The Value of a ‘Like’

Since publishing my first novel 14 years ago, self-publishing has changed
drastically. Fourteen years ago, the world was new, exciting and offered an
opportunity to those of us who, at least in my humble opinion, deserved to have
their work see publication. Today, the market has overflowed, Amazon is
overwrought with content, and once again, your work sits in a world of debris and
goes unnoticed amid the chaos.

I utilized social media to market my first novel, Justice Rules, and managed to
sell over 3,000 copies, which was pretty good for a first-time, unknown author.
Had I followed up with my second novel in a reasonable time frame, I believe I
could have gathered some momentum. However, it was ten years later that I
finished and published The Siren’s Scream. No one will ever accuse me of
cranking them out. I quickly discovered how drastically the self-publishing world
had changed. It was now an industry. Minimal research took me to multiple
publishing houses that will “get your work out there.” Dozens of companies will
edit, design a cover, list your work on all social platforms, guarantee you ‘likes’,
and even enhance your work using AI. (That’s another topic that I will elaborate
on in a separate posting.)

I receive multiple emails and texts weekly from services that promise high-profile
exposure. You can ‘reach a wider audience,’ ‘get featured on their home page,’
‘promote your book with over 180 tweets across social media channels’, and
keep your book listed on their site for an extended period of time.
I’ll admit I have tried three of these services. The first one was rather expensive
at $500. This company promised exposure to 10,000 viewers based on an
algorithm they had explicitly designed. I believe they did what they had promised,
and yet, after a month, I saw zero increase in sales. The second service was
considerably cheaper at about $100 and basically offered the same services and
results. They didn’t lie; I saw no increase in sales. I just recently gave it one more
try, as this service was reasonable at just under $40 with the same offer of
ultimate exposure. I’ll keep you posted on the results.

This experiment has brought me around to a point that I have consistently
wondered about since the advent of social media: what is the value of a ‘like’? If
a tweet crosses your page and makes an impression, do you buy that product? I
know that I personally get 50 – 75 emails/tweets/texts a day, offering multiple
services that I never bother to read. I belong to many online book clubs, and they
are always featuring a new book to highlight. I don’t think I have ever bought one
of them. I often hit the ‘like’ button, but I do it mainly to support fellow writers.
I have spoken to several companies that offer these services and promise
fantastic results, but they are all essentially the same. They offer exposure and
‘likes,’ yet not a single one was willing to guarantee sales. I even proposed to one service that I would give them a commission on every unit sold. They quickly
declined my offer.

There used to be an acceptable response in postal mail advertising. A 3% return
was considered terrific. Is it the same with social media marketing? Do you sell
one unit for every 1,000 exposures? I guess if there were hundreds of thousands
of exposures, a 10% ‘like’ response, and a 3% sales response, that would be
pretty good. I have yet to see any type of return of that magnitude, but as always,
hope springs eternal, and maybe with this new and inexpensive model, those
sales numbers will rise.

The world has become so entwined in the social media world that exposure has
become the goal. With enough exposure, you can create a video channel that will
eventually get sponsorship and become an income-generating experience. And
there is an audience for these things, a rather large one, if I’m not mistaken. But
if you consider the work that is invested, it seems to be a long shot for success. I
would love to know how many fail compared to how many eventually get
sponsorship. I have a friend that has a very successful YouTube channel. It’s the
JohnnyD Show, and he is the country’s foremost renowned Trump impersonator.
(He is the guy that always does Trump on Howard Stern) I’ve had long talks with
him, and his platform is so well suited to online marketing, and he is so unique
that he stands out. An unknown novel will not do that.

So, the struggle continues. How to turn ‘likes’ into sales. That is my quandary,
and if anyone has any solid solution I would be most grateful to hear it.