Algorithms are My Friends

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Aging Out.’ I heard the words used last week referring to golf organizations whose memberships are shrinking because elderly golfers are quitting the game and clubs.

The term has energized me lately. I’m determined not to ‘age out…of anything! I’m sticking with golf (Senior Tournament next week), traveling long distances (Tickets to: Canada, Portugal, and the Greek Islands), writing (working on 12th novel edits), and marketing. And even though Amazon’s book-marketing algorithms are daunting to the point of head-spinning, I intend to figure out how to sell books on Amazon. Lots of books!

I’ve read widely, consulting loads of how-to articles and books, each touting a definitive way to sell books on Amazon. I zoomed into free sessions offered by Rob, Derek, and others. I even spent $400 for a year’s access to Rob’s lessons and philosophy. Has anything worked yet? No.

But I never give up. I bought a lifetime membership to Bryan Cohen’s Ad School after taking his two-week Amazon Marketing Challenge. I like his bottom-line philosophy: he persuades authors to write more books (he offers zoomed writing sprints). Included in his package is my chance to email an expert marketer for a whole month of consultation, an assistant’s analysis of the approach I’m taking with one book’s cover, and multiple lessons on choosing categories, keywords, and teaser copy. Bryan has a big staff, some of whom write fiction as I do, with experience marketing novels. I want to work closely with them, learning about their successful marketing approaches.

Writing ads for Amazon is not for the faint of heart, I’ll admit. I’ve already written eighty ads for all twelve of my books. Now I will concentrate on writing around a hundred ads for one book providing data and raising interest in my other books. When I finish, I’ll have hundreds of ads going at any given time. Whew!

If my goal is to put lots of books in the hands of readers, I’ll lean into algorithms, not ‘age out’ of the process. I’ll let you know where this journey takes me…and I’d love to learn how you are managing your marketing challenges. Onward and upward!