2000 words-is again today. Solid.
My editor sent me back the edits for Indie Author Confidential Vol. 3. As I went through the edits, I noticed that the last third of the book was missing…because I accidentally left it out of the compile. #shame
We all make mistakes. I sent the remainder to my editor and should it back in a few days. That does delay my release though, but hey, a few days isn’t the end of the world.
LESSON LEARNED AND EXECUTED
Today was a below average ad day. I started off the day getting smoked, spending 2x-3x more than I made…but then sales caught up in the evening and got me to break-even, which I was pretty happy to see.
The last three days were insanely profitable—I earned 2x-3x more than I spent. December is off to a fantastic start, but I knew the gravy train would end at some point. Compared to last week when I was losing money hand over fist, I’ll take break even…
But I did sell another short story collection today. The ads are definitely working, and the fact that this collection is selling modestly will probably be one of the unexpected wins of Amnesia Mode.
Also, my first urban fantasy series book 1, Dream Born, is starting to pick up steam. Nothing crazy, just a couple copies here and there which is better than zero like it was before. It’s got a surprisingly decent conversion rate now that the ads are finally kicking in. It’s only garnering a few clicks a day since fiction tends to be a slower burn. We’ll see how it goes, but the improvement to the book description that I posted a few days ago seems to be working.
I’m also noticing an interesting trend. On the profitable days, I notice that my daily conversion rate (number of clicks divided by number of units sold) is around 4-5, which is pretty good. If I’m at a 4 conversion rate at dinner time, I’ll be profitable for the day. If I’m running a 10 conversion rate or higher before dinner, probably not. But sometimes sales happen late at night that can change your entire numbers for the day. I’ve gone to sleep some days thinking I’d lose money but woke up and discovered I made a few sales that brought me into profitability.
Amazon Ads is all about patience. You can’t be too reactive. It rewards authors with steady hands. You’ve got to be willing to lose money, at least at first.
Due to the work I did over the last couple days, my ads have stabilized and turned back into a money machine, and I’m making more money than I was before. Just takes patience and the willingness to learn how pay-per-click advertising works, and how to optimize it.
Anyway, I’m giving a workshop this weekend on Scrivener. Time to go practice the delivery.
