AMS ads

[Marti Talbott]

Have you ever used an AMS ad to promote a book that isn't out yet? If so, how did it go?

[TimothyEllis]

Have you ever used an AMS ad to promote a book that isn't out yet? If so, how did it go?

I've been wondering that myself, as I'm new to pre-orders.

[notthatamanda]

Yes, on the book I released in September.  I sold 29 preorders, and I assume that was all AMS because I have no mailing list and it was a new genre for me. I was shocked that I was getting sales, because I really was just trying to experiment with what ad copy was most effective (side note, I suck at keeping track of that kind of stuff).  I had minimal visits to my website during that time, (my website visits are always minimal) where I had the first 5 chapters posted for free, so maybe that helped a wee bit. I think I even sold a hardcover or two, can't remember.

The surprise was the number of also boughts I had on release day. The second, bigger surprise was what the also boughts were all WWII historical fiction. 4-5 pages of also boughts on release day, all the right genre, even though all my other books were in thriller and romance and I used the same author name.  That's held up.  20 pages of also boughts now, all the right genre.

I just did the AMS for the month before the go live date. I figured as a unknown I didn't have enough clout to get people to buy a book a long ways out.

[Marti Talbott]

Yes, on the book I released in September.  I sold 29 preorders, and I assume that was all AMS because I have no mailing list and it was a new genre for me. I was shocked that I was getting sales, because I really was just trying to experiment with what ad copy was most effective (side note, I suck at keeping track of that kind of stuff).  I had minimal visits to my website during that time, (my website visits are always minimal) where I had the first 5 chapters posted for free, so maybe that helped a wee bit. I think I even sold a hardcover or two, can't remember.

The surprise was the number of also boughts I had on release day. The second, bigger surprise was what the also boughts were all WWII historical fiction. 4-5 pages of also boughts on release day, all the right genre, even though all my other books were in thriller and romance and I used the same author name.  That's held up.  20 pages of also boughts now, all the right genre.

I just did the AMS for the month before the go live date. I figured as a unknown I didn't have enough clout to get people to buy a book a long ways out.

Thanks. I'm so conflicted about pre-orders. It used to be that pre-orders didn't count toward the rank when the book was released. Do you remember if yours did? That's the one thing stopping me. Oh, and did you have to upload a draft copy? I only have about half a book finished so far.

[notthatamanda]

In September I was operating under the assumption that preorders wouldn't count towards rank so I didn't really look at it. I think Tim might have some data on his latest release that proves otherwise.

My preorder that is up right now, I didn't put a text file in.  When I get through the next round of editing I'll get something up there, but you don't need a placeholder file anymore so I'm just waiting a little longer.

[TimothyEllis]

I'm so conflicted about pre-orders. It used to be that pre-orders didn't count toward the rank when the book was released. Do you remember if yours did? That's the one thing stopping me. Oh, and did you have to upload a draft copy? I only have about half a book finished so far.

My current pre-order is up without a file attached. Just the cover and all the metadata.

I'll be uploading tomorrow I think, and changing the release date down to the minimum 3 days.

I think they found no rank increase on release day was putting people off using pre-orders. My last book had a better rank than my previous ones on much the same sales. Something like 500, so significant.

This will cross check if I'm right about that, since its pre-order ranks have been worse than the last one, but the orders themselves are coming out the same. Maybe be a bit better on the day. So it will be a good comparison.

[Marti Talbott]

Thanks, Tim. I can wait. I have another month or two before I release.