Monday, June 12, 2017

I've Lost the Will...

...to market. 

Don't worry.  My will to live is fine.  My will to write is there, stuck behind my will to edit which is slowly coming back.  (Super slowly.  I think I did a page last night.)  My will to market?  It's pretty much on life support.

You see, the last time I paid for a marketing effort, I didn't even come close to breaking even.  Basically, I sold like 10 books at 99c each which netted me a negative $13.60.  Yeah.  And the residuals I usually get after a sale never appeared.  (Residuals - when people buy other books after buying the one that was on sale.)  The time before that, I barely broke even. 

Anyway, stuff like that puts me in a meh mood.  If you spend more money than you make, you go broke.  Pretty simple maxim.  The other maxim where you have to spend money to make money?  Yeah, there's that, too.  Let's just say that the two maxims are at war and my will to market is the casualty.

To paraphrase a song, it's all about the money money money*.  Have to have money to spend money to make money to have money to... :barf:

Add in the fact that I can't even look at my Twitter feed without wanting to beat someone upside the head with Silver's clue by four, and the fact that I'm talking to myself on Facebook for the most part.  And people who have more pull than I do keep bashing self-publishing...  Yeah, my marketing efforts seem pointless.

Which makes editing the next book seem pointless.  Which creates a traffic jam and stalls writing any other books.  You get the gist.

Don't get me started on reviews.  Seriously.  Don't.

So, anyway, that's where I'm at.  All whine, no cheese.  There will be books in the future, though.  Someday.  Eventually.  When I scrape together the will and the money.

*Yes, I realize the song is NOT about the money.  And yes, I just watched Pitch Perfect yesterday.

4 comments:

  1. Many hugs! That's the main reason I don't market actively. My marketing plan is to write a bunch of books so that when somebody stumbles on one, they want to buy more. I think it's beginning to work: I'm getting more page-reads on Kindle since the release of my sixth novel, eleventh book in all.

    Keep on writing! A page a day will net you a full novel in six months. Besides, I NEED to know where Jo goes next!

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    1. Yay for increased page reads! Thanks for the hugs.

      And don't worry Wish Hits the Fan is written. I just need to finish editing it and then having it edited, get cover art, etc.

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  2. ::HUGS:: You know where to find me. And please keep writing. I'll always buy everything you write! And I'll tell people they need to read you!

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    1. Thanks for the hugs. Yep, I know where to find you and I appreciate your being there for me. But this is something I have to deal with on my own. Thanks for all your support, too. You rock.

      I will keep writing, but it's like 'not eating dessert until you've eaten your dinner'. I can't write new words when I have so much that needs editing. If that makes any sense.

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