Hello, SE’ers. Happy Holidays!
I’m sorry to tackle such a heavy subject so close to the holidays. I promise I’m only going to skim the surface today. It will take more than one post to explore how to effectively place an Amazon Ad.

Yes. That picture was me after three days of slogging through Dave Chesson’s course on Amazon Ads. Let me just preface this post by saying there is nothing easy about setting up an Amazon Ad. And, before you consider it, I do highly suggest you explore the course modules. Otherwise, you will be totally lost.
When I began this marketing series, I promised to experiment with every platform I blog about, so that includes Amazon Ads.
First and foremost, where do you go to set up an ad? To promote a book, or run a book deal, we all know to go to our KDP page and move forward from there. But for Amazon Ads, you go to an entirely different website, https://advertising.amazon.com/. You log in to your Amazon account from there to get started.
Once you click the Register button and log in, you are prompted to choose a country.
Next are two options: Advertising Console and Advertising DSP Console.

You want to choose Advertising Console. You will need to click on the “New to Amazon Advertising – Create an account.” You will choose ‘Sponsored Products.’ Then connect to your KDP account.
From there, you are directed to a page entitled “Campaigns.”
This is where you will set up your ad.
However, before you even get to this point, Mr. Chesson highly recommends that you have 200 – 300 keywords saved in an excel spreadsheet. As I moved through the process I found out why. The more you can target, the better chance of your ad being seen.
I know, and I heard you gasp. 200 – 300 keywords? That process alone was extremely time-consuming and I’ll be honest, I wound up purchasing lifetime access to Publisher Rocket to gather this list. This is not something everyone will be willing to invest in. For me, it was a no-brainer, if I was going to do this effectively.

Okay, so you have your keywords and are ready to set up a campaign. You will need to name it. Mr. Chesson suggests you name it the title of your book and perhaps a date or something else to help identify it later.
Choose a start date. He recommends no end date, but that is entirely up to you.
Set your daily budget. How much are you willing to spend per day to advertise your book?
Next is targeting. You will want to choose manual targeting. And this is where you get to import that massive list of keywords you have saved on your excel spreadsheet. You are allowed to have up to 1,000 keywords. Even if you don’t want to invest in Publisher Rocket, I do recommend you watch this section of Mr. Chesson’s course to get some idea of how to come up with the list.
Once you have the targeting list completed, you move to your campaign-building strategy.
- Dynamic Bids Down
- Dynamic Bids Up & Down
- Fixed Bids
Choose the middle option — Dynamic Bids Up & Down.
This is where you set the amount you want to bid for each click. I started off bidding .21 cents. For some reason, he recommends you choose an odd number, not even like 50 cents.
Next, create your ad. This is where you want your text to sell your book, so be creative.
When you’re satisfied with the ad, hit “Launch Campaign.” Amazon will let you know when it is approved.
That was a lot of information to take in, and believe me, I barely scratched the surface.
I built a campaign for Mountain Laurel Christmas on Dec. 10th. I got over 10,000 impressions right away, but no clicks. That told me my ad was not effective. So I created a second one on the 16th and paused the first one. Again, I got lots of impressions, but no clicks. I revisited Dave Chesson’s lesson module to see what I could tweak and wound up rewriting the book blurb. Will that help? Time will tell.
As of this posting, I’ve had over 22,000 impressions, but zero clicks. And, I’ve spent $1.71. I will give it a few days to see if changing the book blurb helps. I also take into consideration this is Christmas week. If I don’t see any clicks in the next two days, I will pause the ad until after Christmas day.
Like I said, there is a lot more I need to cover in my next post, specifically about keywords and targeting.
I hope your head isn’t spinning too much.
This is my last Story Empire post for 2021 and I want to express my appreciation to my fellow SE members as well as all of our followers who share, comment, and support our posts!

In case you missed any of the previous book marketing posts, here you go:
#MKTG Part 1 – OVERVIEW – BOOK MARKETING OPTIONS
#MKTG Part 2 – FACEBOOK ADS AND PASSION PAGES
#MKTG Part 3 – FACEBOOK ADS DETAILS
#MKTG Part 4 – TWITTER ADS
#MKTG Part 5 – INSTAGRAM
#MKTG Part 6 – PINTEREST
#MKTG Part 7 – IN-PERSON EVENTS
#MKTG Part 8 – GOODREADS
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Reblogged this on wordrefiner.
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I missed this one, so went back from your post of today.
Man oh man, being an indie author takes work!
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Pingback: #MKTG – Part 10 – More on Amazon Ads | Story Empire
Useful tips, Jan. I too will give it a try. Thanks for the information. Merry Christmas to you and your family.
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Thank you for visiting, Kamal!
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You are always welcome dear Jan.
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Great post, Jan! I look forward to you giving us more insight to Amazon ads. I’d love to know more about Publisher Rocket. Maybe you can do a post on that one day. 😉 Enjoy the holidays! 🙂
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Thank you for leaving a comment, Yvette. Yes, I can do a post on Publisher Rocket as I learn more about how to fully utilize it. I appreciate you stopping by!
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These are great tips and advice, Jan. I’ve used the Amazon Ads in the past, for my books and for other FIG authors. Never really saw results. But perhaps I’ll approach it differently in the near future. Thank you for sharing.
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Thank you for your input, Beem. I can definitely verify that coming up with a successful Amazon ad is not easy. I’m going to keep trying! I appreciate you leaving a comment!
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Jan, this is a terrific help and I’m truly grateful to you for going to all this trouble and then sharing the process so clearly. This has been bookmarked! (I loved Mountain Laurel Christmas, by the way, and have posted on Goodreads as Alex and on Amazon UK as MacTrish.) Have a lovely Christmas and may 2022 be a good one for you. xx
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Oh, thank you, Alex! I am so glad you enjoyed Mountain Laurel Christmas. I appreciate your kind words. And I’m happy you found my post helpful. I wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas!
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Useful tips, but why were there no clicks?
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Hi, Chris. This is my first attempt at an Amazon Ad and I will be figuring out the answer to your question as I go along. Thanks for stopping by!
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Picking keywords is a challenge for me and suggesting using a service to help is a great idea. I do want to try an Amazon ad and appreciate your insight and experience on this subject, Jan. Great post. Merry Christmas!
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I’m always happy to share anything I can learn, Denise. I am no expert for sure and still have lots more to figure out about keywords and targeting. I appreciate you stopping by and leaving a comment. Merry Christmas to you and your family!
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Very informative. I now know how to kickstart a campaign. Thank you 😊
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Wonderful, Lamittan! Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment.
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Most welcome 😇
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I’ve made two slap-dash, fingers crossed attempts at Amazon ads and failed both times. They’re intimidating. Thanks for doing all the hard, gritty work and sharing it with us. And good luck finding what “clicks” for you. I really enjoyed Mountain Laurel Christmas. Hope your holidays are blissful.
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Hi, Judi. Slap-dash is a great word. 🙂 I’ve also heard it referred to as throwing spaghetti on the wall and seeing what sticks. You’re right. Amazon ads are intimidating. I’m happy to share anything I can learn. I would like ALL of us to make some money for our work. Thank you for the Mountain Laurel Christmas recommendation and for stopping by. Merry Christmas to you!
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I have yet to begin anything with Amazon Ads, so I greatly appreciate you covering this topic, Jan. This is a great post that I’ll be referring to again and again, I’m sure.
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I’m glad you enjoyed the post, Marlena. I hope that it was helpful. Thank you for stopping by and leaving a comment. Merry Christmas!
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Merry Christmas friend!!
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I have been working on Amazon ads for three years. This is all good information on how to set them up. Getting them to work is a definite challenge. BTW If you had a spend, then you did get some clicks. Kudos for going through the process.
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True, John. I couldn’t tell from the graph just when the clicks occurred, but there have been zero sales. 😦 I’m going to keep trying and experimenting until I find a formula that works. I’d love for you to share your expertise and experience with Amazon ads, John!
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It looks like you got about 8 clicks at 21¢ a click. I have not been successful either. It is a puzzle for sure.
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Great information, Jan. I’ve never attempted an Amazon ad, but I’ve done Google ads (for the day job) and this sounds along those lines. I always find it exhausting, especially the list of keywords. It does sound like Publisher Rocket would be a good investment for anyone wanting to really buckle down and tackle Amazon Ads. I look forward to your next post.
Merry Christmas!
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Jan, you are a brave soul (but we already knew that!) to tackle such a subject. Thanks for all the hard work you did to bring us tips throughout the year. May you and yours enjoy a beautiful, peaceful, and happy Christmas! “See” you next year!
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Thank you for the kind words, Maura Beth. I am always happy to share anything I learn along the path of the marketing maze. I wish you and your family a fabulous holiday season! Thank you for your support throughout the year!
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Wow, Jan, I’m impressed by your diligence. Thank you for sharing this step-by-step process for creating Amazon ads. Should I summon the determination, I know where to go for help. This is brilliant. Merry Christmas to you and yours! 💕
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And, I would be more than happy to help, Gwen. This is all a deep learning process for me. And I hope to come out of it with some kind of a picture of where is the best place to throw what little money I have to spend on marketing. I’d like to see some rewards. Thank you for stopping by! Merry Christmas!
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Thanks so much for this post and all your helpful posts this year, Jan. I hope you have a wonderful holiday season and I hope Santa leaves you a few hundred keywords.
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Lol, Dan! I would love for Santa to leave a few hundred applicable keywords in my stocking. 🙂 Thank you for stopping by!
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I ran a few a couple of year back, but gained nothing from them. I’m sure there must be a way. Mad respect for the lengths you’re going to for this series. Merry Christmas, Jan.
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I do believe there is a way, Craig. I hope I can find it. I’d like to make some money for a change. 🙂 And I’m happy to experiment with the different platforms. I’m learning lots as I go. Thanks for stopping by.
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Ugh…I think I’d rather pay an expert to set up the ad for me. Wishing you and your family a Merry Christmas, Jan!
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Exactly, Jill. That would be the ideal solution for sure. Thank you for stopping by!
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Thanks for this post, Jan. I’ve never tried an Amazon ad, but I might get brave enough one day. I do think I’ll invest in Publisher Rocket (something I’ve considered for a while).
Wishing you a Merry Christmas!
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I truly think Publisher Rocket is a good investment, Joan. It provides many tools for indie authors and right now, the cost is for lifetime access. It could go to a monthly charge at any time. Thank you for stopping by! Merry Christmas!
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I spent hours learning the ads and took the original course. Then what did the Zon do? … completely changed it all, again. Ugh. So far, I haven’t had the heart to do it all again. Thanks for sharing, Jan. Happy holidays 💕🙂
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I totally understand your frustration, Harmony. We try to hard to gain footing only to have it yanked away. Thank you for leaving a comment and Happy Holidays to you, too!
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Utterly terrifying… but I do see why my one attempt at running Amazon Ads failed dismally!
When I’ve plucked up my courage, I shall return to study this article, thank you, Jan.
Merry Christmas and a Happy, Safe,, New Year to all.
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You nailed it, Sarah. Utterly terrifying! I’m glad you enjoyed the post and if you decide to run an ad, I would be happy to help in whatever way I can. Thank you for stopping by and Merry Christmas to you as well!
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