Responding To Desperate Marketers

I don't think I ever booked a promotion through The Fussy Librarian ~ it's so hard to differentiate between all the different promo sites. But that doesn't stop them from emailing me. They are under the same umbrella as FreeBooksy and BargainBooksy, which likely explains it. 

Yesterday I received an email from the site owner (?) stating that he noticed I was interested in a free book promotion, but never followed through. Really? I was? "Maybe you found the website confusing and gave up." Yes, that's it. I'm so easily confused; practically mentally deficient. What's a website? How does it work? Is it magic?

He'd like to chat with me to find a "solution" that works for me. On the one hand, sharing my thoughts would be tempting, but if I did so, he'd keep trying to convince me I'm wrong. I prefer not to gain a pen pal.  I have nothing against his site. It's often referenced in book promotion articles. Other authors have used it, ostensibly with good results. But here's the thing: they charge far too much for a promotion that doesn't even allow me to choose my genre, and all for a free book that'll be included in one newsletter? Those facts alone should be evident and shouldn't require an explanation from me.

What would I gain from a $55.00 promotion that is not even targeted to women's fiction fans? What would I gain even if it was targeted? Free downloads are worthless. I tried it once ~ can't remember with whom ~ and managed to reap 42 downloads. Guess how many reviews resulted from that. Yep.

Businesses do marketing. I get that. It just annoys me when they address me personally because I haven't purchased their services. "Oh, hey, April, I noticed you drove past Best Buy the other day, yet you didn't stop in. Maybe you found the entrance confusing. Can we chat about that?" No, your prices are too high and your products don't work. Now leave me alone. Thanks.

If I do ever promote again, which is unlikely, I'll just stick with the free sites. At least I gained about six sales from those. I'm not doing this for money (obviously). 

And no, I don't feel like chatting about it.