The Writing Life: Is Advertising Your Book Worth Trying?

Some of the bestselling authors use advertising as a solid portion of their strategy to sell books, build their email list and bring traffic to their sites. Yet you have to be wise about how you use these advertising tools. Otherwise you can waste a lot of money with little results.

One of the authors who is known to succeed at advertising is Mark Dawson. I’ve heard Mark rave about Facebook ads that he has not found anything where he can spend $1 and get $10 in return (sales). Each week he spends thousands of dollars on Facebook ads. This self-published author has sold many books—and teaches other authors how to follow the same path through his online courses. These courses have limited enrollment and are only open a few weeks a year.

There are many different places online for authors to advertise—yet which places are the most effective and how do you learn the most effective practices so you succeed in this effort. From my experience in publishing, if you are going to advertise, you need to learn from others who are successful in this effort and follow their guidance so you can have the best possible result.

I am currently taking Mark Dawson’s course and working through the various lessons. One of the advantages to such a course is you get lifetime access. These advertising platforms are notorious for modifying their systems. Dawson updates his programs and teaching as the systems change—so even with changes, you will remain effective in what you are learning through his courses.

Currently Mark Dawson’s course Ads for Authors to advertise on Amazon is open for enrollment. Use this link to check it out. If you read this entry and the course is not active, then sign up for their waiting list and you will be notified when it is open again.

To help you learn more about Ads for Authors, Dawson has launched a free mini-course with an Amazon ads expert Janet Margot. Margot is a former Amazon employee and part of the team which established the Amazon ad program. She recorded three short videos which are now available. These videos help you take a look at the program and see if you have done the preparation work necessary to start advertising. In this article, I’m going to include the links to all three of these videos.

In the first video of the series - PRODUCT - you’ll learn how first impressions count. Janet considers the factors you need to bear in mind when it comes to the product that you are advertising – your book – and the ways in which you can make your ads more “clicky.” You’ll see how a reader’s first look can convert to sales and what might stop them from clicking buy. And the video is available today. Click to watch it.

Part 2 of our series covers just that: how do you find TRAFFIC? We’ll review the internal and external mechanisms to attract pre-qualified customers to your book page. And we’ll learn what you can do to influence the fabled Amazon algorithm and get readers to engage with your author brand.

You can watch the video here

Part 3 of this series is AD STRATEGIES. We’ll share insight on prioritizing which titles to advertise, the difference between strategy and tactics, timing, and what you need to consider when creating your budget. Learn what questions must be asked and answered in order to build a solid foundation in order for your Amazon Ads strategy to be successful. This year start your ads off on the right foot with a plan that can help unstick your author business. You can watch this video here.

I encourage you to watch all three videos then consider taking Mark Dawson's course Ads for Authors and learning the details about advertising your books on different platforms. Get guidance from others who are successful with their advertising then follow their suggestions and see how it works for your books. It's a strategy which others are using successfully with their books and hopefully will work for your books. It will never work if you don't try it—and I encourage you to get some training, then try it with your book.

Have you tried advertising for your book? Let me know about your experience in this area in the comments below.

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