The One AI Use Writers Won’t Hate
By: Ginger | Posted on March 21, 2025
The soul of being an author is writing books—and no machine, no matter how advanced, will ever truly replicate that. But just because we don’t want AI handling our plot twists doesn’t mean it can’t serve us in other ways. In fact, when it comes to one of the biggest bottlenecks self-published authors face in selling more books, AI might actually be the perfect secret weapon. As Ginger points out in today’s blog, writing may be our passion, but publishing is a business. And buried in that business is a mountain of data—ad results, sales numbers, conversion rates—that most authors don’t have the time (or desire) to sift through. But AI was built to make sense of messy data, and in Ginger’s case, it helped diagnose the issues with his ads and pull him out of a recent slump. So if you’d like to stop crunching numbers and get back… Read More >
Kindle Download Removal: A Warning Sign for Digital Ownership
By: Ginger | Posted on February 21, 2025
Imagine waking up one day to find that the books you purchased and thought you owned were no longer accessible, or had been altered from the versions you remembered. That’s not just a hypothetical fear, but the unsettling direction Amazon has begun to move toward. As of February 26, 2025, the eBook retailer quietly removed the Kindle download option, eliminating the ability to save purchased books to a computer. It may seem like a minor technical shift, but in reality, it signals a growing trend where readers don’t fully own their digital purchases, and authors are left more vulnerable to the whims of a single platform. What happens if access to a book you bought is later restricted or its content is modified? And what does this mean for self-published authors who have built their careers within these ecosystems? This isn’t just about convenience—it’s about control. As both readers and… Read More >
Amazon’s Latest Ad Change Goes Too Far
By: Ginger | Posted on January 10, 2025
While Amazon can be credited with starting the self-publishing boom, it’s been a long time since it served as a true safe haven for independent authors. What was once a platform where organic discoverability thrived has slowly devolved into a pay-to-play system ruled by corporate greed. With product pages increasingly cluttered with ads, the “Also Bought” ribbon was the last hope an author had of being discovered without having to break open their wallet. But with this latest change, even that final refuge has been corrupted. As Ginger argues in today’s blog, this latest change to a book’s product page crosses a line at a time when fair play was already hanging by a thread. It’s arguably one of Amazon’s most brazen tactics yet, and not only erodes consumer trust but also signals that a company so fixated on profits over quality of service may be on the brink of… Read More >
Does a higher Facebook Ads Budget lead to better metrics?
By: Ginger | Posted on November 15, 2024
Many authors wonder if upping their Facebook ads budget is the secret to unlocking better book sales. It’s a great question, but one without a straightforward answer. The truth is, while more money can amplify your ad performance, it’s not as simple as throwing cash at the problem. There are a variety of factors at play that could make – or break – your advertising success. That’s why today, Ginger is here to once again guide us through the world of Facebook Ads, with a special focus on the effects of scaling up your budget. He’ll break down why a bigger budget can improve metrics, how it influences ad reach, and the risks to be mindful of along the way. But before you reach for that credit card, remember: while a larger budget might get you closer to bestseller status, it could just as easily drain your wallet quickly if… Read More >
Analyzing the Ad Performance of AI-Generated Art
By: Ginger | Posted on October 25, 2024
As authors, we’re often balancing our creative principles with the need to embrace new technologies that might boost book sales. That’s why, after recently expressing his dislike of AI-generated art in book ads, Ginger decided to run a small experiment to see how effective these ads truly are. By comparing ads using AI-generated artwork with a similar set featuring traditional art, he was able to draw some surprising conclusions. While this sample size is small and not meant to prove anything definitively, the results could be useful for any authors still debating whether to stick with traditional imagery or explore the AI route in their marketing efforts. A couple of weeks ago, I published a rant about how much I loathed seeing ads for eBooks in my Facebook feed that used AI-generated artwork, and it seems from the responses that many of you agreed with me! However, the debate raised… Read More >
Two Reasons Why I hate AI Art and Advertising
By: Ginger | Posted on October 11, 2024
As the summer slump fades, self-published authors are ramping up their marketing efforts once again, and if you’ve been on Facebook lately, you’ve probably noticed the surge in eBook ads. Among them, one trend is sparking a heated debate—the use of AI-generated art. Is it a smart way to cut costs and boost engagement, or does it risk coming off as cheap and impersonal? In today’s blog, Ginger leaps right into this controversial topic, sharing two key reasons why he isn’t a fan of this approach. While Ginger’s views aren’t unique among authors, the bigger question remains: how effective are these AI-generated ads? If they were proven to boost book sales and profits, would more authors be willing to embrace them despite their reservations? The digital landscape is constantly evolving, and not every decision has a clear-cut answer. Understanding the pros and cons can help you form your own opinion… Read More >
The 30-day Social Media Challenge
By: Ginger | Posted on December 11, 2020
One of the topics I discuss most often with authors looking for advice on expanding their readership is social media, because the importance of building a following cannot be overstated when it comes to self-publishing. There’s no one else to do it for you, so even if you shun social media in your personal life, you can’t afford to ignore it when it comes to your writing. That’s why advertising and marketing expert Ginger is here not only to challenge you into using your social, but he’s also handing out plenty of tips on how to do it effectively. There’s probably nobody reading this who doesn’t know what NaNoWriMo is – the “national novel writing month” in which people commit to writing 50,000 words in 30 days, each November. Well, successful self-published authors spend every month as if it’s NaNoWriMo – because of how important it is to write… Read More >
Choose an Email Marketing Service That Works for You
By: Annabeth Saryu | Posted on September 25, 2020
Most independent authors are well aware of the importance of a newsletter and the benefits of using a mailing list to handle it, but a quick google search will result in plenty of different email marketing services to choose from. Unfortunately, it’s not a one-size-fits-all sort of problem, since every author has different needs. Luckily, author Annabeth Saryu has already done a lot of research into what factors need to be considered, and she’s put it all together here to make it easier to determine how to pick the service that will work best for you. Regardless of where an author is in their career, they eventually encounter a piece of universally accepted advice: build your mailing list. Your mailing list not only consists of your most avid readers, but if cultivated properly, also includes your most dedicated customers. While many experts on author marketing stress the value of… Read More >
Using Amazon Affiliate Links to Promote Your Books
By: Craig | Posted on February 14, 2020
You want to sell more copies of your books? You want to earn a little extra money while doing so? Well, Amazon Affiliate links promise all that and more – but in addition to understanding what they are, it’s important to know the rules surrounding them as well; especially as it pertains to books. Since the dawn of time, salesmen have worked off commission. This is the little percentage of the purchase price they get when they convince somebody else to buy something. It’s a powerful tool, because it means manufacturers can focus on their product, and eager salespeople can focus on getting that product paid for and into the hands of eager customers. As the largest retailer in the world, it’s no surprise that Amazon is all over affiliate marketing. They have a powerful program you can sign up to at affiliate.amazon.com which enables you to generate unique URLS… Read More >
Why do you want to write a book?
By: Ginger | Posted on September 19, 2025
In a world consumed by TikTok scrolling and YouTube binging, it is a wonder that anyone still chooses to spend hours reading a book. Yet despite how instant gratification has chipped away at our attention spans, book sales are thriving. In fact, this resurgence in reading seems to be fueled, at least in part, by a hunger for stories that go deeper than short-form social content ever could. Still, content creators have endless ways to reach audiences instantly with content that takes a fraction of the time and effort to produce than writing a single book. This seems to beg the question: why write a book at all? That’s exactly what Ginger explores in today’s blog as he considers why books still matter, why readers continue to embrace them, and how understanding your personal motivation as a writer can help you find both an audience and lasting fulfillment in your… Read More >
