A Disappointing Week

I don't know; would ten copies be too much to ask? I wasn't expecting my book to set the world on fire, but I hoped for at least a middling result ~ not even middling; an "okay' result would suffice. I don't consider three copies sold to be okay.

I don't believe I did anything wrong. I marketed my novel the same as every other author markets a novel. I bought promos (albeit, I refused to spend $100.00 on any one ad), I pasted my wonderful review to my Amazon author page and to Goodreads. I linked to it on X and Facebook and LinkedIn. I created an Instagram story or whatever the hell it's called. I'm out of ideas. 

While I've still got seven promos yet to run, I'd be nuts to expect a different outcome. Maybe I'll just stop looking at my sales report.

The world is awash in spamsters (my original term). I received two instances of engagement ~ one via my website's contact form, from a guy named Willie, who really loves my book (that he hasn't read) and wants to be hired to promote it. It's "neat" how these people grab lines out of a book blurb and (in this case) an author's bio in order to flatter her into laying out more money. Does Willie not think I noticed that he referred to me as "growing up on the prairies of North Dakota"? I guess great minds think alike. A woman contacted me via one of the promo sites, and again, she loved my book (that she hasn't read) and offered me her services. My rule is, anyone who needs to solicit authors must be really bad at what they do.

I'm going to withhold my opinion regarding most promo sites for now, because it's pretty harsh. I'll wait until every promo runs its course. But the fact is, creative types are desperate to latch onto a dream, no matter how far-fetched that dream is; and that's where promo sites rope them in. I knew damn well when I was purchasing some of my ads that I was wasting my money, but I couldn't shake the "what if" question. What if this one actually works? It could happen. (It can't.)

I also take some responsibility for my failure. I refused to price my book at ninety-nine cents or free, but I also have a good rationalization for not doing so. Lots of people are quick to grab a deeply discounted book, but they never read it, much less leave a review. Where would that get me? And frankly, a sparkly new novel deserves respect. What I won't blame myself for is my self-designed book cover. It stands out; it looks great; far better than most professionally designed covers I see. My blurb? Maybe I could improve on it; maybe not, but it has an intriguing opening line. Other than practically (or literally) giving my book away, I did everything right.

There's nothing more I can do.