Advertising question - billboards, webads and radio

Steven Lake · 11-13-2010, 09:31 AM

Hello everybody! <simpsons voice> hehe.

Anyhow, back to reality. I've got a question for all of you. Have any of you actually used billboards, web ads or radio to advertise yourself and/or your books? If you have, what kind of advertising did you do, and how successful was it? I'm trying to figure out which route to go by looking at what others have done and what has been successful for them.

markuskane · 11-13-2010, 12:23 PM

I've scheduled two web advertisements, one for Kindle Nation Daily and one for Kindle Boards forums. I'm also looking at two other websites to buy advertising space on, but have yet to do it.

As far as radio advertising, I have no idea. I imagine finding the right outlet would be difficult, especially since it is an e-book. I also don't know anything about the cost of the non-web marketing options.

Steven Lake · 11-13-2010, 12:55 PM

Well, I have the advantage of selling in three distinct markets. Namely, print, ebook, and audio book. I figure that since ebooks only make up less than 8% of the market, and audio books make up 25%, It's still a smart idea to service all three. Therefore that's what I do. In fact, print books are over 90% of my sales at present and sell at a pretty energetic pace. I guess that's why I was so slow to get into ebooks. Even now I don't do much with them, but I do make them available for those who want them. And if a new format comes around, I'll likely be diving into that as well.

Also, here's a real shocker. Did you realize that there's actually a significant market out there now for graphic versions of your novels? IE, your novels in a comic book format? They're not counted in present book sales, but if you were to do that, they'd make up between 10% and 25% of the book market. Well, were they're available anyways. lol.

markuskane · 11-13-2010, 02:55 PM

Those are interesting numbers. What are your numbers behind the print books, if you don't mind me asking, such as cost to produce, profit per item, etc. I'm interested in seeing how effective the online promotions I run are, and plan on posting my results when I get them.

Steven Lake · 11-13-2010, 04:17 PM

My cost typically is about 33% of the cover price. I'm working on ways to get that as low as 25% so that I don't get killed by Amazon's insane 55% take of the cover price. Oy.

11-13-2010, 09:31 AM	#1
Steven Lake Sci-Fi Author Posts: 1,157 Karma: 14743509 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Michigan Device: PC (Calibre)	Advertising question - billboards, webads and radio Hello everybody! <simpsons voice> hehe. Anyhow, back to reality. I've got a question for all of you. Have any of you actually used billboards, web ads or radio to advertise yourself and/or your books? If you have, what kind of advertising did you do, and how successful was it? I'm trying to figure out which route to go by looking at what others have done and what has been successful for them.

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11-13-2010, 12:23 PM	#2
markuskane Markus Kane Posts: 49 Karma: 50000 Join Date: Sep 2010 Device: Kindle	I've scheduled two web advertisements, one for Kindle Nation Daily and one for Kindle Boards forums. I'm also looking at two other websites to buy advertising space on, but have yet to do it. As far as radio advertising, I have no idea. I imagine finding the right outlet would be difficult, especially since it is an e-book. I also don't know anything about the cost of the non-web marketing options.

11-13-2010, 12:55 PM	#3
Steven Lake Sci-Fi Author Posts: 1,157 Karma: 14743509 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Michigan Device: PC (Calibre)	Well, I have the advantage of selling in three distinct markets. Namely, print, ebook, and audio book. I figure that since ebooks only make up less than 8% of the market, and audio books make up 25%, It's still a smart idea to service all three. Therefore that's what I do. In fact, print books are over 90% of my sales at present and sell at a pretty energetic pace. I guess that's why I was so slow to get into ebooks. Even now I don't do much with them, but I do make them available for those who want them. And if a new format comes around, I'll likely be diving into that as well. Also, here's a real shocker. Did you realize that there's actually a significant market out there now for graphic versions of your novels? IE, your novels in a comic book format? They're not counted in present book sales, but if you were to do that, they'd make up between 10% and 25% of the book market. Well, were they're available anyways. lol.

11-13-2010, 02:55 PM	#4
markuskane Markus Kane Posts: 49 Karma: 50000 Join Date: Sep 2010 Device: Kindle	Those are interesting numbers. What are your numbers behind the print books, if you don't mind me asking, such as cost to produce, profit per item, etc. I'm interested in seeing how effective the online promotions I run are, and plan on posting my results when I get them.

11-13-2010, 04:17 PM	#5
Steven Lake Sci-Fi Author Posts: 1,157 Karma: 14743509 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Michigan Device: PC (Calibre)	My cost typically is about 33% of the cover price. I'm working on ways to get that as low as 25% so that I don't get killed by Amazon's insane 55% take of the cover price. Oy.