Lindsay - December 3, 2020It’s a “just-us” episode today, with Jo, Andrea, and Lindsay answering listener questions. We ran out of time and didn’t get to the leftover protagonist-craft questions that we teased in the intro (whoops), but we did answer questions on Amazon ads, audio reader magnets, and whether social media and newsletters are really worth the time investment versus just paying for ads.
Here’s a list of the questions we got to (and we have more in the queue!):
- Camilla: When using Amazon Ads, do you use dynamic bids? Up and down or down only?
- Peter: How do you manage files on your hard drive as your list of published works moves into the double digits? Between drafts, edits, cover files, ebook formats, print-ready files, promo materials, blurbs and other marketing material, there’s a huge amount of data attached to a single release, and I’m curious about the ways people organize things to keep what they need accessible and easy to find.
- Mark: Social media can be an endless sink of time (which takes away from writing). Crafting auto sequences and newsletters on a regular basis also takes time (and getting people to sign up for those newsletters). With social media and newsletters, how much do they really convert to sales (perhaps in comparison to ads)?
- Quinn: Hi Andrea! In your interview on SFA040, which I listened to recently, you recommended authors listen to podcasts to learn. I didn’t realize how spoiled I was by this podcast until I tried taking your advice! I’ve run across several truly awful ones in my quest to find one as good. As people are writing in different genres here, what are the best writing-craft podcasts or other podcasts you’d recommend?
- Our answers: Entreleadership, Rocking Self Publishing (no new shows), the Science Fiction and Fantasy Marketing Podcast (no new shows), The Adam Savage Project, Mike Rowe’s The Way I Heard It, You Are Not So Smart, Critical Roll, The Creative Penn, Novel Marketing Podcast, Sell More Books Show, and Self Publishing Formula.
- Camilla: I’m planning to release a free book and make the epilogue a free reader magnet for people who sign up to my list, but I was wondering what about the audiobook version, would it be better to include the extra chapter in the narration? Or would it even be possible to have the narrator say visit my website at authorname dot com to sign up for my list and receive a free bonus chapter? Are audio reader magnets a thing?
- Michelle: I’m wondering if you have advice on the amount to spend marketing your very first book if you’re not doing rapid release? I will have six months before the second book is out. I don’t expect to make much on that book alone and am really just hoping to get some sales and reviews before the second book is released.
- Monica: I have one book, and want to focus on writing the next, but I did spend some time on writing a short story, an epilogue, as a reader magnet and get my newsletter list going. So I have questions!
- 1 – Was it a mistake to write an epilogue, which will only appeal to those who have read my book?
- 2 – If I have no subscribers yet, do I just start writing newsletters to no one? Or do you wait till people have signed up to start sending out monthly emails? (aside from the autoresponder sequence)
- Amanda: If your reader magnet is for sale (not a freebie), what are some good tactics to let readers know they can get the book for free by signing up for your newsletter instead of paying for it?
Thanks for listening, and thanks to Joshua Pearson for producing shows. Have questions for us? The best spot to ask them is in the Six Figure Authors Facebook group.
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