Opting Out

It seems there is no way to stop ARC readers from latching onto my book via Voracious Readers Only other than to cancel my membership. I'm becoming more and more annoyed by the long list of notifications stuffing my inbox every day. I've been dutifully adding each email address to my newsletter subscriber list, but even that has turned into a chore. MailerLite only allows me to enter one subscriber at a time, and approximately half the time my entry doesn't take, so I have to do it over again. Yes, it purports to allow bulk additions via an Excel spreadsheet, but trust me, that doesn't work. I tried it and it creates confusion on MailerLite's part, since the site can't seem to figure out which name to associate with each email address. 

Plus, I don't need new subscribers. I don't even know if I'll ever send another newsletter out. And I'm getting sick of everyone in the world getting my book for free. If I wanted that, I'd just set it as a free book on Amazon and be done with it.

While VRO can certainly find readers, the site has some definite drawbacks. I'm estimating that by this point I've gotten approximately 150 ARC readers (yes), and one review, which I haven't read. Its FAQs state that it does remind readers to leave reviews. I don't know if that's true or not, but if so, reminders don't work. 

Its biggest drawback is a lack of transparency. I searched and searched for a means of contact and only found one by pulling up the privacy policy (out of desperation). In it was the site's sole reference to an email address. I'm bothered by the fact that there is no simple way to cancel a membership. I'm not even sure I want to cancel, but this torrent of new readers can't continue. What I'd like to do is pause. I may (but probably not) want to use them for a new book, which I did learn would cost me extra money to do. Am I supposed to just accept new readers for the same book forever? Why?

So I'm leaning toward canceling. Along with that, of course, I will need to cancel my BookSprout membership, which VRO points its readers toward in order to download the ARC. Ugh. Chalk both of these subscriptions up to stupidity. 

I want out. Out of marketing all together. 

Marketing doesn't work. Nothing works. I'm done with it. In fact, I can't wait to finish Second Chance and not market it. Self-publishing is supposed to be about control. Well, there's your control: I choose not to market. How many reviews will I get from not marketing? About the same number I'm getting now, but it won't cost me a penny. Plus, I don't care about reviews anymore. I'm only writing to please one person ~ me.