What I've concluded about paid advertising

     This is a follow-up to my last post in which I shared the paid advertising results for my novel, Confessions of an Internet Pornographer. Not only did I blog about it, I was proud of my results so I shared them on absolutewrite.com

     Unfortunately, all the writers at absolutewrite were un-impressed with my results. Not one felt as if the $400 I had spent were worth the sales, and they were right if you look at the situation in pure dollars and cents. But I’ve come to look at it a different way. First of all, I welcomed the chance to spend the money to spread the word about my book. Did I pay a lot for a little? Not if that little meant earning 2 good reviews on Goodreads.com, and reaching hundreds of voracious readers. The book got  a 4 out of 5 star review from a guy in Bangladesh and a 3 star review from a Russian reader (and everyone knows that a 3 star book review from a Russian is like getting a 4 star in America ;). I'm also on 19 “to-read” lists. What I hate more than spending money on advertising is having my book in limbo and no one knowing it exists!

     The $200 I used to advertise on Facebook was also well spent. I racked-up 91 "likes" and I now have a better idea of my demographic. It allowed me to shape good ads, as evidenced by eventually good click through rates. If I decide to advertise again I know my ads will work. That alone was worth $200.

     What I have concluded? I want to try some of the other things the writers at absolutewrite.com  recommended before deciding if paid advertising is better than other forms of book promotion. Remember, they did not see ANY benefit to paying for advertising.

Here are their  recommendations:
1. Send out review copies to bloggers and book reviewers, and offer E-Arcs for e-book readers. 
2. Create a Web site, but I don't spend a lot of money. See what other writers have done. 
3. Join Goodreads.com and Library Thing and offer giveaways.
4. Don't pay for ads, online or in print. Word of mouth and written recommendations from friends and trusted reviewers are the keys.  

    What's my next move? A book give-away on Goodreads, and to learn about Library Thing. I’ll post my results later. I’ve also lowered my book price. I still think my novel is worth as much as a cup of coffee or a large bag of chips so it will not be .99. I only make $1 per e-book or paperback anyway, so I don’t charge from greed. The novel IS worth something. It has value. And I refuse to give it away for free!!! But that’s another post.

Until next time I will continue writing into the wind.

Luis

Why Goodreads.com is better than Facebook for book promotion

     I am writing this in the hopes that it helps anyone who has limited funds and is trying to figure out how best to use their resources to promote their book. I want to share my experiences advertising my novel on Facebook and Goodreads.com. First of all, if you do not want to read any further, Goodreads.com was the best promotional tool of the two, read-on to learn why.

     The key is what webmasters call "targeted traffic," which is really just a modern version of what sales people have always referred to as "shoppers vs. buyers." Think of shoppers as people walking through a mall casually looking at store displays and shelves. They'll see something that interests them, pick it up, stare at it and then put it back and keep going to the next store. Buyers are people with money in hand eager to buy exactly what you are selling. A guy wants a new shirt, guy sees shirt, guy tries on shirt - it fit! - guy buys shirt. Done. Targeted traffic refers to buying advertising that will reach buyers, not shoppers.

     I began advertising my book on Facebook in January. I ran four ads, and constantly tweaked them in order to improve my click-though-rate. A pretty good indicator of how your ads are doing. It was my only method of promotion at the time. My ads generated constant "likes" for my Facebook page, but they did not generate any sales. Discouraged I learned about Goodreads on absolutewrite.com and spent $100 to run a campaign using the very same ads I perfected on Facebook (after all they were proven traffic generators.) Here are my stats for Goodreads vs. Facebook.

Facebook stats from January 2012.
Spent $200.00
Impressions 1,262,341

total Clicks 446

CTR 0.035% (click though rate)

CPC$0.45 (Cents per click)

My Goodreads stats from July 2012  (same ads, same targeted audience)

total credit purchased $200.00     

total impressions 691,399

total clicks 682

ctr for all time 0.1%

cpc for all time $0.50

     As you can see, I was much more successful advertising on Goodreads than on Facebook. I spent almost equal amounts of money, over a shorter period of time, less people looked at my ads, and yet I still received more clicks and my sales were better with Goodreads. Why? I believe the answer is targeted traffic. With Goodereads I reached book buyers, not shoppers. Your FB ad might be read by 1 billion people, but more READERS with cash in hand are on Goodreads.

     Another thing I like about Goodreads is that ability to track your book, to a certain degree. On Facebook you'll see your ads reach, your click-through-rate, and the number of clicks your novel got, but that's it. Sales will tell you if your ads are really doing anything.  But Goodreads gives you an author dashboard that gives you everything Facebook does, and more.

It looks like this:

number of works: 1

added by unique users: 19

fans: 0

ratings: 3 ratings (4.00 avg)

text reviews: 1 

to-read: 1 person
currently-reading: 2 people

     That kind of information is not only super informative, it's exhilarating and may be the shot in the arm you need during those dark times, when you wonder if your book is getting any attention. I hope this helps anyone trying to promote their book on a limited budget. Good luck.

Until next time I will continue writing into the wind.


Luis Mario