A friend recommend this to me:

https://wmg-publishing-workshops-and-lectures.teachable.com/p/writing-series-classic-workshop

but it’s pricey, plus I don't love watching videos. Has anyone else tried it? Is it really worth it?

I’d prefer to read some good books on writing series. Does anyone have any recommendations? Thanks!

Dan, picture the older pilot chanting, "Stay on target," as they're coming up on the wombat-sized widget that they have to blow on the Death Star. Besides, 3k is pretty good. :)

LOL.  Actually, I have a character that keeps reminding the others to stay focused on their objective.  Meanwhile, the MC who started out all rearing to go has turned into a whiny baby.

I gather Mallory is an unpopular man. That doesn't mean we get to throw around accusations like plagiarism.

 The guys who actually made the movie Copycat (in the 1990s, two decades before Saving April) do not claim to be plagiarized, nor do they claim to be the only humans who are allowed to use the middle-aged woman with anxiety/agoraphobia trope. Assigning a trope to one author or one filmmaker is not going to be a very good thing for those of us who weren't already working in 1957 or whenever they actually made films like Rear Window.

 I get it. It hurts to see people you dislike become successful, and Mallory is widely hated in New York. But this type of article & this type of accusation isn't helpful. We all reserve the right to work with these tropes. People you dislike are allowed to use them too. That's the price we pay for the ability for all of us to access these tropes without endless hours in court. Anxiety/agoraphobia in middle-aged women is extremely common. More than one author is going to write about it. I did read the book. He did a nice job, and he packed in tons and tons of explicit movie references to make it clear that he wasn't claiming to have invented the trope himself.

Your main question has already been answered, but I thought I'd add something if it'll help someone in the future. AMS charged my main Amazon credit card when I first started using it. I have an Amazon Prime card that gives me 5% cash back on all Amazon purchases, so I thought there was a chance it'd give me 5% on AMS too since it's Amazon. It does not. So I switched the payment method to my Citi DoubleCash card and get 2% back on all advertising rather than the 1% the Prime card offers.

Hopefully this'll save someone some cash if you're looking to test out this theory like I did. Advertising is expensive, so every little bit counts. 

Important question since I'm avoiding writing today. What's bigger an ROUS or a womp rat?

Probably a womp rat, but I wouldn't want to mess with either species up close.