The sales copy builder tool I created was definitely a game-changer. This little tool was a level up for my career. Sometimes you feel like you’ve moved up to another level and you can’t go back down. That’s what that tool did for me. Probably obvious for most, but helpful for me.
Anyway, I set my sights on my text target: my Android X series. It’s about an android special agent hunting down a murderer in the year 2300.
This series used to do quite well for me but it dropped off in sales in past years. Another thing going for it is that it has a good audiobook version. My thinking is that if I can throw some ads at it and optimize those ads, I should see sales improve, at the very least for audio.
The book description isn’t terrible. Here’s what I have:
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The future belongs to humans and androids…or is that a paradox?
The year is 2300. Humans and androids live in peace after a devastating singularity and years of war.
Xandifer “X” Crenshaw is an android special agent who hunts down rogue androids and dismantles them. No one evades him for very long.
When a fellow android agent goes maverick and starts a killing spree, this time it's personal. And if X doesn't disable his foe swiftly and silently before the press finds out, it will shatter the alliance between humans and androids forever.
X and his human partner, Shortcut won't rest until this mission is complete—unless they end up dead first. If you love science fiction thrillers, then grab your copy of Android Paradox today!
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I will probably strengthen a few parts here and there, but this exact description used to convert pretty well. My thought is not to fix what may not be broken. So I’m taking a conservative tack to see how the blurb performs first.
Ultimately, I’ll look at impressions, clicks, and sales, and will factor how many clicks lead to sales. Per Bryan Cohen, anything less than 10:1 is superb. So that’s the number I’ll be looking out for.
I also reviewed the first book’s front and back matter to see if I could find any weaknesses. Surprisingly, it looks really good for not touching it for several years.
The back matter call to action is structured like follows:
- Short CTA page with a link that says: “If you’d like to find out what’s next for X and Shortcut, and who the mysterious Jeanette Crenshaw is, read on…
Android Deception, Book 2 in the series, is available at all major retailers.
Turn the page for a preview.
- 2-chapter preview of the book, with a final CTA with the book cover of Book 2 and a link.
Next, I double-checked my keywords, which were pretty atrocious. Shame on me. I used KDP Rocket to do some quick searches for keywords, any keyword that was better than what I had.
I’m pretty much screwed from a category perspective. About the best I can do is techno thriller and terrorism thriller. Not surprisingly, those two genres are stuffed with misclassified books. One of my biggest pet peeves on Amazon—has been since I started publishing, honestly. Makes it damn near impossible for anyone to get found.
Anyhoo, once I republished the book with (slightly) better keywords, I went on a hunt for AMS keywords.
I did some research to see if I could find any new, fresher comparable books. I did find a few new ones, which is always good!
I whipped up a list of AMS ads of about 50 keywords, which isn’t much, but it’s a start. Once AMS ads kick in, I’ll get lots more keyword ideas when the algorithm starts recommending my book and logging clicks.
I created a battery of ads for Android Paradox and my omnibus series—around 20 ads total. $5/day budget. I did a mixture of automatic, category ads, and keyword ads—some with copy, some without. Usually takes about 24-48 hours for the ads to turn on, and about a week to determine if I will start hemorraghing money…
I used the following ad copy:
“The future belongs to humans and androids. Or is that a paradox?”
“An android special agent hunts down a murderer in this pulse-pounding thriller set in the year 2300.”
“When two equally intelligent androids hunt each other to the death, who will win?”
I know I can probably come up with something stronger, but we’ll see how those do to start.
Now I wait.
MARKETING PARKING LOT
- Develop a tool to help me transition into “marketing mode (DONE)
- Clean up old lead magnet links and redirect them. ROI: Could add a few more subscribers to my list per year.
- Convert unnecessary links in my nonfiction to footnotes to improve “reader stickiness.”
- Zero in on any broken links and redirect them. ROI: Improves user experience on my website.
