When an ad isn't working, it's often not the ad's fault. It's a mismatch. Think of it like this: your reader magnet, your ad, your emails, your blurb, and your book should all feel like the same person is talking. If your ad is playful but your book opens dark, readers feel the bump even if they can't explain it. Everything matching means selling feels easy. Which part feels weakest for you right now: your ad, your emails, or your blurb? One word. Let's troubleshoot it together.

A soft midweek check-in. You only have so much energy in a day. And the internet will happily eat all of it with drama and doom-scrolling. Spend your energy where it actually moves your books forward. The calm author who quietly does the work goes further than the one who burns out. Protect your peace. What's draining your energy this week? Say it out loud here. Naming it is the first step to letting it go.

Cozy reminder for today: your older books are not past their prime. A launch is a sugar rush. Your backlist is the comfort meal that keeps feeding you. Some of the books that earn the most for authors are years old. They have reviews, they have history, and readers already trust them. That quiet older book of yours might just be your steadiest little earner. How old is the oldest book you've written? Drop it in the comments. Let's give those early books some love today.

I'm doing the cold reader magnet to get emails thing. It's a prequel novella about a couple that already is together when the series starts. I did 1 week of a FB ad from memory just to get the thing out there. I got 82 new subscribers. Then I had time to rewatch Mal's video and made a new ad (this time with my meta pixel done correctly, got it as a lead ad instead of website traffic, etc) and this week I've had 126 new subscribers and still another day to go for a true comparison. So anyway, yay, thanks! But my question is, how long should I run it? The 2nd book in the series releases next Thursday 5/21. I'm spending $5/day. Should I come up with a target number of emails and stop when I hit it? Or maybe a month now, then in a couple months, do it again? Thanks!

Here's the recording! Hopefully you can watch and see how friendly and non-threatening we are! Notes: Impromptu Zoom Meeting - March 25 VIEW RECORDING - 27 mins (No highlights) Meeting Purpose Q&A on Facebook ad strategy and Kickstarter promotion. Key Takeaways - Ad Set Diagnosis: To fix a $60 spend vs. $7 revenue ad set, add unique attribution links to each ad. This isolates the winner(s) and allows you to pause the losers, preventing Facebook from wasting budget on underperformers. - Ad Rotation: Rotate ads for longevity and audience psychology. A break from an ad can overcome creative fatigue, and seeing it again later signals quality, which can convert readers who needed time to decide. - Kickstarter Strategy: Use a reader magnet ad to build a warm email list before launch. The ad sells the story, not the campaign; the Kickstarter CTA is placed at the end of the novella and in a subsequent email drip. - New AI Targeting: Facebook is testing a new AI-driven targeting feature where you describe your ideal reader in natural language. This could restore the hyper-specific targeting capability lost in recent years. Topics Ad Set Diagnosis & Optimization - Problem: An ad set spent $60 for only $7 revenue (1 sale + ~1500 KU reads). - Root Cause: A single attribution link for all 5 ads in the set. Impact: This prevents identifying which specific ad is performing well and which are wasting budget. - Solution → Add Unique Attribution Links: Add a unique link to each ad in the set. Run for ~3 days to gather data. Pause underperforming ads; keep the winner. - Ad Set Structure Best Practice: Run only one ad per ad set for traffic campaigns. Why: This allows precise budget control and audience adjustments for that single ad without affecting others. Exception: Sales/lead ads can run multiple creatives, as Facebook's algorithm can optimize for the best performer.