Ads Formatting Requirements

[idontknowyet]

The people that are creating my custom covers are doing my ads as well. I need to tell them how to set them up. Everyone talks about keywords ROI and that type of stuff, but formatting of ads is never talked about.

What are the requirements for Facebook, AMS, and Bookbub ads?

[Denise]

Your cover designer should know it.

If they don't, go on each platform and check the dimensions. For Facebook, you don't want text on your ad. For BB, it's a good idea to have text. Amazon I don't think has image ads.

[idontknowyet]

It turns out I am the first one to ask for ads. They have zero clue.

[Bill Hiatt]

It turns out I am the first one to ask for ads. They have zero clue.

Which raises the natural question, why not take care of the ads yourself? Are they charging extra for this service about which they have zero clue? I may be misunderstanding, but this sounds like a recipe for disaster.

[Tom Wood]

A BookBub ad, the one that is self-serve at the bottom of the daily emails, is a standard 300x250 (width x height) pixels rectangle. You can create your own graphic, or you can use their ad-builder at BookBub.

The Facebook situation is much more complicated because it depends on where you will want the ad(s) to run - News Feed, Desktop, Mobile, Marketplace, Instagram, Messenger - all have their own quirks. You should open your own Facebook Ads Manager account so you get access to the setups, which have tips available from within the system.

[LilyBLily]

It turns out I am the first one to ask for ads. They have zero clue.

Which raises the natural question, why not take care of the ads yourself? Are they charging extra for this service about which they have zero clue? I may be misunderstanding, but this sounds like a recipe for disaster.

I'll double that! Why on earth would you pay someone who doesn't have lots of experience?

I get that the cover designer has easy access to your covers and to the art effects behind them, but there's a lot more than a cover involved in an ad visual and anyone can use the jpeg or png of your cover and create an ad visual for you--anyone who actually knows how to do these ads, that is. 

FB and BB can spend your money like water, and if you don't know book ad design and your designer doesn't, either, you could go broke in a hurry while achieving minimal sales.
 

[idontknowyet]

It turns out I am the first one to ask for ads. They have zero clue.

Which raises the natural question, why not take care of the ads yourself? Are they charging extra for this service about which they have zero clue? I may be misunderstanding, but this sounds like a recipe for disaster.

I'll double that! Why on earth would you pay someone who doesn't have lots of experience? 

I get that the cover designer has easy access to your covers and to the art effects behind them, but there's a lot more than a cover involved in an ad visual and anyone can use the jpeg or png of your cover and create an ad visual for you--anyone who actually knows how to do these ads, that is. 

FB and BB can spend your money like water, and if you don't know book ad design and your designer doesn't, either, you could go broke in a hurry while achieving minimal sales.

I'm paying them cause I don't have a clue how to create a cover. They are dealing with all the licensing and art. I want to keep everything cohesive and on brand. For like $120 per cover they are doing the ebook, print, 3d cover,  the ads for facebook bookbub and ams, as well as a single banner for each series.

The ads are something new to them they usually only do ebook, print, 3d covers, banners, business cards, logos, audiobooks, and a few other things like that.   

This company allows me to see and approve the cover before I pay and I can back out at anytime with no money lost.

I haven't seen anyone anywhere that advertises doing covers and ads at the same time. If anyone has any suggestions, I am so open to that. I just am not ready to learn another skill. It's bad enough I'm going to have to learn advertising, website design and all these social media platforms.

Why did I do this to myself?


Ps: Sorry that reads as defensive. I'm just frustrated. I've been searching for what feels like forever. I finally set a publish date. It's locked in with money so no going back. I've been trying to do my due diligence, but so many things seem like a mystery to me. I've looked at hundreds of cover artist many that say oh we do romance too then I cringe when I see their covers. It's like all of the good ones are hiding or booked. I've seen a few that have amazing covers. Get to their group and find out 50% or more of their covers are just plain bad. They require full custom cover money paid out before they get working and what if I end up with the 50% garbage portion rather than the stunning one. At a $100 I might not mind risking it, but most run in the $250-350 range and the you add fees for print and 3d etc. 

[Denise]

I haven't seen anyone anywhere that advertises doing covers and ads at the same time. If anyone has any suggestions, I am so open to that. I just am not ready to learn another skill. It's bad enough I'm going to have to learn advertising, website design and all these social media platforms.

It's fair enough. That said, if you're going to advertize, you need to know a little about it so that at least you know what to ask for. BB is easy, you can browse through the site and get an idea. For facebook you need something eye-catching without words. You'll have to learn about it either way if you're going to try to do ads, so you might as well learn it now.

[Bill Hiatt]

It turns out I am the first one to ask for ads. They have zero clue.

Which raises the natural question, why not take care of the ads yourself? Are they charging extra for this service about which they have zero clue? I may be misunderstanding, but this sounds like a recipe for disaster.

I'll double that! Why on earth would you pay someone who doesn't have lots of experience? 

I get that the cover designer has easy access to your covers and to the art effects behind them, but there's a lot more than a cover involved in an ad visual and anyone can use the jpeg or png of your cover and create an ad visual for you--anyone who actually knows how to do these ads, that is. 

FB and BB can spend your money like water, and if you don't know book ad design and your designer doesn't, either, you could go broke in a hurry while achieving minimal sales.

I'm paying them cause I don't have a clue how to create a cover. They are dealing with all the licensing and art. I want to keep everything cohesive and on brand. For like $120 per cover they are doing the ebook, print, 3d cover,  the ads for facebook bookbub and ams, as well as a single banner for each series.

The ads are something new to them they usually only do ebook, print, 3d covers, banners, business cards, logos, audiobooks, and a few other things like that.   

This company allows me to see and approve the cover before I pay and I can back out at anytime with no money lost.

I haven't seen anyone anywhere that advertises doing covers and ads at the same time. If anyone has any suggestions, I am so open to that. I just am not ready to learn another skill. It's bad enough I'm going to have to learn advertising, website design and all these social media platforms.

Why did I do this to myself?


Ps: Sorry that reads as defensive. I'm just frustrated. I've been searching for what feels like forever. I finally set a publish date. It's locked in with money so no going back. I've been trying to do my due diligence, but so many things seem like a mystery to me. I've looked at hundreds of cover artist many that say oh we do romance too then I cringe when I see their covers. It's like all of the good ones are hiding or booked. I've seen a few that have amazing covers. Get to their group and find out 50% or more of their covers are just plain bad. They require full custom cover money paid out before they get working and what if I end up with the 50% garbage portion rather than the stunning one. At a $100 I might not mind risking it, but most run in the $250-350 range and the you add fees for print and 3d etc.

When you explain so thoroughly, it's easy to see why you set things up as you did. And the price is really good for what's included--really good. I was just concerned because of the idea of using a company for ads that didn't seem to know what it was doing. But it now sounds as if they should do fine with just a little info.

As far as cover designers in general are concerned, yeah, it's hard sometimes to find one you like in the right price range and availability. If you find one you like and develop a relationship, it will be easier to get booked as time goes on. I'd also suggest ordering the cover as soon as you have the plot basically in mind, or at least at the end of the first draft, depending upon what your process is. That's what I do, so I never get in a cover crunch. If you have everything else, but have to wait on the cover, that is frustrating. (The designer can't complete the paperback one until the book is finished because of spine width calculation, but most designers are willing to put that aside until you have the page count and other variables ironed out. They can actually do everything except the spine, and the spine by itself doesn't take that long is the front and back covers are pretty well ironed out already.

[notthatamanda]

If you can get them to give you just the graphic for the ad, you can add the text with Canva.  That was Denise's suggestion.  My cover artist gave me an add graphic in the right size and I tried Canva and it was pretty easy.  I uploaded it no problem to Bookbub, but I haven't actually run the ad yet.  If you have that graphic, you can change the text on top of it whenever you like, instead of paying someone to make those changes.

[LilyBLily]

I agree about romance covers. I've just been looking at some, the premade kind, and so many are awful. I also agree with Bill that $120 for everything is a very good deal. I usually pay $200 for an ebook cover and a print cover at the same time, and that cover designer throws in a 3D, too. Which is nice but I've never been able to do ads well, either visuals or the idea for them. That's why I stick to Amazon ads, which only depend on copywriting. That I can handle.

Some authors give design credit (most designers ask for one) on the copyright page, so if you find a cover you admire, you might be able to get the name and contact and commission that person.

Good luck, regardless. I wasn't trying to jump all over you; I just don't think a situation of the blind leading the blind is ideal. However, when I consider the incredibly awful looking ads I've dummied up myself on Canva in the past, your choice to have an actual designer do one has got to be a better plan.