#PublishingReinvented 250 - How to Make Your Book Easier to Advertise #1: A Basics Guide for Indie Authors
This is the first in a series of posts on this subject.
Marketing our books as indie author is a challenge. Making sure the presentation of our books is optimized is critical.
If our books aren’t “advertising-friendly,” we end up spending money on clicks that don’t convert into sales.
Here’s some suggestions to make our books easier to advertise, to maximize every marketing cent.
1. Nail the Cover Design
Our book cover is the first thing readers notice—it’s the #1 sales tool. A weak or unprofessional cover will kill your ad performance, no matter how great your targeting is. Here’s how to ensure a cover is ad-ready:
Genre Alignment: A cover should immediately signal the genre. A cozy mystery should have bright, inviting imagery, while a psychological thriller needs a dark, tense design.
Typography Matters: Use clean, bold, easy-to-read fonts. Avoid script fonts unless they’re genre-appropriate (e.g., romance).
Professional Design: If you’re not a designer, hire a professional. Even with a limited budget, premade covers can be a great option.
A/B Test Your Cover: Run polls on genre Facebook groups to see which version resonates. Compare it with books at the top of your genre on Amazon. Do the colors, font use and style of imagery look similar to what is selling now?
2. Craft a Compelling Book Description
A selling book description isn’t a summary—it’s a sales pitch. Many indie authors struggle with this, leading to weak conversions from their ads.
Here’s how to optimize it:
Start with a Hook: The first sentence should grab attention. Use a question, a bold statement, or a comparison to a popular book. Example: “What if the one person who could save you… was the person you feared the most?”
Keep it Punchy: Use short paragraphs and avoid long, blocky text. Break it into:
A gripping hook
A brief setup of the plot (without spoilers)
Why readers will love it (emotion, themes, or tropes)
A strong call to action (e.g., “Perfect for fans of Lee Child and John Sandford. Grab your copy today!”)
Test Variations: Change your description and track how it affects your conversion rate. If you’re using Amazon Ads, monitor your “click-to-sale” ratio.
3. Optimize Your Book’s Metadata
Your title, subtitle, keywords, and categories affect how your book performs in ads and organic searches.
Title & Subtitle: A clear, compelling title works best. If your book is part of a series, adding "A [Series Name] Thriller" helps with branding.
Amazon Keywords: Use tools like Publisher Rocket to find high-ranking keywords readers actually search for. BooksGoSocial will also help with this. We have 2 editions of Publisher Rocket! It’s that good we paid for it twice! A general rule is to have 2 broad appeal keywords and 5 tightly targeted.
Categories: Place your book in highly relevant categories to improve visibility. A niche category often boosts ranking faster.
4. Ensure Strong Reviews and a Solid ‘Look Inside’
Reviews Matter: A book with fewer than 5 reviews will struggle to convert ad clicks into sales. Run an ARC (Advance Review Copy) campaign before launching ads.
The ‘Sample’ Test: If your opening pages aren’t engaging, readers won’t buy. Trim slow openings, ensure clean formatting, and make the first few pages irresistible.
5. A/B Test Everything
Your cover, description, price and ad copy can all be tested. Run ads with slight variations to see what performs best.
By focusing on these areas before launching paid ads, you’ll increase your book’s ad-friendliness and get a much better return on investment.
What’s your biggest struggle with getting your book ads ready? Drop a comment below!
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