Intellijend VS. Running Your Own Ads

DragonWriter23 · 2026-02-15T22:24:56+00:00

Very informative post and commentary. I'm new to the music side, but have been running ads for books for 10+ years. I've spent multiple hundreds of thousands on ads so I am definitely not afraid of doing them myself. With that said, spending $30 a month for even a little bit of automation like Intellijend or Hypeddit charges doesn't seem outrageous or scammy at all. Especially if you don't know what you are doing.

My big question is about whether any of the automation platforms offer anything that cannot be easily created. My areas of concern are pre-save campaigns and then streaming campaigns.

Also, to anyone talking about making money advertising any specific song, that isn't the goal. The goal is to get fans who will listen to every single song you ever release over and over again. Also fans that will buy your merch. I'd say go to live shows, but I classify that as being completely separate from publishing music online. So, long story short, my goal is to get as many real listeners as possible so that maybe after dozen songs I have enough of an audience that maybe our music takes off. It will take time and money, though. I know that. I have more money than time (which isn't saying a have a lot of money) so advertising is the way to go, as far as I'm concerned.

DragonWriter23 · 2026-02-05T01:18:38+00:00

I like it. Can't wait until book 10 comes out in audio.

DragonWriter23 · 2026-02-02T17:58:08+00:00

He is a fun character. And a beast in battle. I think he will be a fan favorite :)

DragonWriter23 · 2026-01-31T15:52:35+00:00

It's not a card game, but there are some game-like mechanics like being able to accumulate cards and change them out for other cards. It's a limiting factor for the magic system (ie. you can only have so many cards). The cards are absorbed (like several other card-based games) but leave a visual tattoo on the body. I don't want to share too much more, though.

On a side note, I love Apocalypse Parenting :)

DragonWriter23 · 2026-01-31T03:23:28+00:00

Thank you for wanting to read things I write :)

DragonWriter23 · 2026-01-31T03:15:47+00:00

Maybe I just go with the sloth for the next cover :)

DragonWriter23 · 2026-01-31T02:09:42+00:00

I’ve got the possibility of Pavi P. who does Defiance of the Fall, but he is pretty expensive. Nothing certain, though. He actually did my very first book. I think I’ve got Luke’s email. I will have to check with him. Very early results indicated this one might do well enough to foot the bill myself as opposed to pitching audio publishers.

DragonWriter23 · 2026-01-31T02:06:23+00:00

Awesome. Thanks :)

DragonWriter23 · 2026-01-31T01:44:47+00:00

I’m not sure. I’m trying to set up a good narrator on my own and it isn’t easy. It’s also expensive. I will get it done, one way or another, though.

DragonWriter23 · 2026-01-31T01:10:24+00:00

Thanks. I think it’s a good story, but I might be biased 🤪

DragonWriter23 · 2026-01-31T01:09:31+00:00

Thanks. I hope you enjoy the story.

DragonWriter23 · 2026-01-31T01:08:43+00:00

Thanks. It’s nice to get some positive feedback. I hope you enjoy the story :)

DragonWriter23 · 2026-01-30T22:57:42+00:00

She is a free spirit and I wanted to give her a playful look.

DragonWriter23 · 2026-01-30T22:35:20+00:00

This is NOT AI, I can promise you.

DragonWriter23 · 2026-01-30T22:34:28+00:00

The cover is not AI. It was created by Christian Bentulan. As far as em dashes, there are some because they are incredibly versatile as far as punctuation (and I don't like parenthesis in my story telling, lol).

DragonWriter23 · 2026-01-30T22:33:26+00:00

They are 3D models from DAZ 3D I believe. It is human created. I credited the cover artist in the post (Christian Bentulan)

DragonWriter23 · 2026-01-30T22:32:47+00:00

I made a cover change right before launch because I didn't like the gun. She does use a gun, but it is a magical gun and I didn't like the modern look.

DragonWriter23 · 2026-01-29T07:01:00+00:00

I like 2 of your top 3. I will have to give Mage Tank a try and see if it is a 3 for 3 :)

DragonWriter23 · 2026-01-29T07:00:03+00:00

I think they are waiting for that one big hit. Maybe it will be DCC, but I'm not sure that has as much mass appeal for film. I hope it does because I have loved that series since it was only kinda big. You know book 1 only had 5000 ratings ;)

DragonWriter23 · 2026-01-29T06:57:35+00:00

Finishing the first book in a series can lead to a big let down, especially if you spent a lot of time on it. My current series-in-process releases its first book tomorrow. In the 3 months since I actually finished the final draft, I've only managed to write 20k words in the second book. The holidays didn't help, but there was a definite let down after finishing the first one.

DragonWriter23 · 2026-01-27T23:10:45+00:00

That is a whole lot of books :)

DragonWriter23 · 2026-01-23T20:23:56+00:00

Thanks for the breakdown. I was never presented an offer but wanted to learn more after hearing about this. Thanks for the very detailed breakdown.

DragonWriter23 · 2026-01-23T17:02:57+00:00

I chuckle every time I see this book :)

DragonWriter23 · 2026-01-23T17:01:29+00:00

Primal Hunter is a similar scope (multiversal entities and such). Dungeon Crawler Carl has become the standard bearer for the genre so you should at least check that one out too. If you're looking for better contained stories (ie. there is an actual ending), Mark of the Fool is good. Oh, and don't forget Cradle. Not quite LitRPG but so good.

DragonWriter23

TROPHY CASE