First, congrats on your novel!

No, it doesn’t matter how many connections you have on Facebook. I would recommend spending some time thinking deeply about your potential readers — specifically what they like, who they are, where they live. Are they married, single, female? Do they live primarily in a particular part of the country? All of these things will help you hone in on them when it comes time to submit your ad.

Best of luck. Come back to let us know how you’re doing.

Richard, believe me, you can easily spend career-length hours working on your own promo and marketing. I’m here if you have any Qs as you walk the road; just holler. Can’t wait to interview you here at WU!

Sarah, I’m so glad you enjoyed LWML! Thanks for letting me know.

Ray, I’m not even close to a marketing expert, but I believe it really is about exposure. It would be great if every single person who clicked over to my site bought a book — and that would certainly have paid for the ads if they had — but the bigger picture is that over one million impressions were shown. It’s kind of like passing a billboard on the highway. Maybe you’re not going to veer off at Exit 51 and buy a new Blackberry, but the sign made you think about it, and it familiarized you with the product. And–and this I do know from research–familiarity is one of THE key factors in making a purchase at a store (e.g. “Hey, I recognize that book cover!”). As for the bids, the link to the tutorial on money matters is one you should follow for an in-depth explanation. Short story: Facebook suggests a range for bids, but ultimately you choose your bid. If, however, your bid is too low to be competitive, your ad simply will not be shown and you’ll spend far less than your budget per day. I managed to luck out; I nearly spent every cent of my budget daily.

Jonathan, I’ll share any new info I can down the road.

Also, you said that you “bid” .75–what happens if you name too low an amount? And how did you come up with .75?

Oh, and many thanks for the insights and tour through this new medium. I’ll be looking into it.

Thanks for sharing this with us, Therese. I think we are all searching for ways to maximize promotion without consuming entire days. I always wonder about the promotional value of social networks, and this seems to suggest it’s worth doing. Great post.