Hey,

We're not messin' around anymore - A-Tier's here, putting the fear of Shrimp Jesus into the morass of mediocre marketing options.

Today we're covering some seriously heavy hitters: Amazon Ads, Freebooksy Series Promos, and the Almighty Algorithms which increasingly rule our online lives - particularly the range of platforms used by authors to publish their work, find readers, and deepen engagement with fans.

Just FYI, as I’ve been asked, almost everything in this series is applicable to wide authors as well as those exclusive to Amazon.

When that's not the case, I'll flag it. Let's start with those pesky, all-encompassing algorithms, shall we?

Almighty Algorithms

I've been writing about algorithms for over ten years. Old-timers will remember I released a book in 2013 called Let's Get Visible, which was about seducing algorithms for fun and profit.

Probably the most impactful book I've written - if conversations at conferences are any barometer. People told me that it literally changed their lives, helped them make a profit from writing for the first time, or go pro and become a full-time author, or even move from making five-figures to six- figures a year.

I was a teeny bit uncomfortable because the real credit by with a group of pioneering authors (like Deb Geary, Ed Robertson, and Phoenix Sullivan and many more, I suspect, in the world of romance) who basically cracked the Amazon code and generously shared their data.

The thesis of the book was straightforward: visibility in the Kindle Store was worth money - a lot of money if your presentation was genre-appropriate and you gained visibility with the right readers. And the algorithms deciding that visibility weren’t just deducible – we could influence them too.

This remains true BTW, even if the path has become a little more convoluted and competition is turned up to 11.

There are a lot of people out there selling the idea that there is no organic reach on Amazon anymore. They're also selling expensive courses on Amazon Ads by complete coincidence.

And it's total rubbish.

That also remains true for wide authors BTW - I'm a wide, for all-but-one pen name, and wide authors sell on Amazon too!

Although it's a fact that:

(a) Kindle Store visibility is worth more to KU authors because they earn page reads from that too; and

(b) Visibility is worth far less generally on other retailers, and often harder to achieve partly because the ecosystem outside of Amazon is less meritocratic and more tilted towards big names and large publishers.

To put it another way, you could argue that playing the algorithms could be an S-Tier strategy for a KU author with a certain mindset.

But if you are the type of wide author who doesn't want to put much energy into growing Amazon numbers - and instead wants to focus on growing other sales channels - well, then I wouldn't recommend an algorithmically focused strategy is the best path to that.

It's not either/or though - you can try and grow Amazon and the other channels too. You can adopt on algo-friendly approach to the Kindle Store and use alternative approaches for the other retailers. The most successful wide authors do just that, I would respectfully argue.

Besides, algorithms rule the internet now.

Whether you want to get discovered on TikTok, shelved on GoodReads, liked on Facebook, followed on Insta, recommended on YouTube, or pushed on Amazon, knowing how the algorithms work is key to success.

Knowing how one platform works usually helps you understand another. The details and terminology might differ - hugely in some cases - fundamentally, though, all these platforms crave engagement.

The trick is to understand how they specifically measure that engagement, especially what they value most of all. With that knowledge, you can then tweak your approach so you're more attractive to the algorithms increasingly deciding who's hot and who's not.

YouTube, for example, cares most about keeping viewers engaged with what they are watching at that moment and keeping them on the platform afterwards to consume more content. It looks beyond simple metrics like clicks and views, and really values a high percentage of viewers watching all the way to the end of the video. It doesn’t just prefer readers to stay on the site, it really likes it if they watch another of your videos right afterwards.

I didn't know this when launching my YouTube channel, and basically used it as a secondary traffic source for my site, my newsletter, my Facebook Page, and so on. When I relaunch my channel later this year, my approach will be more in line with what the algorithms are hungry for in 2024.

Facebook also wants engagement above all else but measures it differently (it's still not a video-first platform, despite what it says to shareholders!). Likes, comments, and shares are all still key signals to the Facebook algorithms, but there is danger here.

Doing things that readers find engaging is obviously going to help your posts get more organic reach, but Facebook hates what it calls "engagement bait" - where people essentially prime users to responding with certain types of engagement. For example, I’m sure you have seen people doing things like running a giveaway and asking people to comment with a certain word, or Like a post, as the entry.

If Facebook detects you engaging in this, it warns that it can limit your post reach, and ultimately your account reach - a kind of shadow banning that you'll never really know about.

Knowing a little about the algorithms on whatever platforms you are using can both help you spread your messages further and assist you in avoiding some nasty pitfalls.

It can also help you make a lot of money.

For example, when I'm doing a free promotion on Amazon for a Book 1, I'd almost always discount Book 2 - at minimum.

This isn't just for buyer psychology reasons (i.e. minimizing the step up in price from free, to stimulate immediate sellthrough). It’s also for algorithmic ones.

Amazon also knows that its easier to get a customer to put something in their basket when it's not starting empty.

So, when an Amazon customer purchases a Book 1, Amazon typically puts the Book 2 on the checkout page, which becomes really eye-catching when it has the red slashy through the original price, highlighting the discount.

This is a small and simple example of how knowing a little about the algorithms can help you craft a more effective marketing plan.

For a lot more detail, and a zillion more practical examples, I recommend my huge book Amazon Decoded - the successor to that old book Let's Get Visible. It's a hefty tome – 300+ pages, if memory serves – so you won't be lacking in detail on the mysteries of Amazon. It's also broken up quite logically so you can dip in and out as needed.

Get smart about the algorithms which rule your online life. Check out Amazon Decoded here: available on all retailers.

Or don't! You can get a lot of mileage from figuring out this stuff yourself too - it's my favorite way to learn anything, except perhaps laser-eye surgery.

But seriously, whether it's Amazon, Facebook, YouTube, or whoever, we can complain about being powerless in the face of these automated algorithmic winds which seem to have a huge bearing on our lives. Or we can learn how they work and use them to our advantage.

Fill your sales, people.

Amazon Ads

I am not very good with Amazon Ads... which pairs rather awkwardly with knowing a lot about Amazon algorithms.

It also pairs rather awkwardly with writing a book about Amazon algorithms - not least when you must spend half the preface adding the elephant in the room… and pointing readers elsewhere.

Here’s the thing: the algorithms powering Amazon Ads are very different to those running the organic recommendation engine.

The two things are quite distinct. People treat them as a pair - or even worse, as one single entity with identical algorithms - but they most certainly are not.

The giant, organic system Amazon has for making personalized recommendations to shoppers by email, on devices, and throughout the store, is completely separate - even if the recommendations can sometimes be side-by-side with the ads.

These two systems can influence each other, though. And you will get maximum benefit from being familiar with both of these systems because the synergies are obvious.

Algorithmic concerns aside, and my own skill with the platform notwithstanding, what makes Amazon Ads such a valuable tool for authors?

I remember an old tech analyst saying that Google knows what information you need, and Facebook knows what you like but Amazon knows what you're willing to spend money on - which is most valuable of all, certainly to advertisers.

Half the battle in marketing is getting the customer to take their wallet out when they aren't in a buying mood.

For example, one challenge with Facebook Ads is that you are often trying to sell people something when what they really want to do is Like cat pictures, share dank memes with their friends, and scope out vacation snaps.

When you advertise on Amazon, the readers seeing your ad aren't just warmed up, their credit card is in their hand and they are ready to shop; there is literally no other reason to be on Amazon.

With that inbuilt advantage, Amazon should be the best platform for advertising books - and it is if you can beat the steep learning curve.

I never could fully manage that, quite frankly.

I was always able to carve out some tasty runs here and there - one ad might take off rather inexplicably when others failed (equally inexplicably).

Hard-won success could rarely be built upon. I probably could have cracked it if I wasn't already so comfortable with Facebook Ads. But it was always too easy to go back to what I knew, where I could turn out a profitable ad without too much effort, or risk.

As such, I'm not a great direct source of advice on Amazon Ads - it's just not my area of expertise. But I know enough to understand when someone gets it, and when someone is full of it.

The best resource out there for mastering Amazon Ads isn't some expensive course.

It's also not some "free ad challenge" which is just a lead-in to an expensive course. There are a few of those knocking around and I recommend avoiding them.

One in particular is… bafflingly popular and the source of numerous complaints, and recommended by people who should know better, but I guess the affiliate income is too sweet to pass up.

Instead, I recommend this free Facebook group - which focuses on Amazon Ads primarily, but does also cover Facebook Ads, and to a lesser extent, BookBub Ads.

Some of the authors in there really know their stuff - genuine experts, not trying to sell you anything. A couple of the regulars have written useful books on the topic (like Robert Ryan's Amazon Ads Unleashed - my personal favorite) but there's no hard sell - or any kind of sell - just good, useful, actionable information.

And some rather frank feedback on these super expensive courses. God Bless American libel laws.

BTW, please don't let my personal disdain for Amazon Ads steer you away from experimenting with them.

I would consider it a must for a KU author and a maybe for a wide author. And I’m sure to give it another crack myself, particularly when I have more KU releases out to make the profitability challenge a little less daunting.

Wide authors are disadvantaged here – there’s no avoiding it – because their ads bring in less money without those page reads and KU bonuses; they can be outbid in the auction.

But bids aren't everything and a good ad can triumph; I know plenty of wide authors doing very well with Amazon Ads, thank you very much.

Besides, the potential is so huge that it's worth a roll of the dice; you won't quite understand the scale that is possible with Amazon Ads until you have a campaign really take off!

I recommend tackling the basics to the extent that you can, at the very least, learn two specific tactics to help your launches:

1. Also Boughts

I love helping nail down ideal Also Boughts for my latest releases with Amazon Ads in particular.

BookBub can be useful here to a certain extent because the system is essentially built around targeting-by-author. Facebook - for all its flexibility - is much more hit-and-miss in that regard, these days, and is getting worse at that job over time as interest targeting gets more and more restricted.

Amazon Ads are built different.

You can target by specific books - by ASIN numbers - and really be exact about who you want in these Also Bought slots. Which is incredibly valuable as it prompts Amazon to recommend your book to all the right readers. (I'm simplifying here but check out Amazon Decoded for more!)

2. Defensive Ads

I might be no Amazon Ads expert but plenty of people are a lot better with them than me... and they want to advertise on my book pages, my name, and various terms related to my books and ideas. The price of success, you might say, but that doesn't mean you can't fight back!

Running ads on your own name might seem odd, and almost certainly means paying for at least some juice you could have gotten for free.

But it also stops someone else stealing it.

As defensive actions go, it’s not quite spiking the guns or scuttling the boat but it’s still counterintuitive; however, it works. If you can build from that and develop real skill with Amazon Ads, you will be set – for the Kindle Store, anyway.

I know authors who do little more than packaging their books well, publishing regularly, running Amazon Ads, and maintaining a fairly basic newsletter.

And they're making a ton of money.

Sometimes that's all you need to hit the big numbers: a regular publishing schedule, an effective means of reaching new readers, and some way of keeping the old ones engaged inbetween releases. There’s no secret sauce other than working hard and keeping it focused, and executing each aspect as well as you can.

Amazon Ads aren't for me, but maybe they could be the key to everything for you - especially if you get to grips with the algorithms as well.

It's a powerful one-two punch - for all authors - and a potential knockout for those exclusive to Amazon.

Still not convinced?

Consider this interesting little tidbit: Amazon Ads is the least price-sensitive ad platform. Yeah, weird; I know.

Freebooksy Series Promos

But why sell full price books when you can give away the farm, LOL. I kid, of course, but let's take that elephant down by the trunk.

Some authors focus too much on price, and then compound the error, I respectfully suggest, by conflating it with value too.

Those are two separate things.

· Price is determined by the seller.

· Value is decided by the buyer.

If the price is above the value, the sale won't happen. But if the value is above the price, not only does the sale happen, the buyer can also turn into a walking, talking billboard - recommending the deal to all their friends.

Discounts are a tool, a lever, a path to more sales and more profit. And freebies are a superpowered version of that.

I don't sweat on price, I focus on profit, on what maximizes my income overall. If selling all my books for 99c made me the most money, I'd do it without flinching.

I'd give a million free books away tomorrow if I could, because I know that every single time I give away something for free, my profit goes up. And if that's not the case for you, I gently suggest that you might need to build a better mousetrap?

Anyway, Freebooksy Series Promos combine freebies and discounts in a very powerful way that generates a ton of new readers for your series.

The promos cost between $95 and $245 depending on your genre, as some of their lists are naturally bigger than others. You can check out the details here. I recommend booking a few weeks in advance.

The reason why these promos are so powerful – aside from being pushed to an audience of between 169,000 readers and 633,000 readers, depending on your genre, is because it’s a little different to the standard book promo we see on deal sites, which we covered back in the B-Tier.

It builds off a lucrative and enduring indie tactic for driving series sales through the roof - namely, running multiple discounts simultaneously. And it specifically ties into a powerful twist on that tactic – covered in detail in Amazon Decoded - sending lots of traffic directly to your series page in the Kindle Store, perhaps via BookBub Ads, Facebook Ads, your own newsletter, and social media.

Freebooksy Series Promos showcase your entire series to its huge audience of hungry readers, highlighting whatever discounts you choose to run and providing direct links to each book, as well as to the series page itself.

The first book must be free, but after that it's up to you. I personally see best results with an aggressive approach but I always weigh that decision as part of my overall strategy.

Freebooksy strongly recommends that you consider discounting Book 2 to 99c for the duration of the promo - at the very least. After testing multiple pricing approaches in a range of genres, I concur.

I was happy to beta test this promo back in 2021 as part of a number of authors providing feedback to ensure that it delivered maximum value - and one innovation this promo brings in particular is a link to that series page, which is so valuable but quite rare to find in any book promo.

This is one I can heartily recommend regardless of genre (if yours is available) and whether you are wide or exclusive.

Again, you get best results from something like this when deployed alongside at least some knowledge of the algorithms. For example, I often use this as part of a five-or seven-day push on a series to support the release of the latest instalment - a tactic that can work equally well with a trilogy or a 20-book series.

And I keep the traffic consistent across those five days with the help of Facebook Ads and newsletters, primarily.

We will talk about that in more detail next time when we get to the supernaturally powerful marketing options - S-Tier - coming soon to a newsletter near you, I’m reliably informed.

Dave

P.S. Writing music this week is Radiohead with Jigsaw Falling Into Place.