Advertising Your Books: Investing in Visibility

Amazon ads have become essential for most indie authors, particularly those publishing through KDP.

Let’s break down the key components:

Creating your first Amazon ad campaign is straightforward:

* The general belief and practice that I’ve found online is to start with a small budget. Though I agree on a small budget (and my pocketbook’s thankful!), as you’ll see below in “Personal Journey,” I’m doing my own investigation into the right budget amount. I’ll post my findings and what worked best for me in a future post. (Hint: You may be able to get away with less than $5 a day!)

For best results:

Focus on these key metrics:

Amazon advertising works best when you view it as an ongoing experiment. Start with small budgets, test different approaches, and gradually scale what works.

I’m currently reading an eBook about how to work Amazon ads as an indie author so that you don’t break your bank. Don’t know about you, but money is tight, and I don’t want to spend more than is necessary.

So far, this book is giving me hope that I can work Amazon ads cost-effectively.

When I finish and have put into practice what I’ve learned, I’ll write a review on the book and on how the author’s advice worked for me. So, keep checking back. (Or better yet, subscribe to my weekly newsletter so you never miss all my news and reviews! The link’s below.)

While I’m still navigating the Amazon advertising landscape, Facebook offers a completely different approach to reaching potential readers.

Instead of targeting people actively shopping for books, Facebook allows you to find readers based on who they are and what they like — aka, demographics, interests, and behaviors.

This platform has its own learning curve, but its precise targeting capabilities make it worth exploring as part of your advertising mix.

Facebook ads consist of:

Facebook’s strength is its targeting capabilities:

Your Facebook ad should include:

Start small and scale gradually:

Remember that Facebook ads typically require more testing than Amazon ads. The platform is less about immediate sales and more about building awareness and nurturing potential readers.

If you haven’t heard of BookBub yet, you’re missing out on one of the most powerful promotional tools in the indie publishing world!

BookBub is a free service that notifies millions of readers about limited-time discounted eBooks that match their interests.

What makes BookBub special is its highly engaged audience — these aren’t casual browsers but dedicated book lovers actively looking for their next read.

The platform has carefully curated a trusted relationship with readers, which means promotions through BookBub typically see much higher conversion rates than other advertising channels.

For authors, BookBub offers two main advertising opportunities with very different approaches:

The gold standard of book promotion:

While Featured Deals offer tremendous ROI, they’re difficult to secure and require planning your pricing strategy in advance.

Self-service advertising platform:

BookBub Ads typically have higher costs but can deliver better quality clicks than other platforms since you’re reaching dedicated readers.

After exploring the major advertising platforms, the question on most indie authors’ minds is: “How much should I actually be spending?”

It’s the question that keeps us up at night, especially when our publishing budgets are already stretched thin from covers, editing, and formatting.

While there’s no one-size-fits-all answer, there are some general guidelines that can help you approach advertising spending strategically.

And let me stress again that I’m still conducting my own inquiries into the best budget for Amazon ads. So take the following advice as “best marketing practices” of the current consensus.

The best times to increase ad spend:

The most effective advertising approach combines:

Remember that advertising is one component of your overall marketing strategy. It works best when supported by a strong author platform, quality books, and authentic reader engagement.