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Post by K'Sennia Visitor on Feb 5, 2019 17:51:59 GMT
I am not on PublishDrive, but I got an email about this so thought I'd share. publishdrive.com/PublishDrive_Press_Release_-_Amazon_Advertising_Feature.pdf Amazon Advertising (paid): Authors can create Amazon’s Sponsored Products advertising campaigns through PublishDrive. Until March 31, 2019, this feature is available to all PublishDrive authors, even if they distribute directly to Amazon. Authors who launch campaigns through PublishDrive can also unlock enhanced analytics, which displays earnings before and after the advertising campaigns. Authors can sign up at www.PublishDrive.com and navigate to the Marketing tab to enjoy these free and paid marketing features. Users who enroll in PublishDrive’s Subscription Pricing option will also receive a $50 Amazon advertising credit that can be immediately used toward new campaigns.
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Post by writeway on Feb 6, 2019 3:09:20 GMT
I have a book or two on PD and haven't gotten an email but wow this is a game-changer if this means D2D and Smashwords will have access to AMS ads in the future. I'm not shocked because all Amazon is after is money. So they've sat around figuring out another way to get authors to buy ads. Pretty soon your book won't even need to be ON Amazon to advertise there. ROFL!
I read an article a few months back which said Amazon makes millions off ads from authors and sellers so them wanting to capitalize isn't surprising.
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Post by K'Sennia Visitor on Feb 6, 2019 7:41:42 GMT
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Post by writeway on Feb 6, 2019 23:02:52 GMT
Oh, I definitely understand ads can help. I use AMS ads. I don't fault anyone for using them but it's gotten now where the ads are no longer an option but a necessity except for maybe a tiny few. Some authors claim to sell well without ads but that's not the majority. Most authors are either using AMS, FB, or Bookbub ads if not all three. Then you got Pinterest ads, Google ads, Twitter ads, etc. The issue is that more and more authors are being pushed out of AMS because costs in some genres/cats have gotten so high. Seems like as AMS ads go on authors are losing more than they make. So I do feel bad that organic promotion has dwindled but I understand that's just the way it is now. We just gotta make the most of it.
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Post by dormouse on Feb 7, 2019 11:08:27 GMT
Seems like as AMS ads go on authors are losing more than they make. ... We just gotta make the most of it. What you are looking at is a relentless decline in profit margins. Simple equations:- Profit margin= Profit/Sales (x 100 to make it a %). Profit=(Sales-Cost of Sales). Cost of Sales=Publisher Expenses (editing, covers, formatting etc)+Store Costs+Promotion Costs (promoters, marketers, advertising)+Writers cost. Originally many indies would have done all the above themselves, paid for no advertising and just put their books on Amazon, but editing, covers and more recently advertising have come to be regarded as necessary. The overall cost of sales has gradually increased over the years, but the growth of total sales has stopped. My guess is that many indies now run at a loss, even with a writer payment of zero; despite thinking of themselves as running a business. The usual secret to surviving in an environment with low, and declining, profit margins is economies of scale. Established writers will do well because they already have some scale and established customers. Content mills and pulp publishers will survive, maybe thrive, because their costs of sale per item are much lower. I would guess that many established writers have experienced falling margins over the last few years, although they will have gingered their total sales with advertising; the effect might be disguised by their back catalogues getting a free ride. The only profitable possibility for new indies will be differentiation. The very opposite of received wisdom. If you follow the rules in baking the beans, and cooking the sauce, and labelling the can so that it is clear it is baked beans, you will be competing with all the other purveyors of similar cans. Advertising may help; a bit, for a while. But the big advertising budgets will always win. Being very lucky might work too.
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Post by dormouse on Feb 19, 2019 21:45:49 GMT
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Post by dormouse on May 17, 2019 18:21:54 GMT
I also liked today's TwistedTales' post on kBoards talking about the same issue.
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Post by K'Sennia Visitor on May 17, 2019 20:09:26 GMT
Thanks for the links! I haven't visited either board for a few days. It's sad that it takes so much money to make money, but that's the way the world works. This is why I am endeavoring to save every penny I earn so that when I eventually finish TUOK I'll be able to at least afford a pro cover for the first book, and then hopefully earn enough for a second cover, etc. It seems like you pretty much have to spend every cent you earn on covers/editing/ads and just count your first few books as a loss before you can start to earn any actual profit. The more you can spend, the faster you can earn it back. Provided you can either write books people want or can afford to buy ghost books that people want. Of course if you are an exceptional writer, or are popular and are able to build an audience, or can get your book to be beloved by someone else with an audience then you can still do pretty well without having to spend thousands, even if you can only afford a crappy cover. So it's not like there is zero hope if you don't have money. It's just that money is faster, although, even that isn't as true as it used to be, with all of the indie money reverse raining up to the amazon skies. In the end, strong craft, tenacity, and hard, consistent work is what's most important. But having money definitely makes those things pay off. I wrote this before I read any of the linked posts, teehee, so now I'll go read and see if my post was off in the weeds or not.
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Post by K'Sennia Visitor on May 17, 2019 22:05:53 GMT
I think AMS ads should be pay per purchase rather than pay per click. If you had to pay for every purchase at least you're getting something out of it. A click means nothing. You can't pay your electric bills with clicks. But amazon won't change the game until every other author and vendor quits slipping money into their money slot.
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Post by dormouse on May 17, 2019 22:44:05 GMT
They could certainly do that. Google, Facebook etc can't because the related purchase wouldn't be known to them. Amazon could, though click counting is a lot easier. It would be interesting to see what would happen to the prices if Amazon did that. It would probably drive all cheaper books out of AMS - the price could easily end up at $3, $4 or even $5. Actually could be double or treble that for the first in a long series.
My view is that, for a standard indie, AMS aren't affordable if the aim is to make a profit but that the standard indie does't realise that very clearly and thinks they can solve the problem with a few more tweaks of a few more $$$.
As I've said before, you need to look at the average profit margin of 'going concerns' in an industry. If they are very low, that industry is not a place to be, despite some people making above average profits. And the writers most affected are those producing lots of books and having a pulp fiction business model with high initial cost (covers, editors) and high continuing costs (AMS etc). Writers with different business models, or with different aims, may not be affected.
Simple question, if you had a spare $50k or $100k, would you pay the initial costs for half the profits (sales-AMS) of a writer who was slightly more successful than average? If not 50% of the profits, how about 60 or 70%? What % would you need to believe it was likely to be a good investment?
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Post by K'Sennia Visitor on May 18, 2019 3:41:53 GMT
I can't imagine ever having that much money. If I did I would live off it and just buy super pretty covers and things for my own books as a hobby. I am not a business person. I do not have a business drive at all. So for me personally, no.
But if I was a business person it would depend on the book and the popularity/likability of the author. I'd also want to know if they had a viable series and could be counted on to complete said series. If they've only got one book in them then it wouldn't be worth it. If they've got a trilogy with the right hooks to lure in the average reader, then yeah, I could prolly make that exchange profitable for me.
If it was a nonfiction book I'd just need an appropriate story to emotionally manipulate people with to get them to connect with the author and need to buy their book to support them/join their cause/learn all lurid details, etc.
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Post by proofreadexcelsior on Jun 11, 2019 14:40:04 GMT
Thanks for sharing this. It's pretty interesting.
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