Hello, hello! My curious hamster brain is back! This is lengthy and perhaps not very well organized (apologies), but if anyone has insights, I would be eternally grateful! Preface: I'm having a serious issue this year (2026) with my books almost completely falling off a cliff 2-3 weeks after release. In 2025, books in the same genre lasted 2-3 *months* before dipping, never crashing. **And I didn't run ads or have a newsletter last year.** This year, I'm running ads, and I have a newsletter and even a street team, and my retention has tanked. (I'm KDP exclusive, if that matters.) I'm not reaching new readers! About 90% of readers who claimed my most recent release's reader magnet inside the book were already on my list, vs. my previous book from a few months ago, where that many were new subscribers. Trying to reach new readers and expand my "portfolio": My first pivot will be a subgenre switch to test the waters: I have a PNR novella coming out next week that I'm excited for and will introduce a new universe I would love to write much more in--if it actually sells. My pre-orders are rather abysmal for that title, and it's depressing. But I digress. Ads situation: For my current big series, I'm running ads that are doing well ROI-wise. I have ads running for the newest book and the first one. I have 4 different versions running to test the creative (2 for each book), each with the same audience and budget, and they're all doing about the same. No strong outliers at this point yet, but I'm tracking. My ad spend is only $10/day for each of those 4 ads. I don't know if spending more on ads in general, or more on fewer ads at a time, would be better for results, or if that varies and I should just experiment with it. 😩 My hamster brain has me on a hamster wheel, trying to figure out what I'm doing wrong and how to fix this 😅 Thanks for actually making it through this post! And gratitude sent to anyone willing to share thoughts, good, bad, ugly, or fluffy-adorbs! 🫶

My friend Heather Hildenbrand is so freaking quotable. On my podcast recording this week, Russel quoted her as saying "You can be in the energy of the problem or the energy of the solution." Another favorite: "We're here to turn poison into medicine." If you want high vibes and the chance to shift your mindset with her, check out her HEA mastermind--open only once a year! https://manifestyourhea.thinkific.com/courses/hea-mastermind?ref=b84c07

Post your name (What you want to be called), pronouns and what genres you love to read/write! I'm Lee Savino, pronouns she/her. I love reading and writing spicy romance, especially paranormal or twisty gothic suspense sort of dark romance! Picture of me in Cancun - a trip I took Jan 2026 with my author bestie Renee Rose!

An author who I consider rather successful told me this morning that when she (her assistant, actually) sends out her newsletter, a few days later they'll send the exact newsletter out again to everyone who didn't open it the first time. They just change the subject line. She said that 30-65% of the people who didn't open the newsletter the first time will open it the second time. I thought that was wild! Has anyone here done this? Did/do you see similar results? I was thinking about trying it.

I’m looking for someone to read my reader magnet and to give me feedback. It is around 12,000 words, M to M with plenty of emotions and feelings, but no spice. Happy to do a swap and read something for someone else. Thanks, Caroline