Last year on this day, I released this post on Substack. I was freaking out. I was prepping to release the new edition of my debut novel and it was nerve-wracking. So let's look back...
September 3rd, 2024:
This morning I was grumbling to a fellow published author about how much easier things were when St. Martin’s Press did all this stuff for me, guiding me and allaying my fears (they are legion…) about the publishing process. The learning curve with any art or industry is steep at different points—we should all recognize that fact. Sometimes the ship sails smoothly and sometimes you’re taking cover due to the eruption of a sudden squall. Because of that, I’m a big supporter of patting yourself on the back when you do a thing. That thing doesn’t have to be big or scary—I’m not suggesting you scale a mountain or jump out of a perfectly good airplane with something that looks like your 8th-grade bookbag (minus Trapper Keeper) strapped to your back. “A thing” can be relatively small, but it still counts because, well, you did it. It’s too easy to let fear keep us rooted in place, and often that fear is of the unknown and misplaced.
For example, I wanted to do an A/B cover test before the new edition of 13 to Life releases at the end of this month (I have to stop and catch my breath every time I say that), and I’ve known how (technically) for about a year. But, analysis paralysis set in and I let fear mire me in place. There was always something else that needed doing so I poked at the book covers’ creation, I tossed them out to my Wolf Pack, I sent notes back to my designers, and got them to the point they are now. If you’re reading this, it’s either because you’re a subscriber already (thank you, I appreciate you), you’ve stumbled upon this post (welcome!) or you were lured here by the brief A/B test via Facebook (muahaha!).
The gist of what you need for A/B testing is this:
images of two book covers,
one ad copy (the same for both ads),
one image on which to plunk each book cover (the same for both ads) (adn thank you, Canva Pro),
a landing page (Hello, Substack),
some sort of testing interface to give you basic data based on click-throughs (both Meta business and Substack will give me some data, but different),
some time (at least three days, but supposedly accuracy is better at seven),
twenty bucks or so, depending on how you set the ad (you’ll set it identically for both ads, of course—same target audience, etc.),
patience.
Is this a perfect A/B system—no. No, not at all. But, I’m hoping it’s better than nothing because no matter how much I love one or the other, a book is a business effort and people cannot help but judge it first by its cover.
These are my images. Although I was given three book covers, one is best for book six in the series, so, although EVERYONE loved it, it’s waiting in the wings (I’m mean that way). I’m hoping to be able to reuse one of these images for additional ads I’ll try running that are pointed directly to places readers can order the book.
Feel free to leave a comment if you’re drawn particularly to one or the other (but I’m hoping the background data based on which one people have clicked on to get here will give me all I need to know. We’ll see!
So as much as I grumble, I am still making progress, still doing things (the book’s with a proofreader now, and some interior art’s being finalized, and playlists are being prepped for sharing too).
Lots in the works even if the 27th is coming up far too fast!