By Jerry Dawson
I finally have success!
After watching my novels languish in the Amazon jungle near the 1.5 million
mark, I finally have a bestseller on my hands. How did I accomplish that? With
Amazon’s AMS ads.
The reviews for my
earlier books were all great, averaging 4.4 stars, but they never sold well. I
had experimented with giveaways and advertising on Facebook and Amazon with
varying success but nothing that brought me consistent sales at any level.
I released my new
book, Meteor, with a good cover, a compelling tag line, and a
determination to work with AMS ads until I figured them out.
Alien meets Jurassic
Park in this fast-paced science fiction thriller. “Scary as hell.”
“Bone-chillingly frightening.” That headline beside my book cover showing a meteor about to
crash into the Earth has proven to attract clicks very well when I can get
Amazon to put it in front of readers.
I took me six months of
experimenting to break the code. To fully understand AMS ads is a lofty and
ever-evolving goal, but working with one subset is easily within anyone’s
capabilities.
Sponsored Product ads
require only a daily budget, a list of keywords, and a bid amount for each
keyword.
I recommend starting
conservatively until your book cover and ad copy prove themselves. Set your
daily budget around $10. My experience has been that Amazon won’t even spend
one dollar of it. It’s only there in case your ad happens to take off, which is
very unlikely at first.
For keywords, use book
titles, author and character names, and other words that represent your genre.
Don’t worry about representing your specific book. Your goal is to attract
readers in your genre. A mystery writer’s list might include In Cold Blood, The
Big Sleep, Raymond Chandler, Sue Grafton, Sam Spade, Sherlock Holmes, mystery,
crime fiction, suspect, etc. Be sure to include plenty of mid-level authors and
titles, because they will provide impressions at lower bids than bestsellers.
(An impression is the appearance of your ad on an Amazon viewer’s screen.)
Start your bids at 10
cents for each keyword. Check it daily to see if you get at least 500-1000
impressions per day Give it a week, and if your impressions are still under 500
per day (3500 per week) create a new ad with a bid of 15 or 20 cents for each
keyword. Experiment with new ad copy or keywords if you want, but keep your
older ads running. Keep raising your bid weekly until you get at least 500
impressions per day on your ad. Depending on your genre, you may have to raise
it to as high as 40 cents, but I believe that ads in most genres will have good
impressions at 20 to 30 cents.
Now it’s up to your book
page on Amazon to close the sale.
Ideally, you should get
about one click for every 1000 impressions, and about one sale for every 10
clicks. If your results are not in that range, then you may need to improve
your book cover, ad copy, and book description.
Meteor is now ranked under 4000 in the Kindle
store, it sits on the bestseller list in four categories, and my sales grow
every day. By promoting your book with AMS ads, you should be able to
accomplish the same.
Jerry Dawson owes my
writing career to a bad back. After decades of dealing with increasing
scoliosis and arthritis, my lower back finally collapsed during Christmas week
2016. Surgery has repaired my back, but I am left with physical restrictions
that prohibit me from returning to the work that I used to do. So in the
tradition of turning lemons into lemonade, I have turned my writing hobby into
my profession. My first novel, A Better Way, echoes my discontent to play by
the rules, so with that in mind, I am not sticking to novels within only one
genre. I am working on adventures, thrillers, sci-fi, and combinations thereof.
I have one series, Sam ’n’ Patty’s Adventures, and my other books are
stand-alones. Links: https://jerrydawsonbooks.com https://www.amazon.com/Jerry-Dawson/e/B06Y13PM2N https://www.facebook.com/jerrydawsonbooks
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