Promises Fulfilled!

In my mission statement post, I promised to try two things and report back:

1. Try Spotify's virtual voice audiobook creation

2. Do one Meta ad (with a limited spend), incorporating some of the latest tips.

As you know, I spent far too much time trying to get Spotify to accept my manuscript. The number of characters exceeded Spotify's limit, even though my novel is average length. I tried stripping out all the "hidden" formatting--that didn't work. I even tried splitting my book into two parts (as was suggested) and uploading each part separately, with the intention of then combining them. 

I got as far as the Part One upload, then was required to choose a virtual voice. And that's where my experiment ended. I was given only two female American voices to choose from, and neither of them were right for my story. I'm not going to continue harping on this, but every reporter who announced Spotify's new initiative could have noted this limitation. 

I guess that's what you've got me for.

Now, to fulfill my promises, I'm running a Facebook (Meta) ad. My ultimate expenditure will be $25.00, spread across five days. It didn't start out well. I've run a couple of Facebook ads in the past, but I never had an issue with them getting started. This time I did. My ad sat in review for the usual amount of time, then transitioned to "scheduled", but refused to start. I consulted both Google and Meta's chatbot to get it straightened out, but Google's suggestions didn't work, and the bot basically told me to be patient. Ultimately, I lost a whole day's advertising.

For this ad, I tried targeting specific audiences besides the usual (age, gender, book readers--duh), but certain search terms don't exist in Meta's database. I wanted to attract fans of Ella Langley, since she's hot right now, but I couldn't. Thus, I was stuck with the generic "country music". I also wrote longer ad copy (yes, Google came up with this):

🎸 They wanted a manufactured pop star. They got a gritty indie fighter. 🎸

Leah Branch thought a surprise Nashville record deal was her ultimate second chance. Instead, she found a corporate machine that wanted to completely strip away her identity—changing her songs, her style, and even her name.

If you love raw, authentic country music stories about strong women who refuse to let the corporate elite compromise their soul, Running From Herself is your next must-read.

From grueling low-budget tours to a high-stakes legal battle to reclaim her music and her savings, Leah’s journey is a powerful underdog drama about finding your true calling.

"They changed her look, her style, and her name. But they couldn't strip away her soul." ✨

📚 Read Leah’s story on Kindle, Kindle Unlimited & Paperback today!

I'm not a fan of having to click to see more, but regardless, this is how my ad looks:

 

I guess it's okay. I could have done without the cutesy emojis, but maybe some people like them. 

My results so far (after maybe a half day, through no fault of my own):

Not great.

256 impressions, which seems low.

$3.95 spent.

25 clicks.

0 sales.

What I have found with Meta is extreme confusion in ad setup. I don't know if they purposely make things confusing so idiots spend more money than they intended or if it's "Attack of the Tech Bros". All I can say is, Meta ads are frustrating, and I won't ever try them again.

This time around I followed Google's instructions to the letter, in order to avoid any dumb mistakes, but questions abounded. Thus, I have no idea if I did things right or completely messed them up. And at this point, I don't care.

I won't report back until the rest of my 4 - 4 1/2 days finish running. 

The important thing is, I kept my promise.