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Paid Promotions - A Case Study of Experience
message 651:
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Graeme
(new)
Mar 21, 2019 08:05PM
A Subtle Agency is either 0.99 or Free. it's a cheap or free drink at the door to invite people in. If they like it, they can buy the rest of the drinks at bar prices.
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[1] (Cost $85) FreeBooksy (Thriller) for ASA at FREE on Wednesday the 10th April - Now complete.936 free downloads of ASA (vs 387 a month earlier using 'Fantasy,' genre at FreeBooksy).
10x ASA, 2x ATW, and 1x TDD and 1x TDG sales...
OK, at least twice as good using 'Thriller,' instead of 'Fantasy,'
Upcoming promo locked in.[1] (Cost $65) Book Barbarian (Free Book of the Day) for ASA at FREE on 7th May.
[2] (Cost $65) RobinReads (Fantasy) for ASA at FREE on 8th May
Best of luck, Graeme!I also have Robin booked for 11.05.
Do you find any difference in results, when running promos on weekends vs workdays?
Thanks Nik,I haven't seen a difference between mid-week and weekend promos.
Just paused my AMS adverts. I have no paid promos coming up. The last one was in week 1 of May 2019.Pushing a big PAUSE button on all paid marketing efforts while I go away and rethink it.
Currently everything I've done so far has been an exercise in burning money. Yes, I've learned things, and made some mistakes that I'll never make again.
But, I can't afford to throw good money after bad. So, it stops here, until I have a better strategy.
In the mean time, I can devote more time to progressing my writing.
Regret to hear that the results are dissatisfactory after so much effort. I was under impression you were grossing around 30K kenp monthly read by now, seeing some return, but oh well. Hope you'll come up with fresh ideas on how to make it profitable ...
Last 90 days is 23,194 KNEP, equivalent to 48 books + 54 paid units in the same time. So, averaging a tick over a book sold/read per day.
Nup, not giving up, just taking a sabbatical to define a better strategy.
Hi Nik, I think I need to rethink the genre, blurbs, and search terms, etc.Because the series is a bit of a genre mashup, it's been hard to focus the genre correctly, and I really feel that still an open question that is hurting the marketing.
Plus the ASA cover is very 'non-genre,' and is probably an issue too.
Well, can be. Changing blurbs and search terms don't require further expenses and can experimented with for optimal results. Ordering a new cover could improve the first impression (although I do like all of your covers), but could also be insignificant. If I remember correctly, Eldon changed cover design, wonder if he feels it has some positive impact?
Graeme wrote: "Hi Nik, I think I need to rethink the genre, blurbs, and search terms, etc.Because the series is a bit of a genre mashup, it's been hard to focus the genre correctly, and I really feel that still..."
Although I mentioned this before, I think that your series falls into the same general category as The Kurtherian Gambit b/c it has vampires (the protagonist, however, is one) and military and action.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...
Despite its supernatural trappings and horror elements, yours is definitely in the sci-fi category b/c of its science-based underpinnings, mainly in the Metaframe.
Hi Alex, you could be right.At least, it would distance the stories from PNR.
Some discussions on Science Fiction and Vampires.https://io9.gizmodo.com/when-are-vamp...
https://catonthebookshelf.wordpress.c...
https://www.writersdigest.com/online-...
http://www.otherworldsaustin.com/blog...
Perhaps I've been hung up on the idea of vampires as fantasy.Key features of my story that lend it to science fiction.
[1] The Metaframe is variously described as a machine, engine, device, prison, etc - which all comes across as a technical artifact.
[2] The original temple of Thoth with the underground inverted pyramid made of a strange vertigo inducing material (strange material properties) was part of an architecture that enabled the 'safe' use of the key of Ahknaton - again, sounds like an ancient, perhaps alien technology.
[3] Vampires have the following specific features. Feed on blood, immortal, killed by sunlight, or massive violence, paralyzed by silver, super - strength, speed, endurance, healing - all transmissible by blood injection - DNA reset. Not mystical/no religious element.
[4] The Ramp is an epigenetic phenomenon - not mystical or fantastic.
[5] Precognition - partial, dependent on the Metaframe (Crane), or Loremaster tech (Juliette, Li, etc) - hence technical basis in both cases.
[6] Set in a near future [10 -15 years]
[7] Artificial Intelligence or something near to it in the Panopticon.
[8] Hypersonic vehicles, super-sonic business jets.
[9] Nano-ceramic body armor
[10] Drones.
[11] Rail-guns
[12] Useful implant technologies
[13] A long-lived cryptid. (not mystic, or fantastic) with a chameleon power to render themselves effectively invisible, ultra-low birth rate, apex predator... could be SF.
[14] Order Nightglasses,
[15] Quantum encrypted communications
Things that are not specifically SF?
???
There is a way to impact this.[1] Ask everyone I know to create a "science fiction," shelf here on goodreads, and then to shelve all my books on that shelf. It would quickly dominate the genre listings.
[2] Redefine the blurbs of the books to slant to Science Fiction on Goodreads and Amazon.
[3] Define the book categories as SF at Bowker (ISBN) and on Amazon.
Science Fiction as 1st Category.
What would be the 2nd category.
Dark Fantasy?
Action & Adventure?
???
Graeme wrote: "Perhaps I've been hung up on the idea of vampires as fantasy.Key features of my story that lend it to science fiction.
[1] The Metaframe is variously described as a machine, engine, device, pris..."
Sounds like a non-exclusive, yet clear fit into sci-fi
Graeme wrote: "Perhaps I've been hung up on the idea of vampires as fantasy.Key features of my story that lend it to science fiction.
[1] The Metaframe is variously described as a machine, engine, device, pris..."
Graeme wrote: "There is a way to impact this.
[1] Ask everyone I know to create a "science fiction," shelf here on goodreads, and then to shelve all my books on that shelf. It would quickly dominate the genre li..."
Yep, that's a lot of sci-fi elements. As you noted, even the vampirism has a science-based explanation.
Don’t forget to change your covers to match the shift in genre. ^_- They are professional-looking but won’t work in a sci-fi cat.
With the lovingly detailed descriptions of military hardware—even as you yourself pointed out above—and climactic battle scenes, military sci-fi would be a solid second cat. Barring that, action and adventure would work.
You might also consider bildungsroman, older YA, and 18-25 year-olds (Wattpad.com has this age range as a demographic choice) as characteristics of your target audience. For instance, one strong theme in the Metaframe War series is about the MC Anton's growth as a young man internally as well as externally through the building of friendships--and maybe romantic love, at some point. The bildungsroman also supports the youth theme of the battle against the aged establishment, which together are encapsulated in Anton's tearm of friends versus an ancient evil, the Vampire Dominion.
Building my next promo for October 2019.[1] (Cost $85) FreeBooksy (Thriller) for ASA at FREE on the 21st October.
[2] (Cost $55) Book Barbarian (Free Book of the Day) for ASA at FREE on the 22nd October.
[3] (Cost $35) eReaderNewsToday (Fantasy) for ASA at FREE on the 22nd October.
[4] (Cost $85) RobinReads (Featured Book of the Day) for ASA at FREE on the 23rd October.
Looking to run FREE for 5 days, and bracket BookBarbarian, BargainBooksy, RobinReads, and eReaderNewsToday
Free Promotion days locked in for the 21st to the 25th of October.
(EDIT 01/Oct/2019): All booked in now.
It will be interesting if having 5 books on the Amazon shelf impacts the pickup rate during the promo.
Graeme wrote: "It will be interesting if having 5 books on the Amazon shelf impacts the pickup rate during the promo."Not sure the length of the series has influence on pick up rate, more than say - the novelty of running the first promo on this or that literary site. However, having more items for after promo sales should improve return rates, as those excited with the first book are likely to go all the way.. Anyway, these are just speculations.
Good luck and would be interested to hear back any new findings!
I've been reading up on pre-order. The book needs to be complete when establishing the pre-order to meet the guidelines. So, I'll establish the pre-order when I do the ARC.
I've missed the timeframe to add a Pre-Order for this promo. So, the shelf will be four books.
Dipping my toe back in the water with a new promotion.[1] (Cost $45) BargainBooksy (Fantasy) for ASA at $0.99 on the 10th January 2020.
I'm keen to see what sort of response I get on the four follow-on books priced at $2.99.
Graeme wrote: "Dipping my toe back in the water with a new promotion.[1] (Cost $45) BargainBooksy (Fantasy) for ASA at $0.99 on the 10th January 2020.
I'm keen to see what sort of response I get on the four fo..."
Maybe it's time to do a omnibus (aka "boxed set')? I've heard they can be a hot seller--sometimes even a higher ROI on total revenue than for all individual sales for the same sales period.
Hi Alex,I've been seriously considering producing a single omnibus volume of ASA, ATW and TDD, and using that as my primary marketing vehicle.
Bookbub have recommended the approach.
Graeme wrote: "Hi Alex,I've been seriously considering producing a single omnibus volume of ASA, ATW and TDD, and using that as my primary marketing vehicle.
Bookbub have recommended the approach."
Cool. You have hefty amount of content and now it makes sense for an omnibus. Also, there's solid tension at the end of each book that pushes the reader to the next one. So why not The Day Guard too? Unless it's still selling well as an individual book, including it in the omnibus would bring new readers up to speed on the entire series and prime them for The Crane War. I've heard that an omnibus of all books in a series, up to and including the most recent one is a good way to keep sales going--that is, when sales start to slump on it--when the next one might take a while to publish.
I hadn't considered that option.I have always viewed the first three books as a connected set of stories that leads up to the dramatic confrontation at Armitage Manor.
I.e. Part 1 of the series.
TDG & TCW are Part 2.
What follows is Part 3.
I've currently got TCW priced at $2.99 on Kindle ($2 USD royalty), however, due to the size of the book, it generates $3.5 USD royalty when read on KU.Something I haven't noticed before.
Graeme wrote: "I've currently got TCW priced at $2.99 on Kindle ($2 USD royalty), however, due to the size of the book, it generates $3.5 USD royalty when read on KU.Something I haven't noticed before."
Very cool.
Graeme wrote: "Dipping my toe back in the water with a new promotion.[1] (Cost $45) BargainBooksy (Fantasy) for ASA at $0.99 on the 10th January 2020.
I'm keen to see what sort of response I get on the four fo..."
Well, that was disappointing - 2 sales so far... and no other activity.
From the ranking, it looks like you sold another within the last few hours.Suggestion: you need to find some less competitive categories. Every now and then do a search as Amazon seems to gradually add new sub categories to give more books more exposure. If you haven't checked in a while, you might find some niche categories that not too many other authors have found. Sometimes all it takes is putting in the right keywords to get into those categories so you don't have to waste one of your two category selections on something obscure. To give you an idea, I have two books sitting at #21 and 23 in one particular category and their overall ranks are in the mid 600k. A ranking in the low 100k can sometimes get me to #1. I know it might seem weird, but that kind of exposure on the charts can do much for getting your book "out there." Just make sure the category is even slightly relevant or it may get swept up when Amazon wants to clean house in a category.
Hi J.J.Sound advice.
Currently I'm getting some KU reads of ASA, which usually happens after a promo.
Hopefully, these new readers will kick on to the rest of the series.
Appropo to nothing ... I've had a flurry of new readers shelve my books over the last 3 days.ASA. x6
ATW. x2
TDD. x2
TDG. x2
TCW. x8
It just doesn't seem connected to anything. A bit of a mystery.
Have you checked for correlations between new shelvings and social interactions with older fans who reviewed your recent release?
Interestingly enough a few of them are relatively new on GR and have no friends here (yet).
What do you mean by relatively? Is it close enough to assume they signed up because of you? At least close enough that you can think so?BTW, what was the outcome of the promo if you don't mind sharing? If you do mind, I won't be offended.
Ouch.Not sure how much the holidays affect it. People spent everything getting gifts for Christmas, but they get to spend all those Amazon gift cards they received. December vs. January is a bit of whiplash for me, too...
I have also pumped a lot of free downloads to these readers.
At least with luck they'll come back and pick up the rest of the series...
Setting up the next set of promos.[1] (Cost $90) FreeBooksy (Thriller) for ASA at FREE on the 15th of February 2020.
[2] (Cost $55) Book Barbarian (Free Book of the Day) for ASA at FREE on the 16th of February 2020
ASA will be free for a 5 day block running from the 14th to the 18th Feb 2020.
Graeme wrote: "Dipping my toe back in the water with a new promotion.[1] (Cost $45) BargainBooksy (Fantasy) for ASA at $0.99 on the 10th January 2020.
I'm keen to see what sort of response I get on the four fo..."
Total revenue for January 2020 is approx $54 USD (-$45 for the advert) --- +ve ROI.
Bonus.
Total sales came in at 13, with 8692 KNEP reads.
Thinking out loud about strategy.GIVENS:
[1] I use FreeBooksy, BookBarbarian, RobinReads, and eReaderNewsToday as my primary sites for advertising as they have proven reach and reasonable costs.
[2] Early Bird Books is better than any of these sites individually, but is much more expensive. (hence outside my budget).
[3] Bookbub, is super-effective (= 4 years of activity in 1 week) vs [1] but is very hard to get into. Price point vs effectiveness is the best of all sites.
[4] Bookbub blogs have explicitly highlighted that box-sets/omnibus versions are 'desired,' by their readers - hence favored by Bookbub editors.
[5] I'm losing readers on ASA, not following onto ATW in < 50% numbers. I need to get readers past ASA, and into the series.
[6] My early covers are abstract, which is OK for the UK market, but poor for the US market which prefers a human (or at least a figure) on the cover and US market represents 95% of my sales.
ADAPTIVE STRATEGY:
[1] Create a new Omnibus volume "A Subtle Agency Omnibus," (ASAO) that contains ASA, ATW, & TDD. Add in Character List and Glossary to aid readers. Revise all books for readability and to be spoken out loud (future proof for Audible).
[2] Publish ASAO with a new cover suitable for the US market. Price ASAO equal to ASA + ATW + TDD (= $6.99 USD).
[3] Start marketing ASAO at FREE on a quarterly basis replacing ASA.
[4] Pursue Featured Deal with Bookbub for ASAO at FREE.
TARGET OUTCOMES:
[1] Increased FREE downloads vs previous ASA.
[2] Increased on sales of TDG & TCW.
[3] Increased KU reads across all books.
[4] Strike a Bookbub featured FREE deal
Sounds like a major overhaul, Graeme, especially the revision of all books. Creating an Omnibus with a separate new cover makes a lot of sense, even if to keep with the trend.
Whatever you decide, hope you'll be happy with the results
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