If you subscribe to r/self-publish on Reddit, you are no doubt familiar with the plethora of marketing posts. Everyone wants to know the secrets to successful marketing, and every other Joe Responder is happy to oblige.
But the truth is, there is no magic bullet. Don't you think that if there was a tried and true method, everyone would already be doing it? Plus, what works for one person is going to be a spectacular fail for the next.
And money is not the answer. Sorry, but it's true. I could spend a thousand dollars on an Amazon or Facebook ad and reap the exact amount of success (or more likely, failure) as an author buying one for ten dollars from BookBub.
The facts, as I know them:
The ebook market is flooded to tsunami proportions. Take a look on Amazon at all the books published by "Amazon Publishing Services" (self-published). Savvy buyers know that the vast majority of these books will reek. It's the law of averages. If everyone can self-publish a book, everyone will. If you're still not convinced, pull up a few previews. First of all, hardly any writer understands the importance of a captivating first line. Especially nowadays, readers are impatient. I, for one, basically live online, where if something bores me I can click on the next thing. I have no time for "bland", because something better awaits.
Genre matters. Bigly. Romance practically sells itself, no matter how well or poorly written. Escapism sells: Fantasy, sci fi. Mystery sells. Mystery surprised me (because I'm out of the loop, apparently). I considered it old-fashioned, like Agatha Christie or Sherlock Holmes. But when I participated in a LibraryThing giveaway, the mystery book offerings sparked a lot of interest. If you don't write in one of the popular genres, an ad isn't going to help you.
Your book cover is your selling point. Your only selling point, initially. People are visual beings. Hardly anyone is still alive from a time before television existed. We are all hardwired to crave images. That doesn't mean your cover has to be "good" in an artistic sense. It has to capture attention. In fact, gaudy is most likely a winner. I'm well aware of this phenomenon; I choose to ignore it, to my detriment.
A free book elicits no return. Go ahead and buy an ad for your free book if you like. You will probably (depending on genre) reap a bunch of downloads. Where does that get you? If you're wildly lucky, one person will leave a review. Meanwhile, you have spent money, as Dire Straits would say, for nothing. There's no "buzz". How could there be? Yes, I've read all the promo sites' promises. None of them ring true. Promo sites are in the business to make money, unlike you, who apparently exist to give them your money.
ARC copies can be helpful. Human nature: If I ask the author for a copy, I'll feel an obligation to at least read it and probably leave a review. This is hardly universal, though. I'm Catholic, so the guilt gene is embedded in me. Not everyone hears that little voice of conscience. If I'm being generous, I maybe saw a 5% return on my ARC's. Probably closer to 2%. And sadly, I didn't get very many requests in the first place.
Newsletters don't work. First, you have to acquire a list of subscribers before you can even think about a newsletter. How does that happen? No, seriously, how does that happen? I've practically begged for subscribers and dangled freebies in front of them. Nobody bit.
But let's say you're one of the lucky ones. You have a big following on social media or are just a really popular guy. You send out your newsletter to all your friends/followers and of course you push your latest book. How many sales will that get you? How many people will simply drop your missive, unopened, into their trash file? Sure, they like you. Your wares? Not particularly.
Bottom line, you can try anything and everything. Maybe you should, just to ease your mind, rather than wonder if you're overlooking the key to riches. I've tried everything within budgetary reason at least once. Most of us simply won't sell. That's just the truth. That doesn't make us bad writers or hopeless losers. Please don't think that every other self-published author is earning enough to quit their job or buy that mansion. Everybody is in the exact same boat as us. Some might sell negligibly more copies, but not enough to make any difference in their lives.
We write because that's what we do. That is the reward.
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