I’m going to let you in on a little secret, some insider knowledge that I picked up from Kirsten. She’s quite a prolific author, and a good one at that. In reflecting on her success, she revealed the amount of royalties she’s earned this year so far. I won’t share the number with you but believe me when I say that my jaw hit the floor. I really enjoy Kirsten’s books but those kinds of sales for a self-published author feel like a dream. Or does it?
It’s not enough that Kirsten’s books are good and that her covers are fabulous. She also had an excellent ad strategy that drove readers to her books.
When I found out that she owed a lot of her success to ads, I knew she needed to come give a workshop to you all.
If you’ve been getting good reviews on your book but you’re not seeing the sales you want, it’s time to consider ads, or if you've been running ads without results, then you need to rethink your strategy. BUT you can’t just throw an ad out there and hope it works.
Kirsten’s numbers are definitely not the norm, so I don’t want anyone to think that by running some ads, you can earn more in royalties in six months than some people earn all year at a full-time office job. I can’t promise you those kinds of sales, but what I can promise is that you’ll walk away from this workshop with a basic understanding of how, why and when to run ads for your book and feel ready to take your book sales to the next level, whatever that is for you.
In this workshop, you will learn:
The different types of ads authors can run, on Amazon and Facebook
When and when not to run ads
Who should run ads – the when, where, why so that you know if you're ready to run ads to sell more books
This is a 90-minute workshop with plenty of time for Q&A. The recording & supplemental materials will be provided if you cannot attend live.
Kirsten Oliphant has an MFA in Fiction and these days writes under the pen names Emma St. Clair and Sullivan Gray. She has written over twenty novels, hit the USA Today bestseller list under two different names, and hosts the Create if Writing podcast for indie authors.
Yesterday in our Facebook group, we received the question I hear so often.
I've done my target audience research. I've looked at all the comp titles. I know my keywords and categories. But HOW do I get in front of the people who will buy my book?
This is one of the most difficult things for authors to figure out. And quite honestly, it's what makes a lot of authors give up…
But it doesn't have to be quite so difficult.
We were able to add 1100 readers for one of our authors, just by using Facebook Ads. But the key part about Facebook Ads is that, when set up properly, Facebook will cultivate the “just right” audience for you.
You may have noticed that if you have an interest in something, an ad shows up in your newsfeed on Facebook or Instagram? That's because the algorithm is always looking for ways to put the RIGHT ads in front of the RIGHT people. You might have just mentioned something to a friend, perhaps you need a new tire. And bam, Firestone ads fill your newsfeed.
The Facebook algorithm is GOOD. It's so good, I've managed to buy ALL of my Christmas presents this year just through Facebook and Instagram. 🙂 🙂 🙂 (PS, when you run ads on Facebook, they also go to Instagram if you have it set up to do so.)
The point is, it doesn't have to be as hard as you think to build your audience of the right readers.
But it DOES have to be set up properly to work well. Simply boosting a post on your Facebook page might get you lots of views. But it doesn't matter if it's hit the wrong people. You want to have people who take action on your ads… so you need to have your ads set up to find the right people.
When you do it right … the possibilities are endless. I spoke to a romance author that had over $100,000 in book sales in one year-directly from her Facebook ads. (Plus a good book, good sales page, etc, let's be honest, Facebook ads aren't magic… but they work well when you've done the work too.)
Join us for our monthly workshop all about Facebook Ads – specifically for authors! So that you can be knowledgeable and ready to go hunting (or let Facebook hunt on your behalf) for the right readers.
When you find the right people, you will see more sales.
