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Why is writing ad copy so hard?
I would like to think that by now I’m a pretty good writer—I know how to craft a plot, create interesting characters, and build a story that keeps a reader interested until the last page. I understand the power of words, and how important it is to choose the right ones. I get written communication, you know?
Until I have to write marketing text for a book, and then I start screaming. I’m fully aware that marketing is a whole skill set in its own, and I admire the hell out of authors who are also good marketers and understand how to get a potential reader’s attention.
I am not one of those authors. Being neurospicy, I’m fully aware that what appeals to me in an ad or a blurb isn’t going to appeal to 90% of my potential reading audience, so working on effective marketing material can be … a challenge. Yes, let’s call it a challenge.
That being said, I don’t make enough to outsource this to pro marketers, so I have to suck it up and try to be the best marketer I can with my neurospicy brain. Frex, I’ve just worked on some marketing issues with Storm Season (Olympic Cove Book One). According to Amazon Ads I’m getting a relatively good number of impressions (when an ad is displayed to a potential customer), and clicks (when a customer clicks on an ad). But I’m not getting purchases of the book, which usually means that the ad looks interesting enough to get someone to click on it, but when they land on the book’s Amazon page either the cover or the blurb makes them think, “Nah.”
I’m in the process of overhauling all the Olympic Cove covers and making them look more like the current visual standard for mythological romance books (jewel-toned decorative background, a focus object, and titles in a swoopy font with a gold embossed effect), but I decided the blurb could also use more of an emotional hook. Everything I’ve been reading on marketing says that emotion is one of the most important tools an author has when it comes to selling a book. It’s my job to dangle an emotional promise in front of a reader—this book will make you feel happy, horny, engaged, maybe a little angry, maybe a little thoughtful, and immensely satisfied at the end.
And I get to pack all that into a blurb. Whee. Now I just have to wait and see if I managed it correctly for Storm Season.
Bye, July
Normally I’m a little wistful at the end of July for a variety of reasons. This year, however, I’m feeling a combination of relief and utter joy.
The relief is because the temps are dropping slightly around here. And I mean slightly, but they’ll going to be in the upper 90s as of 8/5/22 and I for one am grateful for temperatures that aren’t in the triple digits week after week. Supposedly we’re going to have a hot August as well here in the clavicle of Texas, but as long as I’m not seeing 108°F I’m good.
The utter joy is because I took Bryan Cohen’s free Author Ad Profit Challenge and learned some freaking important things about how to make Amazon ads work properly for me, how to write attention-grabbing ad copy, and why it’s important to update your book covers and make sure they’re appropriate for their respective market. I wrote a LOT of ad copy this month. I also recovered A Most Malicious Murder, Shifter Woods: Howl, Shifter Woods: Roar, Shifter Woods: Snarl, and Degree of Resistance, and I made some minor but important tweaks to the cover of Shadow of the Swan.
As a result, I’ve made $204.59 from Amazon sales this month, with an ad spend of $53. Granted, $90 of the sales income is from Crystal Shard, but $114 is from my existing backlist. I never, EVER see numbers like that for my backlist. And this is only after about two weeks of tweaking and improving ads. I’m really looking forward to seeing how I’m doing after a full month of having ads up and running for all of my books.
That being said, I am looking down the barrel of a dilemma. By rights, I should recover all of the Two Thrones books as well because their current covers aren’t in line with the fantasy romance market, which tend to feature royal/magical objects. But—people who buy print books like to have all of their print books from a series match, and there will be four more books in this series. If I switch covers in mid-stream, so to speak, I’m going to be pissing off OG fans and collectors. I do have the option of creating additional print editions of each book so that I can update the ebooks with the new cover, create a print version with the new cover and keep the old print version with the old cover. That being said, I’m not sure how that can all stay organized on Amazon.
Or I could update the ebooks, keep the trade paperbacks with their current covers, and create hardbacks with the updated ebook covers until I finish the series, then update all the trade paperback covers. It’s a bit complicated, but it’s doable.
Oh, well. That’s an issue for August.
Nicola Cameron Writes 