I have some version of this conversation most weeks.

An author shares their ads with me, and they’re spending about $10 a day, which is a perfectly good place to be. Then I look at where it’s going.

A few dollars on Facebook Ads for book one, a few on Amazon Ads for the new release, a little on BookBub Ads for the boxed set, and whatever’s left goes to the book from three years ago that deserves a second chance.

Four books, three platforms, ten dollars.

And I get it, I really do. It feels responsible. Every book gets a bit of help, the risk is spread out, and nothing gets left behind.

But a month later, they’re looking at four sets of numbers, and none of them are big enough to tell them anything.

So the first thing I usually suggest is backing fewer books. Not more. Fewer.

October 17th, 2026   •   5 minute read   •   Issue #176

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A few years ago, there was a study done where researchers asked a group of people who worry a great deal to write down their worries every day for ten days.

A few weeks later, they asked them to look back and mark which of those worries had actually come true.

91% hadn't.

I think most of us recognize the shape of it. The things we lie awake over rarely turn out the exact way we feared, and a surprising amount of the time they don't happen at all.

I think about this study a lot, because of a worry I hear from authors almost every week. You probably know the voice:

"Put $100 into ads. Sell nothing. Feel stupid. Never try again."

October 10th, 2026   •   4 minute read   •   Issue #175

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Most of us price our books one at a time.

A new book comes out, we look at what similar books are charging, think about what feels fair for the length and the work that went into it, and pick a number. Then we do the same thing next time, and the time after that.

It feels sensible. Each book gets its own careful decision.

The trouble is that readers don't experience your books one at a time.

A reader who enjoys the first one doesn't stop there if there's somewhere to go next. They go looking for the next book, and the one after that.

October 3rd, 2026   •   4 minute read   •   Issue #174

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