$14M SB Ad? Yes! $100 Amazon Book Ad? No Way!

One minute of advertising during the year’s most televised event is $14 million. It is a steal for most corporate advertisers, but for authors looking to spend just a hundred bucks for digital advertising, or even a few grand on print ads, it is a lost cause for the vast majority.   

Why is that?

The Super Bowl clash between two-time defending champion KC Chiefs vs the Saquon Barkley-led Philadelphia Eagles promises to be a big game, likely to be viewed by at least 100 million Americans. It will be the most-watched moment on television this year — more than the World Series, Stanley Cup, and NBA Finals combined. Commensurate with the high eyeball count are skyrocketing commercial costs. But for brand-name companies and aggressive upstarts, the ad pays off — assuming the commercial is not boring.  

Companies that have higher profit margins — cruise companies, automobile makers, or investment banks and the like — or, where they can have repeat customers or multiple product/service buys — can actually use the ad to increase sales by an amount exceeding costs. But even if it initially does not do so, the long-term impact of being recognizable from a SB appearance can help immensely. 

When a company announces it will buy SB air time, it receives:

* Pre-game discussion hype on line and in the news media

* In-game watching

* Post-game analysis on TV and in the news

* Social media re-airing

* Monday morning water-cooler talk everywhere

But when authors try to advertise their books, they often regret the decision.

All of these ad formats will fail more than 90 percent of all authors:

* Billboards

* Magazines

* Newspapers

* Newsletters

* Paid Eblasts

* Direct Mail via Postal Service

* Radio Commercial

* TV Commercial

* Infomercial

* Paid Product Placement

* PPC Ads: FB, Amazon, Google

* Display Ads: Print or Online

* Sponsor an Event or Newsletter 

For an unknown author who has fewer than three published books, especially if fiction, poetry, short story, essay, or children’s books, most ad spends are a waste. Here is why: 

Books that are not non-fiction are tough to advertise. What word or groups of words will people search for? For instance, if it is a non-fiction topic like relationship advice, people can simply search for terms that are straight forward: 

* Relationship advice

* Marital problems

* Dating advice 

If your book is about how to have a happy marriage, and people search for marriage advice or marital problems, your book should come up in the ad. If people wanted free advice or to find a marriage counselor, they may click on your book and pass on it, but there is a chance they can buy it.  

However, if you wrote a thriller about a serial killer who knocks off men who are in abusive relationships, how do you advertise it? You likely buy ads for: 

* Thriller

* Crime Drama 

And then what happens? 

A zillion books in your genre pop up. Maybe movies and TV shows, too. A discerning customer could click on 10-15 ads before deciding to buy a book, if any at all. You end up going through too many clicks before you get someone to buy. 

The authors who can benefit from ads are as follows: 

Someone who has name recognition that wants to announce their latest book so the built-in fan base is alerted to buy it. Think Stephen King or Colleen Hoover. 

Has other products or services to sell. Let’s say you wrote a non-fiction book on weight loss. If the people who buy the book, some may also buy your online course, pay for one-on-one coaching, or purchase your supplements, exercise videos, or gym equipment. The ad gets some books sold at a loss but you recoup on your investment when the book feeds you customers of high-profit goods or services. 

Has a series of books. Think of a novelist with a five-book series. Sell one book as a loss-leader and hope to woo enough readers to want to buy the other books in the series after buying and liking one book. 

Wants to build a mailing list and may give something, like a book, away. Whatever content you give away you will capture email addresses and audition yourself by allowing people to sample your work. Ads promoting a free book have a higher conversion rate than an ad selling something. 

Trying to hit a best-seller list. You can spend your way to the best-seller list. You may spend tens of thousands of dollars to hit on something as big as the NYT list or a couple of thousand to be a sub-genre amazon best-seller for an hour. You will lose money on every sale, but the buzz of being a best-seller may alert other people to give your book a look. Or you may get attention from the news media or even Hollywood. Or, the best-seller status helps with your branding to sell other things. 

So, now you understand when and why ads do and don’t pay off for an author.  Invest wisely. 

 

Do You Need Book Marketing & PR Help?

Brian Feinblum, the founder of this award-winning blog, with over four million page views, can be reached at brianfeinblum@gmail.com  He is available to help authors like you to promote your story, sell your book, and grow your brand. He has over 30 years of experience in successfully helping thousands of authors in all genres. Let him be your advocate, teacher, and motivator!

 

About Brian Feinblum

This award-winning blog has generated over four million pageviews. With 5,000+ posts over the past dozen years, it was named one of the best book marketing blogs by BookBaby  http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs  and recognized by Feedspot in 2021 and 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by www.WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.”  Copyright 2025.

 

For the past three decades, Brian Feinblum has helped thousands of authors. He formed his own book publicity firm in 2020. Prior to that, for 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and as the director of publicity at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C. Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler.

 

His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent (https://pubspot.ibpa-online.org/article/whats-needed-to-promote-a-book-successfully).

 

He hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America several years ago, and has spoken at ASJA, BookCAMP, Independent Book Publishers Association Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, Morgan James Publishing, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. He served as a judge for the 2024 IBPA Book Awards.

 

His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester) and The Washington Post. His first published book was The Florida Homeowner, Condo, & Co-Op Association Handbook.  It was featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald.

 

Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog, and El Chapo, a pug rescue dog.

 

You can connect with him at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum/ or https://www.facebook.com/brian.feinblum