Guide

Facebook Ads vs Amazon Ads for authors

Both can sell books. They work differently, and which one to start with depends on your series, your budget and how you'll measure results.

By Michael Cortez, PPC strategist · Updated November 8, 2026

The core difference

Amazon Ads show to people already searching or browsing for books on Amazon. High intent, easy to start, smaller reach.
Facebook Ads interrupt people scrolling. Huge reach and strong interest targeting, but the ad itself (image, hook) has to create the desire.

Side by side

	Amazon Ads	Facebook Ads
Buyer intent	High: shopping for books	Low to medium: browsing
Targeting	Keywords, book pages, categories	Interests, lookalikes, audiences
Creative	Your cover and title	Image or video plus copy
Tracking	Built in, including KENP columns on some reports	Indirect; KU reads not attributed
Best for	Steady daily sales and page reads	Launches, sales, free first-in-series

Which to start with

For most series authors on a modest budget, Amazon Ads: you can make them profitable keyword by keyword and see results in the reports. Use Facebook Ads once you have a series, a proven hook, and you're ready to judge success by total royalties rather than ad-level tracking.

Judging either one

For KU series, both channels earn mostly through page reads and read-through that ad reports undercount. Measure with true ACoS, and use the Kindle Author Ads Analyzer to tune your Amazon Ads keyword by keyword.

Run your own report through the Kindle Author Ads Analyzer

Free, runs in your browser, no signup. See which terms to negate, which bids to move and which keywords pay across the series.

Analyze my report

Questions

Are Facebook Ads or Amazon Ads better for books?

Amazon Ads reach people already shopping for books, so they're usually easier to make profitable at small budgets. Facebook Ads can reach more readers, and shine with a series, a strong hook image and a sale or free first book.

Can I track Facebook Ads sales on Amazon?

Only partly. Amazon Attribution links can show some clicks and sales from outside ads, but Kindle Unlimited page reads aren't attributed, so most authors judge Facebook Ads by changes in total royalties.

Should I run both?

Many established series authors do: Amazon Ads for steady daily sales, Facebook Ads for launches and promotions. Start with one and get it profitable first.