wine Cooler. My email address is baggyk (at) yahoo (dot) com.
This contest is open until the first comment/email is received and closed when I update it with the winner info!
_____
It's summer in my part of the world and my little family and I have been enjoying ourselves with visits to weddings, pow wows, libraries and swimming pools.
I think it's time to share a little joy.
The first Kindle device, or Kindle app owner, to leave a comment below and email me with the subject line "I Am First" will win a copy of my eBook Love from Planet Wine Cooler. My email address is baggyk (at) yahoo (dot) com.
This contest is open until the first comment/email is received and closed when I update it with the winner info!
August 6, 2013
It's a Case of OPB. Other People's Blogs
Hi.
It's been a while, I know.
I've missed you.
Yeah, that sounds lame, but it's true. Really.
We've never talked about "exclusivity" and "committment" and other big words that make me wish this text box had a spell checker.
And, you know, it's not that I don't think you can meet every need I've got because I do.
That's just not where I'm at in my life right now. So, I'm back and I want to spend time with you, but I have been seeing other blogs.
First, I was interrogated by Joo. I met her in a group here on Goodreads. It's not as seedy as it sounds. They are just really humourous people and I got carried away.
Speaking of funny, I have to tell you about the Terri Weeding incident. Terri is really funny too and she sponsored a humour writing contest on her blog. I know they say that certain behviours are bad for your self esteem, but honey, I won it and it feels good.
But it's not all about the laughs. I'm still a little sensitive about my ex calling me "moody" so I didn't want to make you cry. Not full snot stream sobbing, but a few sentimental tears. I decided to save it for Jacob Share's JobMob guest blogging contest. This is the seventh year of the contest and I've entered most of them, so I felt secure enough to talk about my beloved grandparents there.
So yeah. That's what I've been up to. Wanna go out for a drink?
I forgot to include this sponsor info for Jacob!
MyBlogGuest is the community of guest bloggers emphasizing the benefits of relationships in guest blogging. MyBlogGuest features a number of unique features including Wordpress guest blogging plugin and Articles Requests.
WebHostingBuzz service includes: Shared Hosting, Reseller Hosting, VPS & Dedicated Servers. We believe you’ll love our hosting service so much, we offer a 45 day money-back guarantee.
It's been a while, I know.
I've missed you.
Yeah, that sounds lame, but it's true. Really.
We've never talked about "exclusivity" and "committment" and other big words that make me wish this text box had a spell checker.
And, you know, it's not that I don't think you can meet every need I've got because I do.
That's just not where I'm at in my life right now. So, I'm back and I want to spend time with you, but I have been seeing other blogs.
First, I was interrogated by Joo. I met her in a group here on Goodreads. It's not as seedy as it sounds. They are just really humourous people and I got carried away.
Speaking of funny, I have to tell you about the Terri Weeding incident. Terri is really funny too and she sponsored a humour writing contest on her blog. I know they say that certain behviours are bad for your self esteem, but honey, I won it and it feels good.
But it's not all about the laughs. I'm still a little sensitive about my ex calling me "moody" so I didn't want to make you cry. Not full snot stream sobbing, but a few sentimental tears. I decided to save it for Jacob Share's JobMob guest blogging contest. This is the seventh year of the contest and I've entered most of them, so I felt secure enough to talk about my beloved grandparents there.
So yeah. That's what I've been up to. Wanna go out for a drink?
I forgot to include this sponsor info for Jacob!
MyBlogGuest is the community of guest bloggers emphasizing the benefits of relationships in guest blogging. MyBlogGuest features a number of unique features including Wordpress guest blogging plugin and Articles Requests.
WebHostingBuzz service includes: Shared Hosting, Reseller Hosting, VPS & Dedicated Servers. We believe you’ll love our hosting service so much, we offer a 45 day money-back guarantee.
Cornfields of the Sea
When I was in high school, I was lucky enough to be part of a writing workshop with author Barbara Greenwood. Every member of the workshop was to write a short story for a group anthology. I thought w
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