At the end of our experiment in which we floated ten of our best headline ideas past a random sampling of readers in our market...

And in which those random readers in our genre "voted" (with their clicks) on just how cool and exciting each of our ideas felt to them...

We need a foolproof way to process, understand, and apply what we've just learned.

We're not really asking the question, "Which of these ideas are best?"

Because that question assumes that our best idea among this tiny little batch of ten ideas is actually good enough to use at scale. This isn't a valid assumption.

Instead, what we're really asking is this:

Are any of these headlines worthy of my market?

Which implies that we have objective criteria.

Which we definitely do, and I share all of those numbers with you, for both Storytellers and Problem Solvers, inside of Click Testing for Authors.

In this example, here's how my market actually ranked those headline ideas from above (yes, our hypothetical example isn't merely hypothetical :).

1. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ "Best writing in decades. Move over, Lee Child!"
2. "It's 5AM and I just stayed up all night reading."
3. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ "SO intense! I read it in one sitting!"
4. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ "My all-time favorite thriller author."
5. Is Sam Jameson in love with a traitor? Read now!
6. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ "Sam is my new favorite spy novel heroine!"
7. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ "LOVE LOVE LOVE these thrillers 📗📕!"
8. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ "Best new spy thriller novel of the year!"
9. "I died!?" It's been a tough week for our heroine. Read now!
10. International bestseller: Where do you run when the good guys want you dead?

But remember, while the relative ranking is interesting, it's only useful to us if we know whether or not our best idea(s) are good enough.

So here's what my list of headline ideas looked like after I applied our click testing success criteria. Again, I'll tell you all about those criteria inside of Click Testing for Authors.

Headline "variants" (ideas) that met or exceeded our benchmark are highlighted in green. Those that didn't make the cut are red.

My market spoke clearly to me, and here's what they said:

1. "It's 5AM and I just stayed up all night reading."
2. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ "SO intense! I read it in one sitting!"
3. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ "My all-time favorite thriller author."
4. Is Sam Jameson in love with a traitor? Read now!
5. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ "Sam is my new favorite spy novel heroine!"
6. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ "LOVE LOVE LOVE these thrillers 📗📕!"
7. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ "Best new spy thriller novel of the year!"
8. "I died!?" It's been a tough week for our heroine. Read now!
9. International bestseller: Where do you run when the good guys want you dead?

It's now mathematically clear which headlines are worth using in our growth ad!

The headline example above (and I know you have a thousand questions about the details, but I want you to stay focused on the concepts right now) shows you how we determine if any of our book advertisement ideas are likely to be profitable.

These ideas are used in various places, and in various ways, as we assemble the "Growth Ad" that we'll use to attract readers by the thousands to check out our books.

Those winning headlines from above will be called to serve as a text overlay atop our ad image, or as the ad headline itself, or maybe as a header in the primary text.

(Again, we cover this in thorough but digestible detail inside the CTA program).

And as the six click tests progress, you'll be building and expanding on your previous winning elements.

You'll be adding new "all star" book ad components to your growth ad with each subsequent test.

By the end of the six tests, you'll have a stress-tested book advertisement composed entirely of all-star ideas.

Your ad will have no weak spots.

And this process is how veteran Facebook and Instagram advertisers like author and coach Alana Terry ($94,000 in top line revenue in a single month), who were already experts at running book ads...

were able to cut their advertising expenses by up to half (!!!).

Other important things you should know:

* You can email us with your questions at any time.

Just click "reply" to this message, or any of the messages you receive from me.

You'll get real answers. Really. I'm known for turning people away when I don't think I can help them.

* I sell business and marketing education for authors.

I've spent 21 years in digital commerce, and I invented the marketing process behind $25M+ per year in independent author royalties.

I started the "Direct Sales movement" after Amazon mistreated me in 2017, and since then, our business and marketing programs have produced the highest per-capita author earnings of any author training system in the English-speaking world.

Roughly 70% of the authors in this Kindlepreneur survey on direct sales are my clients, including 8 of the top 10 earners.

* This has been my day job for years.

I've served 1,142 authors and counting in my courses, have been a guest on dozens of podcasts (this is a good one), sold over $1M worth of my trashy spy thrillers through my own web stores, spoken at conferences, and coached hundreds of authors and entrepreneurs on over 450 hours of live Zoom coaching calls since 2018. I'm not just mailing this in, as they used to say.

David Chesson (Kindlepreneur founder), Joanna Penn (author, podcaster, indie publishing luminary, and the force behind The Creative Penn), Pierre Jeanty (million-selling poet and entrepreneur), Rachel Hanna (multi-million-dollar-per-year author), Marie Force (multi-million-dollar-per-year author), Alana Terry (writing coach and bestselling novelist), Naomi Rawlings (million-dollar earner), David Doepker (bestselling author, entrepreneur, and podcaster), Lydia Sherrer (million-dollar earner), AJ Vanderhorst (sold 115,728 books last year), Monica Leonelle and Russell Nohelty (bestselling authors and book marketing coaches), Lee Savino (million-dollar-per-year author), Diane Capri (of the Chasing Reacher series), LT Ryan (million-dollar-per-year author) and many more highly successful independent authors and entrepreneurs are clients and affiliates of mine.

I'm also a Hertz Fellow and retired USAF officer and F-16 pilot (2 x Distinguished Flying Crosses and 4 x Air Medals, honored as the 2006 Top USAF Instructor Pilot in the United States).

But none of that guarantees that you're going to sell any books. This is a tough business, and your products have to be on point. Which brings me to the next important thing to know:

* Brilliant marketing won't sell crappy books.

Your success ultimately depends on the quality (as judged by the only people whose opinions matter: your market) and quantity of your books.

Market testing can help you advertise your existing titles in the best way to reach your ideal readers...

And it can help you write better titles in the future...

And fix your existing titles so readers enjoy them more...

But there isn't enough lipstick in the universe to turn a pig into a unicorn. :)

* There is a six-day deadline to enroll in Click Testing for Authors.

Deadlines help your prospective customers clarify their priorities. This deadline will help you clarify your current priorities for your life and career.

The deadline also keeps our program size manageable, which helps us stay (reasonably) sane, plan our personnel costs, and preserve sufficient bandwidth to respond to your questions and help you succeed.

It also ensures that most of our sales occur within the 7-day Meta ads attribution window. This ensures that our ads perform more efficiently and profitably, so we can charge you less money to help you achieve your goals and dreams.

(This is one of those details you didn't know you needed to know, because you'll need to use a similar strategy if you ultimately decide to sell directly to your readers).

Here's the countdown timer:

* You probably won't get rich next month.

But you're not an idiot. You knew that already, no matter what those sketchy publishers promised you.

Being a professional author is an actual profession. You're going to have to be a professional about it.

That means relentless effort over a period of years.

The wealthiest authors I know are also the hardest-working authors I know.

Weird, right? :)

But we'll help ensure you're not wasting your time, energy, effort, and money.

And if you've already written professional-caliber books that fit your market's needs and desires...

We'll help you find the rocket fuel your book marketing has been missing. 

* You should definitely consider watching the video.

But if you'd rather not, you can view the program details here.

To your success,

Steve

There are three ways you can learn more about how to successfully implement these six critical book advertising principles.

The most thorough way is to watch the brief webinar I put together for you.

I invested over a hundred hours to ensure that this video is fast-paced, entertaining, informative, and full of examples of how authors in many different genres have completely changed their lives and careers using our process.

If webinars aren't your thing (no judgment :), you can also check out the Click Testing for Authors enrollment information page.

You'll see details about the program contents and delivery, customer results, and payment plan options. 

We've also put together a page full of unedited, unabridged video interviews and reviews from our authors.

We asked them to help you decide if our program and process are legitimate, professional, useful, and effective.

I've never watched these videos, because they were meant for you. So I don't actually know what advice these authors might have for you, but I am confident that they have your best interest at heart.