I saw this Reddit post: 10 things I need advice about, from a successful author (& DON'T want to buy a course!!!)

I couldn't help myself... Answers below. + FREE tracking Template

If you just came for the template… here it is!

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1. Where do most of your readers come from? How do you find more of them?

2. What do I send to a mailing list? How often?

3. How do I grow my mailing list if I’m not famous?

4. How do you know if ads are working or wasting money at the start?

5. I know social media is worth it. But which one is the best for authors?

6. Any tips on getting readers to buy your next book, not just the first?

7. Any tips for Amazon KDP pages?

8. How are you tracking what’s working and what isn’t?

9. How long do you realistically give any marketing before assessing it?

10. What’s the one thing most authors overcomplicate?

I’m ready to publish the first of 3 books. My covers have been tested. The series debut has been edited and has been ARC reviewed. I am at the point where it’s all ready to be available. But before I do, any last advice would be great.

I am not going to pay you, so give me the best free bits. Ad budget is $5k.

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This was my response.

1. Where to get readers?
   Usually, one place does most of the work. Crowds tend to hang around in the same areas, so you need to look for those areas. E.g. Facebook groups, Reddit groups, whatever social platform they prefer. Often, you will get annoyed because your targeting is spread so thin that it doesnt make an impact, even if there is an audience there.

2. Mailing list – what + how often
   Emails should really be viewed like WhatsApp messages, updates to the group, big announcements. But, frequently. They are a mandatory task if you want growth. Once a week is fine. Just as a wide update. What is happening, what has happened, what are you working on. You want to become a regular occurrence in their inbox. Random is much worse than frequent. An unsubscribe is not the end of the world when you’re getting anything more than 1 subscriber a day

3. Growing a list without being known
   Your book does the work. A clear reason to join inside the book beats any social trick. If you can’t do that or the book isn’t out in your case. Then just create a bonus, something extra they can get. A first chapter, a cut scene or paragraph, the writer’s notes for the book. Something that is additional to their experience. With this, you can go as big or as little as you want. I have seen discounts or entire books given for joining a mailing list.

4. Are ads working early
   Early ads aren’t can’t be about profit. They’re basically just there as signals. If the right people aren’t clicking, signing up or buying — then it’s probably not working. The back end of your budget is where you will see the most profit. A hockey stick effect, as the agencies like to call it. Because you have invested in finding what works - think of it like that. Start small, finish big. 10.00 ROAS (return on ad spend) on $10 per day is not the same as 10.00 ROAS on $100 per day ad budget.

5. Which social platform
   The one you’ll love the most. You’ll most likely stick with the one you enjoy being on. Consistency on any platform beats the “best” platform choice. That being said, you can find tools like IFTT or Buffer or Metricool (which I use) to post on all platforms whenever you post. So record 1 video for TikTok, and it posts 5 videos across YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and X. Sounds like cheating, it’s just a scheduler - been a thing for years.

6. Selling the next book
   I mean, you have already started with this teaser in the post, but try to sell the idea of the next book before it exists. If readers can see a future, they have something to think about. Better to have an idea of a sequel in their mind, than not to (even if it’s not written). I also like single book series, call me old school. But just make sure they know you’re working on something - Mailing list, is a great note here*

7. Amazon pages
   Just remember they’re scanned (by us and machines*), not read. I don’t want to include cliche captions, but they do make sense here, because overall clarity does beat cleverness. Tell me what I need to know about that book in a way that interests me as a reader in your niche. Look how other successful authors have done this previously. They are a good place to start.
   machines* | They are of course scanned by machines first before any readers. So, your keywords, your categories, your titles and your descriptions are scanned by a computer to decide how relevant your book is for someone searching “Great [emotion] [genre] book about [topic]” on Amazon. If you match up what you write with what the computer is looking for, those machines start to naturally bump you up searches and lists on their own.

8. Tracking what’s working
   Having an idea of what is happening across the board here helps.
   How your social media accounts are performing (views, clicks, followers)
   How your meta, reddit, bookbub ads are all doing (CPC, CTR, CPA, Impressions, ROAS)
   Website stats (visits, sign up, Sign-up rate%, buy rate%)
   Email stats (opens, clicks, sales)
   Amazon attribution link trackers by geo-location. All of it. Seems like overkill but if you can pinpoint where 90% of your sales are coming from. It’s much easier just to crank that dial way up. I myself use a very complicated high-end Google Sheet that pulls all this together. I shouldn’t really share the template, because ironically, it’s part of our top-end course (haha), but it feels very useful in this so, here.

9. How long to assess marketing
   You should see something move in 30–60 days. If nothing is happening, the problem is upstream, so look at the hierarchy and work your way up.

   Book —> Packaging —> Amazon page —> Offer —> Landing page / email —> Traffic source —> Message —> Marketing

10. What authors overcomplicate
    Trying to do everything instead of making one thing work. One ad, one landing page, one Amazon page, one platform. All in.

This was really fun to answer, thank you. This is so much of what I have learned and now give away for free, and if this free stuff blows your mind… You can only imagine how good the stuff I have paid for is!

Hope it helps.

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