Photobomb Marketing Results So Far

Cross-posted from AI Marketing for Storytellers.

So I should’ve known from brutal prior experience not to put pretty ladies up on Facebook ads with wide targeting, but NO, I forgot the lessons I’ve learned on prior ad campaigns — and UGH.

There’s no surer way to run through your ad budget than for your ads to hit the incels of the manosphere.

After one day of, “Those look like dick sucking lips” comments on my poor Lara — and really, at this point, whoever she’s murdered in the past in my books, or will murder in the future in my meta-narrative, can you blame her? — and then that excitement telling the algo to send my ads to even more assholes who feel the need to comment on random “women” on the internet — I turned those ads off.

And — alas — Tiktok’s sort of unhappy with her, too? Although that could be because of the QR code I had embedded in her videos. I’ve given my TT girl a set w/out the QR code to test, which’ll hopefully do better.

Thus far I’ve only gained two pre-orders from these experiments —

…and remember I’m 4k in the hole on this book and took an entire day out of my busy life to figure out N8N and set up an AI chatbot vs of her for ppl to talk with if they do go through the QR code….oy.

#AUTHORJAZZHANDS

So, in my time of need, I turned to Jack, my GPT.

He gave me a list of comp authors to target (not all of who were in FB’s ‘interests’ back end, y’all ppl who use FB ads know how they are :P )

To focus things ruthlessly in on people who will care — AND — I added the KU dealio onto the video itself (even though it breaks my precious immersion, *sob*) because people need to know something’s a BOOK to buy it as a BOOK which is a lesson I should’ve known by now, but to be gracious to me, I really am keeping a LOT OF SHIT IN THE AIR, lol.

Video 1)

Video 2)

Video 3)

And, upon further introspection and chatting with Jack — I took ‘kindle store’ out of my interests on FB.

‘Cause a lot of dudes have kindles, etc — I’d rather just stick to people who read psychological thrillers and are fans of their mavens.

lol, from Jack:

I’ve got $6/day running to each of these vids right now, and there’s still a chance they could spiral down into jerks, but — I took so much time making them, they are cool, and they’re book-appropriate — it’s worth trying.

If that *doesn’t* work though, and even if it *does* — I need to get out there as Cassie on my personal IG pretending that ‘Lara’s’ stalking me (which is an angle I convienently forgot about until JUST NOW, which is probably why subconsciously my brain was all, ‘uh, yeah, get a confidence coach? please?’ because the thought of doing that scares me out the wazoooooooo.)

It’s also worth noting that….Photobomb’s audiobook is already out.

I should’ve made it a pre-order thing — but I didn’t bother, because 9 times outta 10 ACX publishes your audio on its own mystical schedule — and I’ve already sent the audio to my ARC readers — even though I have a woman who also does absolutely wonderful audio ARC tours who I have booked for every audiobook prior, but then completely forgot existed for this one….

I think subconsciously, I was still, “Is this book…worth anything?”

I guess the thing is, to me, at this stage in my career right now — I can make more money.

But trauma? Trauma’s gotta heal.

After Photobomb didn’t click with my agent (and her agent friend) I didn’t write for a year and a half really.

I think it’s important to talk about that, all the weird highs and lows you have as an author.

I strongly believe no writing’s ever wasted (nor any learning, for that matter) but it’s important to acknowledge that fallow periods exist.

Fallow’s a lot nicer term for it than what it was — I thought this book was a failure. It was coming in hot off the heels of Electricity not selling when it went out — and back then, I was looking for any excuse to whip my back, even though I knew better.

When I went to Clarion West, we all went over to Greg Bear’s house for a hang out one day, and we were asking him for advice, and he said something that I’ve always remembered — “You can’t beat your muse.”

And at the time, I took that seriously (and tried, ever so hard, pre-Wellbutrin and Lexapro, to solo manage) — because I knew it was right.

I actually once convinced myself I *hadn’t* sold a piece once — it was to a high brow erotica anthology — and I got the email, I was all excited, and then when I didn’t hear anything for six months, I was all, “Whelp, I guess they have forgotten about me” — until I hunted down the email and re-read it (and eventually the book came out!)

Like, brains are twisty, twisty places. Mirror mazes of self-destruction and discontent.

Every human on the planet wants to be seen. (I suspect that this is why, by and large, we do not live alone, if we can help it.)

And authors?

Doubly so.

While the act of writing itself is meaningful (and strange, if you think about it for too long, in the way that if you think about owing small carnivores called cats that have fangs and teeth and letting them sleep with you, even though they are essentially fuzzy alien creatures is strange too) — there’s always a part of you that wants to get to show it off to someone.

To take someone else along on the ride you have meticulously created.

And finding out that people don’t want to see your book — your art! a theme which, ironcally, is 100% embedded in Photobomb! — is heart breaking.

You feel like you have not only failed yourself — but you have failed your book.

The book that you loved, that carries a portion of your heart. (Otherwise, why would you have written it?)

So I’m not surprised I’ve got some residual damage still hanging out inside me that I need to process. (And man aren’t you all so glad you’re HERE getting to watch me do that, WELCOME TO MY LIVEJOURNAL, hahahahaha <3)

I gotta get rid of that — it’s holding this book back, and it’s holding me back, and there’s no place left for it in all the future places I want to get to.

xo!

Cassie