Why the Book Ad Targeting Advice Fiction Authors Keep Hearing Is Wrong (Part 2)
There is a piece of targeting advice that gets repeated constantly in author communities, on YouTube, in Facebook groups, in courses, and in coaching programs. It sounds logical. It is easy to follow. And for most fiction authors, it quietly makes their ads worse.
This is Part 2 of a two-part series on book ad targeting for fiction authors. Part 1 covered who your audience actually is, the mindset shift that changes how targeting decisions get made, and the three barriers that stop most authors before they ever run a single ad. This post covers why the most commonly repeated targeting advice is working against the authors who follow it.
The Also-Boughts Problem
The advice in question: look at your also-boughts and use those authors as your ad targets.
It makes sense on the surface. If readers who bought your book also bought books by another author, those two audiences should overlap. Target that author's readers and you reach people already predisposed to your books.
Autho...
How Fiction Authors Should Actually Determine Their Book Ad Audience (Part 1)
Whether just getting started with paid ads or already running campaigns that seem to disappear into the void, there is one thing author coach Rebecca Hamilton sees trip up fiction authors at every level: they don't actually know who their book's audience is.
Not because they haven't thought about it. But because most of the advice out there sends them looking in the wrong places.
This is Part 1 of a two-part series on book ad targeting for fiction authors. Rebecca breaks down the foundation here: who your audience actually is, why it's probably not who you think, and the three barriers most authors hit before they ever run a single ad. Part 2 covers why the specific targeting advice most authors have already heard is doing more harm than good.
Why Determining Your Book's Ad Audience Comes Before Everything Else
It doesn't matter whether you're running Facebook ads, Amazon ads, or BookBub promotions. Knowing who you're talking to comes first.
Rebecca Hamilto
...Facebook Ad Targeting for Fiction Authors in 2026
One of the most frustrating moments for fiction authors running ads is realizing that the exact author you want to target… simply isn’t available. This happens constantly on platforms like Facebook Ads. An author may be dominating bestseller lists, trending on BookTok, or selling millions of copies, and yet they don’t exist as a selectable targeting option.
According to author coach Rebecca Hamilton, this is one of the most common reasons authors believe ads “don’t work,” when in reality, they’re just approaching audience building incorrectly. This misunderstanding often shows up alongside other performance issues authors attribute to broken ads, even when the underlying systems are functioning exactly as designed, a pattern explored further in Why Most Authors Think Their FB Ads Are Broken in 2026 blog post.
The good news? If an author isn’t targetable, their readers almost always are. just under different signals.
This post walks through practical, reliable ways to find targeting ...
The Delayed Buyer Effect: What Every Indie Author Running Facebook Ads Needs to Know
When it comes to Facebook Ads, most author training focuses on setup, such as targeting, ad copy, images, and getting the lowest Cost Per Click. Those things matter, but they’re only half the story.
What most authors miss, and what can make or break the success of your campaigns, is something we call the Delayed Buyer Effect.
This is the single most overlooked factor that causes authors to shut off ads too early, and miss out on profits they could have had if they understood how buyers really behave.
What Is the Delayed Buyer Effect?
The Delayed Buyer Effect happens when a reader sees your ad, wants your book, but doesn’t immediately purchase. Or when they download through Kindle Unlimited but wait weeks before actually reading.
For authors, this delay skews how we measure ad success. Your early metrics might look like you’re “losing money,” when in reality, readers are just lagging behind in their buying or reading behavior.
We’ve seen this in multiple case studies from Six and ...
