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Progress Report 2024 Week 43

The thing about Real Life Family Events (RLFEs) is that they not only need time to shepherd. They leave an impact. This week’s RLFE was a model case in that regard. Also, I continue my ongoing fine-tuning for my ad campaigns. I decided to turn one of them off. Did Amazon or Facebook survive, and why? Before we talk about those topics, let’s take a look at the week’s key performance indicators.

Last Week’s Progress By the Numbers

I didn’t write as many words as I did last week, but any week above 10,000 words is a good week!

The week before last, I had an opportunity to write on both Monday and Friday, which is unusual. Last week, I not only couldn’t write on those days. I had a significant RLFE on Wednesday. It was a big one in terms of emotional impact.

That taught me something. Being there for my family, staying in the fight, so to speak, takes will and effort. Chronic situations are draining — so much so that even when Thursday night rolled around, I didn’t feel capable of writing. That’s when I realized something, or perhaps remembered it. Being there for my family is one of those Right Things to Do. And that has implications.

I’m not saying that to suggest I deserve praise, because I don’t. From a certain perspective, I’m simply executing my responsibilities. Only if I don’t do that should I deserve a response, and in that case, it’d be derision. I’m saying it because doing the Right Thing aligns my mind. It puts me in touch with reality, if that makes sense.

Thursday night, I could write. I didn’t feel like it, but I could do it. The words came more slowly, but the characters took the opportunity to come alive in unexpected ways. I had only dimly glimpsed Dreams of Deucalion Book 2: Flanking Maneuver’s thematic heart. On Thursday night, Atticus Porter and the other characters showed it to me. I don’t think it would have worked if I had not done the Right Thing.

I’m not describing this well. In the final analysis, maybe I’m just saying I can writer better if I have a clear conscience. I think, or hope, it’s more than that. I want to believe it’s because I was there for my family and all that entailed — I tried to be a good father, and husband, and overall, tried to be a decent human being. Circumstance did not insulate me from real things.

Yeah, that’s no more clear. I think I’d better stick to writing fiction!

More Ad Experimentation

I’m learning more and more about both Amazon and Facebook ads. One thing I’ve learned about Amazon ads is that depending on what genre you’re in, the price for winning keyword bids can vary wildly. I’ve seen some keywords go for as little as $0.33. Most of the ones I want to use are in the $1.90 range. Hard to make a profit at $1.90 a bid when it takes multiple bids to make a sale, and the book’s listed at $0.99 — which means the profit is in the $.30 range.

Yes, the goal is to make it up in read-through. I get that. But when the second and third books are $3.99, even a solid read-through isn’t going to turn a profit. So, I turned off the Amazon ad. It was generating sales, but not enough to justify the cost. Besides, I’m still an unknown. If my Amazon ad placement puts me up against Nick Webb or Craig Alanson, I’m sunk.

I’ve tweaked Facebook’s ad graphics, and I’ve changed the ad so it goes straight to Amazon. I really like the approach to ad graphics that David Gaughran suggested in a couple of his recent videos.

My Facebook ads continue to flirt with profitability. Read-though is making all the difference. This is my most profitable month yet, and it’s only three weeks in. And by “read-through,” I don’t mean only within The Sword of Sirius trilogy. Some readers finished The Sword of Sirius and went on to buy Evolution’s Hand: Execution Action, too. I’m beginning to see the potential in having multiple series!

I think in November, I’m going to continue the Facebook ads for The Sword of Sirius. Most of the promotion sites want me to wait ninety days to run another promotion for the same book, so I might begin to swap in a few Executive Action promotions. Maybe drop the price of Evolution’s Hand Book 2: Dying Breath to $2.99 or something. Now that I have two series, some potential readers might take me more seriously.

Progress against Last Week’s Goals

Here’s how I did against last week’s goals:

  1. Finish Trent Raven’s Plot Turn 1 Part II: Done!
  2. Finish Atticus Porter’s Pinch 1 (I have a feeling it’ll split into two parts): Done! It did turn into two parts.
  3. Finish Janczak’s Pinch 1: Postponed. I reworked the order of a few chapters to make sure I had the major developments sequenced correctly.
  4. Start Raven’s Pinch 1: Done! This will be two chapters. I finished the first.

Goals for the Week in Progress Report 2024 Week 43

Here’s what I hope to accomplish this week:

  1. Finish Trent Raven’s Pinch 1 Part II
  2. Finish Jadwiga Janczak’s Pinch 1
  3. Finish Atticus Porter’s Midpoint
  4. Finish the helper plot’s chapter I’ve called “Reckoning”

What Do You Think?

Have you had any experience marketing multiple series? How long do you give a series to become profitable before pulling the plug on your ads? How do you know you’ve connected with the best possible audience for a particular series? I’d love to hear about your experience in the comments!

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