Let me tell you what I just learned...
I recently heard something from Jenny Hansen Lane that stopped me in my tracks. She said:
“If you’ve spent money on Amazon ads, had a bunch of impressions, and nobody is buying, it’s not the algorithm. It’s your cover.”
Whew.
I looked at my own Amazon ad dashboard and sure enough, the impressions were there. The traffic was coming in. But the sales? Crickets.
The hardest part? I liked my cover. I spent time on it. I thought it worked.
But Amazon didn’t lie... the data said otherwise. So guess what?
I’m going to change the cover. Again.
Not because I want to but because I’d rather sell the oil than stay attached to a version that doesn’t work.
👉 Here are 4 hard truths I’m sitting with:
đź’ˇ 1. Impressions without conversions = a problem
If people are seeing your book but not buying, something’s not clicking. Often, it's the cover that’s not communicating value or trust fast enough.
💡 2. A good cover isn’t just pretty. It needs to sell
Your cover is your first (and sometimes only) chance to make a reader stop scrolling. It needs to speak the language of your genre and your reader’s pain point.
đź’ˇ 3. What works on Facebook may not work on Amazon
The cover helped drive real sales through Facebook ads but it didn’t translate inside the Amazon ecosystem. That tells me the cover might resonate in social environments but not with cold Amazon shoppers who need instant trust and clarity. So, we need to find a cover that does well on both platforms that I am on.
💡 4. You can’t afford to stay emotionally attached
If it’s not converting, it’s costing you. Period. Let it go and move forward. Every successful author I know has gone through this exact thing.
đź’ If you're running Amazon ads, check your impressions vs. sales. You might not need a new marketing plan. You might just need a new cover.
And if you’ve ever had to pivot on your cover, drop your testimony below 👇🏽
Let’s talk about it.