Marketing Using AI
Over the last two and a half months, I have increased my marketing efforts. My focus has been on my book Salvation and Doom: The Cathardi Prophecy. I signed up for a Zeely (AI ad creative platform — create UGC video, static ads & automation) account that uses artificial intelligence to generate ads and post them to social media. The ads ran on both Instagram and Facebook with little or no increase in sales. (I have sold eight books in the last 90 days, with only four since I started the ads.) I think the ads look good with their AI-generated avatars and should be effective, but the results don’t match the social media hype, and the return on investment is nonexistent.
Earlier this week, I read a blog post from Ricci Wolman from Written Word Media. The post covered the results of their 2025 Indie Author Survey (Written Word Media – Book Promotion for Self-Published Authors). Unfortunately, it confirmed what I knew from other sources and author friends. “The more books an author has published, the more they tend to earn.” At one point, I contacted a marketing professional to promote my book. She declined but told me it wasn’t worth it for one or two books. My ego tells me I’m different. My results and logic tell me I’m wrong. I want people to know about and read my books.
After using the AI-generated avatars, I can understand the concern about deep-fakes. I checked out another AI generator and created a video using a photograph of me and a simple script. It showed me the power of technology and gave me an awareness of why people are afraid of deep-fakes. Can we trust what we see in the media today?
Writing Progress
Industry wisdom says to write more books, and specifically, more books in series. I am trying to follow that wisdom with my third book, a still untitled sequel to Salvation and Doom. This week, I passed 70,000 words of my first draft. I hoped to publish it this year, but that won’t happen. So I will get it to the editor early next year.
I wrote my second novel, Lightning’s Edge: Lost World Odyssey (Amazon.com: Lightning’s Edge: Lost World Odyssey eBook : Jones, C.Buck: Kindle Store), while the first book was at the editor’s. I will start either a third book in the Cathardi series or another lost world adventure. Since I have ideas for the plots on both. Writing the sequel took so long that I may need a break.
Personal News
My wife’s aunt passed away last week, and my aunt is in hospice. One of the bad things about getting old is having friends and relatives die. Thursday will mark the 15th anniversary of my mother’s death. The things that remind me of her amaze me. She taught me a little about cooking and how to follow a recipe. Because of my wife’s health, I do all the cooking now. Making sweet potatoes for Thanksgiving and Christmas really brings her to mind.
I hope that when my time comes, my children and grandchildren will have happy memories that will remind them of me.
I hope you have a merry Christmas. God bless all of you.
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