We’ve just published a new Kindle eBook, and wanted to promote it, and were looking for new ways of getting the word out there. We like to experiment, to see where the best values and returns can be found.
We came across a well-reviewed person on Fiverr. She was a “Level 2 seller”, with 94 ratings and a 4.9 out of 5 rating. She offered the following service
It sounded like a great deal, if it worked. So I had an online chat with her, sending her this introductory message :
Hi – I’ve just published a Kindle book. Is this the sort of thing you could promote? I’m happy to buy a $30 promo if you think it is likely I’ll get more than 14 sales as a result – we make $2.55 or so on each sale, so need 14 sales to break even on the $30 + Fiverr fee. I know you don’t guarantee sales, but you probably have a sense for the typical level of response. I’d give you a referral link with a tracking code in it so we could both count the sales that resulted. Let me know your thoughts. Tks…..
ps : Also have a techno-thriller, a sort of cross between Tom Clancy and John le Carre that we’ll be publishing in a week or so, same questions apply. And a young adult (middle-grade) fantasy novel, too. Again, same questions apply.
Here’s what followed
Her : Yeah I don’t guarantee sales. I also don’t use tracking code links too. Sorry.
Us : Hi, thanks for the fast answer. Ostensibly you seem to have a great and well reviewed service. Can I ask why the aversion to tracking code links?
Her : Because selling books does not depend on one or two promotions. If you ask me the gig for marketing strategy for new authors is the one you should take because it would show you the world of being an author and what it takes.
Us : And with tracking codes then? 🙂
Her : What about them? Any promotion organized with another will show result. If not there isn’t one.
Us : Would the promotional links in your “gig for marketing strategy” be trackable?
Her : No
So what just happened?
One of the delightful joys of internet marketing is that, some of the time, it is possible to track the responses from your promotional efforts and understand if your marketing money is being well spent or not. As has been quoted as being said by Henry Ford and others, “Half of the money I spend on advertising is wasted. The only problem is I don’t know which half!”. Knowing which activities are working is extremely valuable.
That’s why we wanted to place tracking codes. She would have had links to the book on Amazon anyway, and with tracking codes, there’d be no impact on her at all, and both of us could see if it was working or not. I didn’t really care too much if the $30 didn’t work well, it was a small sum of money to wager on possibly a good new way of contacting readers. If the tracking showed few sales, there’d have been no recriminations, and if the tracking showed a successful promotion, then I’d have bought more of her services, and for the next two releases as well.
But she refused to allow me to do this, while assuming I knew nothing about book marketing and trying to sell me a much more expensive service, also without tracking codes.
There is an obvious implication about this – she’s obviously not very proud of the work she provides if she refuses to allow it to be tracked and monitored.
I’d also make one more comment. Her writing and English skills leave a bit to be desired. Is she really in England, as her profile claims? Would she really write enticing messages to post on Facebook groups that would positively result in people clicking to buy the book? And about those 94 ratings with a 4.9 star average? How can anyone rate her work as perfect, 5/5, when they’ve no idea if it has been successful or not? Mind you, we’ve encountered much worse service providers than this lady on Fiverr, also with impeccable service ratings (the one who designed us a cover using commercially copyrighted images, for example – from memory, Disney princesses!). We view those ratings with a huge grain of salt.
Oh – she then banned me from contacting her again in the future. Not that I would, of course, but I can’t see how a successful business model involves banning prospective repeat clients!
The bottom line, as we’ve mentioned elsewhere : There are a lot of people eager to take money from new authors. Not all of them provide fair value in return.