From Zero to Six Figures In Profit In Eleven Months With just paid ads.

Genre: Women's Sleuths (switched from Sea Adventures/PI Mystery)

Timeframe: 12 months

Ad spend: $92,000

Total revenue generated: $212,000

Peak month: $21,000 in profit

Unique readers acquired: 26,000

He had been publishing since 2015. A decade in, he was still making on average $6,000 a month. Every year he put out more books. The number barely moved.

These were his monthly numbers before we started working with him.

The frustration wasn't just about money. It was the feeling that no matter what he did, more books, more effort, more time. Nothing changed.

He knew he was leaving money on the table. He just didn't know where the ceiling was coming from or how to break through it.

We told him his genre had a ceiling. If he wanted to grow, he'd need to scrap everything and start a new series in a new genre.

That's a hard thing to hear after 10 years.

No existing audience for the new series. No guarantee the ads would work. Months of losses before any return. He said yes anyway. And as soon as the first readers started coming in, we both knew we had something.

Here's what we did together.

Step 1: Picked the right genre.

We work across multiple genres and already knew which ones had the potential to scale. High demand, room for a new author to break in. We were working with some of the biggest women's fiction authors in the US market at the time. We knew what readers wanted and where the money was. We pointed him in that direction.

Step 2: Built a book that would convert.

Before a single ad ran, we tested covers against the bestsellers in that genre. The cover had to fit what readers already associated with a book they'd enjoy. We did the same with the blurb, written to match reader expectations in that space. When advertising is built on top of a cover and blurb that already convert, every dollar spent works harder.

Step 3: Advertised the first book from Day 1.

Amazon gives new series a visibility window. Most authors don't use it. We advertised as aggressively as we could from day one, even knowing months 1 and 2 would run at a loss. In the first three months, we brought in over 6,000 readers. Those readers were waiting when Book 2 launched.

Step 4: Let read-through do the work.

When Book 2 went live in month 3, a portion of those 6,000 readers pre-ordered it. When it launched, the series turned profitable for the first time. It started paying for itself. We pulled back slightly to stabilize cash flow, then scaled again once the profit supported it.

Step 5: Scaled with Kindle lock screen ads and Meta.

We started with Facebook, then added Kindle lock screen ads. We never ran Amazon ads. Kindle lock screen ads let us target readers of specific authors. We already knew who the best buyers were, and this put us directly in front of them. In the end, $65,000 went to Kindle lock screen ads and $29,000 to Meta. The Kindle ads outperformed because we were reaching verified readers, not just audiences who might read.

The Results:

He averaged $6,000 a month for 10 years in his old genre.
He made $212,000 in total revenue in 12 months in the new genre,
$100,000 in profit on $92,000 in ad spend.
First profitable month: month 3 (when Book 2 launched).
Peak month: $21,000 in profit.
26,000 readers acquired.
All of this with 7 books.

Year 2 is where the math gets interesting. With 8 to 10+ books in the series, the same $92,000 in ad spend is projected to generate $180,000 to $210,000 in profit. Every new book has a larger audience already waiting for it.

The returns get better every year without spending more.

The numbers spoke for themselves. So did his email.

If you're thinking if we could help you scale your books…

What we do works best for self-published fiction authors writing in larger genres. Like mysteries, suspense, romance, paranormal romance, fantasy romance, thrillers, or UK crime. With a series of 8 or more books.

One thing worth noting: as the case study shows, with 7 books the returns were roughly one to one. You spend on ads, you make it back in profit. That's a solid result. But once a series hits 8 to 10 books, that's when the returns start to compound. More books means more read-through, more profit per reader, and more room to scale.

If you're a self-published fiction author writing in mysteries, suspense, romance, or thrillers with a series of 8+ books and want to scale your books.

Click the button below to see if you qualify to work with us.