I Really Don't Get It

I don't know why I bother with Reddit. Habit, I guess. I subscribed to the r/self-publish sub, hoping to learn some marketing tips, but that hasn't panned out, because there really aren't any tips that work. All I come away with from reading the posts is that I'm a colossal failure. Even brand spanking new authors who aren't even good writers make FAR MORE in sales than I do. "I just published last week, and I've only gotten 54 sales. Am I doing something wrong?"

I've gotten 86 sales from all eleven of my books combined, and once I subtract the copies I purchased for myself, that number is reduced to 76. In nine years.

I really don't get it. 

It's not that I haven't accepted that reality; I just want to know why--why I'm the publishing world's biggest loser. I'll stack my writing up against anyone's, but then again, how would anyone know if my writing is good or bad if they haven't read any of it?

Granted, hardly anyone purchased Running From Herself until I paid for a professional cover design. That was my mistake. But I've advertised on Amazon since then, and my ad only generated two sales. For a while I was posting on social media regularly, but I'm 99% certain that no one has bought my book after seeing the cover on social media.

The blurb? I think, after about ten or so iterations, it's pretty good. I was careful not to try to deceive anyone about what the story is really about--there's a lot of lead-up that features the town of Chance before we get to the "big break" part. I didn't want anyone diving in, thinking it was going to be, "She hit Nashville and took the music world by storm". No, that's not the progression of the story. I could have skimmed over the first quarter of the book in the blurb, but that's not how I roll. I like to know what I'm buying before I lay down my money, and I assume others do, too.

So, it's neither the cover nor the blurb (I'm thinking). 

As for my other covers, sure, I made them with Canva, but they're decent:

 

A few could be improved upon, but most are just fine. They're not "sparkly"; I suppose their finishes could be described as matte, but the designs themselves are certainly adequate. 

Is it that these young guys/gals just have a lot of friends who'll buy their book? That can't be the entire explanation. Who has 50-100 friends?

Admittedly, only three of my books are full novels, and I'm well aware that hardly anyone goes for novellas. I cop to that error in judgement. Still, two bucks is too much to spend to take a chance? Maybe. But a Starbucks tall cafe latte costs $5.72 and no one balks at paying that. One of my novellas will last longer than a 12-ounce cup of coffee.

Women don't like reading stories with a female protagonist? Pretty doubtful on that theory. 

I'm "doing marketing wrong"? What's the right way to do it? I've done Amazon and Facebook ads, I've done BookBub ads, I've tried virtually every animal-named promo site. I've inundated social media users with post after post after post. I've done BookSprouts and other ARC-specific sites. I joined author groups that encourage reviews--never got any. I've done LibraryThing giveaways. Fussy Librarian, BargainBooksy. The only thing that EVER worked (to a degree) was FreeBooksy, but giving books away does nothing for my bottom line, and nobody even reads the free books they grab.

Newsletters? Someone's gotta be a fan of your work before they're willing to subscribe to your newsletter, and I have no fans, since no one has bought any of my work.

Maybe it really is the blurb. Process of elimination and all that. Do I need to pay a professional to write one? Another expense? What it that doesn't work? How do I know that person's product won't be worse than mine? 

It just makes no sense that everyone but me can sell books, especially after the money I've spent (that I really couldn't afford, but I did it anyway). I've bookmarked probably 50 different sites and articles in my Book Promotion folder--I'm 0 for 50. 

One of the enumerated "tips" experts always include in their lists is, "maybe your book's just not good". First of all, how insulting. And second, what bullshit! How would anyone know if a book is good or bad without reading it? Telepathically? "Well, I peeked at the cover, so I know your book stinks."

Frankly, I'm angry. I never expected to just magically sell books. I've worked and worked at it. I'm angry because they always say hard work pays off. Well, it doesn't. No, this isn't me feeling sorry for myself. It's just, would someone PLEASE tell me what I'm doing wrong?

Some kid who barely knows proper grammar or how to write a compelling narrative still blows me out of the water with his sales. How? They never write how they managed to accomplish it, instead they complain about their sales "not being enough". Try eight copies on for size if you think your 50 to 100 aren't enough.  

I think it's time for me to bow out of Reddit. For my own sanity.