Nine months have passed since I started advertising my books on Amazon. A few reflections and a bunch of numbers to document ads’ impact.

Two main takeaways:

1. Advertising on Amazon definitely elevated my sales and bottom line.
2. It’s losing on effectiveness (probably because of increased competition).

Let’s review my results case by case. Below I elaborate on a few books of mine that weren’t launched during or right before the analyzed periods. I compare nine months before using the adverts with nine months of using them:

1. The Art of Persistence.

This is the least impressive example. This book was my bestseller all the time. Even during the slowest months it sold a few dozen copies.

472 copies versus 929 is less than 100% increase. The only significant fact is that the bottom line was quite high, so elevating it by almost 100% made a difference.

2. Learn to Read with Great Speed.

60 vs. 178 copies sold. I have only one campaign for this book, and I started it in February. It’s a 99-cent book, so advertising it is very tricky. I’m breaking even on this book, which is a miracle in itself.

In the end it’s a boost of ‘free’ marketing for me.

3. Master Your Time In 10 Minutes a Day.

Here is where real miracles start. This book sold only 83 copies in 9 months prior to introducing Amazon ads, less than 10 copies a month. It had a great launch in January 2014. It sold the most copies of all of my books. To this very day, it outsold any other of my books.

But it was dead.

Amazon ads brought it back to life.

It sold 434 copies since September, but I started advertising the book only since December. The increase is over 5x. Amazing.

4. From Shy to Hi.

If Master Your Time’s increase is amazing, I don’t know how to call this case. From Shy to Hi had been selling several copies a month for 9 months in a row. I also have advertised it since December. 65 vs. 595 copies sold! Almost 10x growth! Just WOW!

5. Trickle Down Mindset.

But this book’s results exceeded anything else.

Trickle Down Mindset had the best launch of all of my books, but it quickly sank. In the nine months prior to Amazon ads, it sold only 51 copies. Since then, it sold 677 copies. 13x growth!

This was the true resurrection of the book.

6. Dare to Matter.

Very recently, on 8^th of June, I struck a deal with Pete Smith, the author of “Dare to Matter.” He outsourced running AMS campaigns to me for the part of income from increased sales.

His book was at #840,000 rank when I started my AMS necromancy.

I brought it back to life within a few days. Currently it’s around #50,000-ish place in Amazon Kindle store, and for a few solid days it was as high as #21,000.

So this magic works not only for my books.

Results Summary

I just wanted to remind that my sales weren’t supported by any new book launches. I published the last book in September 2016.

I spent on ads $6,070. I earned $9,500 on Kindle sales. So my ads were profitable. Had that been the only effect of advertising, I would have been okay with that. Almost $3,500 earned in 9 months is still better than my income was in July or August 2016.

However, one “side effect” completely changed this picture.

My Print Sales Exploded

I sold almost 10 times more paperbacks in the last 9 months than in the previous 9 months. That meant about $10,000 more in my bank account.

Also, my audiobook publisher reported increased sales as the result of my ads. That’s why I advertise my Personal Mission Statement book equally to my other books, despite its low Kindle price (99 cents). What it loses on Kindle, it makes up for in print and audiobook sales.

Backend

One more thing: if you have some backend of your business already built, those ads are a no-brainer.
My backend is almost non-existent, but even I managed to take on board one coaching client that paid me over $1,000 in the last several months. That’s 1/6 of the overall ads cost right there!

Is It All Honey?

The only minus I see is that the return on investment diminishes with time. I suppose that more and more authors are jumping the bandwagon, and the advertising market gets crowded. As you can see, my revenues have steadily declined since January.

The image shows my Kindle revenues, but print sales showed an identical correlation. So the best moment to start your ads campaigns was 9 months ago, but the next best time is right now, while you still can squeeze out some juice from these campaigns.

The Final Verdict:

Investing in Amazon advertising was the single brightest idea I made as an author.

What Should You Do with this Information?

Well, start advertising your books, of course.

Here are three options for you:

1. Kindlepreneur’s free AMS course.

Dave Chesson has done a great work explaining the ins and outs of AMS advertising campaigns for books. The course is very comprehensive, from information on how to start your AMS account to how to optimize and A/B test your campaigns.

There is nothing missing there.

Dave also created a brilliant piece of software that can be used for mining for keywords – KDP Rocket. The last time I checked, it cost $97. A fair price. I’ve already created over 300 campaigns using that tool.

2. KD Sales Machine course of Derek Doepker.

I’m not wired that way, but some people need to pay big bucks to feel compelled to take action. If that’s the case, I recommend Derek’s course. It is as good and as comprehensive as Dave’s course. But it’s NOT free.

So, if spending money on education gives you a surge of motivation to implement the knowledge, go for it. It’s worth its price, by the way. I learned to run AMS advertising campaigns from Derek.

3. Hire me as your campaigns administrator.

Amazon calls it an “editor.” All you need to do is to create the AMS account, create an editor’s account for me, and provide funding for your campaigns.

If you are interested, contact me.

I must warn you that I’m very picky about the clients I work with and their books. I get paid out of clients’ income, so if there is no potential to generate enough profit, I definitely won’t even try to take you on board.

Remember, the next best time to start advertising your books is right now!