Simmering

I'm not experiencing the five stages of grief right now, but more so the five stages of annoyance. I feel like I'm maybe harping on this too much, but it's my blog, so I get to say what I want to say.

When I dived into marketing full bore, I became obsessed with getting ARC readers and hence, reviews. Silly me, I assumed the two went together. I was vaguely familiar with ARC sites, but of course they weren't free, and I was trepidacious about spending money that I suspected would be wasted. So I went the free route ~ joining ARC reader groups on Goodreads and even trying out a couple of Facebook groups. I only got a smattering of readers, but most of them at least left reviews.

As my desperation ramped up, I finally laid down money for two sites, BookSprout and Voracious Readers Only. I'd used VRO's initial free twenty-reader offer for Lies and Love, and those twenty people popped up the very first day. While I didn't get any reviews out of it, I knew that review percentages are historically low; generally about 2%. If I had more ARC readers, I'd get more reviews, right? So I took VRO up on its "evergreen" program ~ as many people who wanted the book got the book. 

My stages of annoyance?

• Wow, look at all the readers I'm getting! This place really works!
• No reviews yet? Well, maybe no one has finished reading. It's early, after all.
• Sure, I don't have any reviews, but I have tons of people to add to my subscriber list.
• Look! Ten more readers today!
• Good lord, please make it stop!

Yes, I know I need to cancel. No, I haven't done it yet. I've gotta dig through my notes to find out when my first month ends so I don't end up paying for another. I remember that in a blog post a while back, I sang VRO's praises. That was when I was still in Stage 1. I'm not about to knock the service; not at all. It does what it purports to do ~ find readers. I know, however, that it's not right for me; not when I feel I'm about to reach my boiling point. 

July is going to be my transition month. I'll finish out my two paid commitments, and unfortunately I've got that LibraryThing giveaway that lasts the entire month. I'm fairly certain my promos have all run their course. Then I'm out of it. I guess I'll need to send out an August newsletter, because one person did enter my ebook giveaway and I'll need to acknowledge the winner ~ yes, I only got one entry. I might have to make up a couple of names, since I was giving away three copies. But that'll probably be the end of monthly newsletters, unless something happens out of the blue.

What a relief it'll be to opt out of the marketing game. It's been nothing but stress and disappointment.