Slightly grumpy at the minute as, cards on the table, sales of all three books seem to have disappeared completely in the last couple of weeks, so I thought I’d have a bit of a self-pitying moan. Hey, why not right, and being frank, barely any bugger is reading this either unless I’m posting reviews or bits about images, when I get a very healthy temporary spike, so there’s no harm in wallowing for a day. This was going to be a post about the next stage in the covers process, and that will be along shortly, but as this blog is mainly about the writing process I thought I should include feeling crap about writing, as that’s a bit part of the writing process for most of us.
There are always peaks and troughs in both mood and sales for a writer, but what often seems the most disconcerting is the fact that people reading shows little correlation to promotion or marketing activity. During times I do nothing and there are no reviews, I seem to get sales, while actively promoting, getting lovely reviews (which is always so difficult) doesn’t seem to translate into people reading my books.
I know I set myself an additional challenge by having three novels (in very different markets) at the same time, where other authors can put their weight behind promoting one, but as Twitter is one of my channels, I also try not to annoy my followers with repeats of the same pitches. I work on the assumption that as my following is modest and only grows very slowly, that anyone likely to purchase or read one of my books probably already has, so unless the following grows there isn’t a huge benefit in repeating adverts there. The algorithm of Twitter, which is inexplicable to all, doesn’t seem to like my promotions either. An attempt at a pitch with reviews got a single like, and as I know I have supportive friends there too, I’m guessing it wasn’t seen by most. I’m wondering whether to try Amazon adverts, and if that might make a difference?
I don’t know what to do about these things, so thought I’d have a little moan and get the frustration out that way, into the ether. I shall then be my usual chirpy, optimistic (ahem), delightful self again by the next post!
Stay safe
Kit