Amazon Ads For Self-Published Authors with Kendall Talbot

Build three real Amazon Ads in real time, for your own self-published book.

Got a self-published book (or series) on Amazon, but your ads dashboard looks like a ghost town? Maybe you tried Amazon ads and they ate your budget—or did zip. Maybe the interface made you want to scream. Or maybe you’ve got a couple running (go you) and want to level up. This is a no-fluff, hands-on workshop where you’ll build three live Amazon ads, step by step, using your own book. Bring your laptop, your KDP login, and get ready to create Amazon ads. No slides—just real, actionable systems for self-published authors.

The Amazon ads you will build are:

1. A keyword ad targeting comparable authors.

2. A keyword ad built around high-performing tropes (no matter your genre).

3. A product-targeting ASIN ad designed to grab attention from books your ideal readers already love.

Learning outcomes

By the end of this workshop, you'll walk away with:

• A crystal-clear understanding of why Amazon ads work (when you set them up right).

• Confidence to design ads that actually match your book’s genre, tone, and reader base.

• A practical system for using negative keywords to stop ads from bleeding money.

• And most importantly: three live ads in your dashboard driving traffic to your book’s Amazon page.

Workshop pre-requisites

• You must have self-published at least one book on Amazon KDP.

• You must have your Amazon Ads dashboard set up and ready to go. (If you haven’t done this yet, don’t panic. You can set it up in just a few clicks through your KDP Bookshelf. Contact program@qldwriters.org.au if you need support with this.)

• You are willing to budget at least $5 per ad per day ($15 total on the day)—but don't worry, you can stop them anytime.

• You have access to a spreadsheet tool such as Excel or Google Sheets, and know how to copy and paste.

Format

This is an in-person workshop with a focus on author sustainability; it will be held at State Library of Queensland, and is suitable for any self-published writer who is ready to run ads on Amazon.

About Kendall

Kendall Talbot is an award-winning, bestselling author from Brisbane with 40 published books to her name. She writes heart-pounding romantic suspense and survival thrillers inspired by real-life adventures—from scuba diving with sharks to exploring Mayan ruins and rafting wild rivers across 46 countries. Her novel Lost in Kakadu won Romantic Book of the Year, and she’s been a Wilbur Smith Award semi-finalist and finalist for Best Romantic Suspense, Best Crime Novel, Best Continuing Series, and Best New Author.

For more information about Queensland Writers Centre’s Program of Events and answers to FAQs, please visit: www.queenslandwriters.org.au/program-info