Why not go back to PDF::API2 ? because the simple has left PDF::API2::Simple. :-)

This works for me with a generic ttf font

#!/usr/bin/perl
use strict;
use warnings;
use PDF::API2;

my $text = "Some text ";

my $pdf  = PDF::API2->new();
my $page = $pdf->page;
my $txt = $page->text;


#my $font = $pdf->corefont('Helvetica-Bold', -encoding => 'latin1');
# alternatively, use TrueType fonts:
# my $font = $pdf->ttfont('Verdana-Bold.ttf', -encoding => 'latin1');
my $font = $pdf->ttfont('./Generic.ttf', -encoding => 'latin1');    
    
$txt->font($font, 25);
$txt->translate(200, 550);
$txt->fillcolor('black');
$txt->text($text);

$pdf->saveas("$0.pdf");
[download]