![]() I've had some success with Facebook and Instagram ads as well as post boosting, enough to know I need to keep at it. Need to in spite of how difficult Meta/FB makes doing so. The following is a summary of the latest challenges, and now that you know what this post is about, skip it if you haven't and/or are not writing a book; it won't be on the test. Required reading for those of you planning to or who are currently writing a book. I've been working my way through the Click Testing for Authors (CTA) course, and was ready over a week ago to launch the first of six separate tests to guide ad creation and audience selection for FB and IG ads. Very helpful stuff, I'm learning a lot. Each test requires ten variants of what is being tested. For example, in test one, ten ad taglines. CTA walks you through the steps to do this using FB's ad creation process. I completed and was ready to publish the first test when I noticed a vague error message. Something to do with incorrect settings. (For those of you planning to do FB/IG ads, most all messages you get in the ad set-up user interface will be vague.) CTA did their best to help me through the problem before saying I should check to see if my domain was Meta "verified". It wasn't, I had no idea it needed to be since I had run a few test ads without issue. I located a list of steps to get it verified, some I would do others my partner in this project, Paula Johnson, would need to do (she handles the under the hood technical website stuff along with so much more.) We did as requested, hit the "Verify" button, nothing. I finally tracked down some additional things we could try. I also granted Paula full access to everything having to do with my FB/IG/Meta accounts. Make that, I tried to give Paula full access. The Meta response when Paula, who received my permission to access everything directly from Meta, tried to access my account, was: "Something went wrong. We're working on getting this fixed as soon as we can. You may be able to try again." I may be able to try again? Things still not working this morning, I contacted Meta support in a chat. You can do that, but good luck finding how you do it. Contact me if you want to know, it's too complicated to go into here. Over an hour in the chat with the support person taking time to research the issue, it came down to this. Try it again. Not after she/he had done something that may work, just try it again. Conclusion: If you are writing or have written a book, FG and IG ads are an important marketing tool. However, regardless of whether or not you are an experienced FB/IG user, do not assume that navigating their ad user interface, and the Meta Business Portfolio, will go smoothly. It is a completely different world and there is no one at Meta to call for help. You can do as I initially did and run a few ads using Meta's "let us do it for you" suggestions, but don't do that. You need to tailor your spending to your book, which isn't necessarily what is required for my book or anyone else's. When it comes to book marketing online, one size definitely does not fit all.
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I'm close to the topic of lives I might have/could have/ should have lived. Maybe you are too more than you know.
One of the frequent comments I hear from some who have read Raymond's story, is that it makes them think, even occasionally dream, how different their own unlived lives might have been. This isn't as ominous as it may seem. The dream isn't necessarily an indication that the person is unhappy with the life they do live. Case in point, me. I've been out of the army for 54 years, out of Vietnam as a soldier for 56 years. I've since visited the country twice for extended periods of time, both enjoyable trips. That's a lot of time to put that first year behind me. I have largely, but not completely done so, nor do I want to. I occasionally dream I am living my post-army civilian life, working, raising a family, enjoying life. I receive word I have to go back to the war for another year. I don't question the absurdity of that happening, it just must be. The specifics vary, but always involve me arriving back in Vietnam, being issued the gear I was the first time, and settling in as best I can for another 12 months. I don't speculate why this dream happens. It does, even more so now having written Raymond's story. It is part of the life I do live that might never have happened had I not been there so long ago. A year resulting in so many events, decisions, and non decisions creating so many lives I might have lived, both good and bad. Nothing wrong with that for me, nor for you. Your dreams are part of the life you do lead as well as your unlived lives. Follow your dreams, they have much to teach you. Raymond's story is everyone's story.
Where would you be today had you made different choices yesterday? And by yesterday, I literally mean yesterday. You could even make "yesterday" the time it's taken you to read this far. Had you not done so, had you thought about most anything else, your life going forward would be different than it is now. Literally! Remember the scene in "Jurassic Park" where Jeff Goldblum talks about the Chaos theory? What happens halfway around the world when a butterfly flaps it wings in China. Probably a little overstated, but it made for good movie dialog, and should make you thinking about your own unlived lives a little easier. Those lives we would have lived had we made different choices in the past, are as interesting as they are infinite in number. Thinking about their possible existence, I could literally write a book about them. I'm hearing from people who have read Raymond's story, including how it has made some think about their own lives.
Tricky business, that! While probably human nature, it's little too easy to look back only regretting past choices we wish we could now unmake. I occasionally have to remind myself to acknowledge what I've done right rather than just that I now wish I hadn't done, said, or thought. You should too. Thank you to those who purchased and read Raymond's story, particularly if you enjoyed it. And if you are now focused on the list of your own life's choices, cut yourself some slack. While Socrates said, "The unexamined life isn't worth living", I believe he would tell us all to examine our own lives fairly, spending as much time recognizing those choices we wouldn't change as we do those we would. The publication part of my book ended October 15 when The Unlived Lives of Raymond Quinn became available for purchase. This is an update of where I am in the marketing process.
The first two weeks have focused on getting reviews. What a slog! You pester friends and family to not only read the book, but to review it as well. That only goes so far. In addition, I've used companies such as NetGalley and Get Books Reviewed who connect authors with individuals interested in reading, and hopefully, reviewing books. These two, and a few others are legit while many more offering to get positive reviews, for a cost, are not. If you have a book you'd like reviewed, don't even think about using them. Besides being unethical, it is now illegal. I've run out of friends and family, and have pretty much gotten all I'll get from NetGalley and Get Books Reviewed. So it's on to Marketing Phase 2; advertising on social and book oriented sites. But here's the problem. While you could just start throwing ads on line, unless you know how to maximize your ad spend effectiveness, which you probably don't, the likelihood of reaching the right people is almost zero. I know; I ran a few test ads, not spending a lot, and got little in return for it, other than confirmation that I didn't know what I was doing. So what now? I'm about a third of the way through Steve Pieper's Click Testing for Authors program (CTA). I'd be further along were it not for Facebook, which Pieper uses as an instructional base for his lessons, locking me out of my business account. I'm waiting for FB to unlock it so I can continue. So far, I'm impressed. His instruction is making sense of FB's overly complicated, incomplete ad instructions. I also like the fact that before you pay for his course, he makes it clear that no one, him included, can make a bad book a sales success. He's not paying me to tell you about CTA, I paid him for the course. Sales of my book may not increase because of what I learn, but the chance it will is far greater than if I had not taken it. You really do have to spend money to make money, and don't listen to anyone who says you don't. Just make sure you're spending it the right way. |
AuthorIn addition to writing, William Matthies' accomplishments include earning a lifetime ban from Catalina Island at 13, viewing Earth from 80,000 feet during a Mach 2.5 flight in a supersonic Russian aircraft, and remaining an absolute beginner after “playing” guitar for more than three decades. Archives
February 2025
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