# I am disappoint (book sales) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 17, 2015, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-disappoint-book-sales/717912 "2015-04-17T14:42:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2015, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-disappoint-book-sales/717912/1 "2015-04-17T14:42:47Z")
My second book (it’s been out for about 7 weeks) hasn’t caught on like I hoped it would. I’ve mostly marketed (if you could call it that) on social media and various message boards (including this one!). The first book didn’t catch on in terms of sales either, but I thought this second one was a lot better and would be much more attractive to potential readers (fantasy-satire and homage to the genre in general and a very popular series in particular). So I’m a little sad and frustrated. Still writing a third book, though. I resolve to continue to write, even if no one buys my books. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2015, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-disappoint-book-sales/717912/2 "2015-04-17T15:34:46Z")
Keep at it. It’s damned hard to rise above the noise on Amazon. Can you re-post the link to your book page? I’d like to take a look. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2015, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-disappoint-book-sales/717912/3 "2015-04-17T15:43:18Z")
> [@ddsun](#): > > Keep at it. It’s damned hard to rise above the noise on Amazon. Thanks. 🙂 I am! > [@](#): > > Can you re-post the link to your book page? I’d like to take a look. Here is [Amazon](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00U2L6SU8/) and [Goodreads](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25017808-the-pen-is-mightier). Thanks for your interest! ---
**Author:** ![Fluffy\_PickleSniffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/77aa72/32.png) [@Fluffy\_PickleSniffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fluffy_PickleSniffer)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2015, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-disappoint-book-sales/717912/4 "2015-04-17T15:46:03Z")
I’d like to see your books too - link please! 🙂 It isn’t easy… I have four books out there, but last I looked the total sales was 16 books. Like you, fantasy genre, but self-publishing is hard. I write because I love it, so if the books don’t sell, oh well, but if they take off someday - YAY! But I’m not really banking on it. It’s just my side hobby. 🙂 Good luck and I hope your books do start taking off soon for you! Give us a link! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Fluffy\_PickleSniffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/77aa72/32.png) [@Fluffy\_PickleSniffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fluffy_PickleSniffer)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2015, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-disappoint-book-sales/717912/5 "2015-04-17T15:55:06Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Thanks. 🙂 I am! > > Here is [Amazon](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00U2L6SU8/) and [Goodreads](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25017808-the-pen-is-mightier). Thanks for your interest! PERFECT! Just bought both books - can’t wait to read them and will put up a review for each when I finish! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2015, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-disappoint-book-sales/717912/6 "2015-04-17T15:55:47Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > My second book (it’s been out for about 7 weeks) hasn’t caught on like I hoped it would. I’ve mostly marketed (if you could call it that) on social media and various message boards (including this one!). The first book didn’t catch on in terms of sales either, but I thought this second one was a lot better and would be much more attractive to potential readers (fantasy-satire and homage to the genre in general and a very popular series in particular). > > So I’m a little sad and frustrated. Still writing a third book, though. I resolve to continue to write, even if no one buys my books. Problem is that the same thing that enables you to publish with such ease also enables a zillion other people to do the same. So you can get your book published, but it gets drowned out in a cacaphony of other people publishing their own books, and similarly publicizing them on social media and various message boards. Good luck. ---
**Author:** ![Macca26](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/13edae/32.png) [@Macca26](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Macca26)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2015, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-disappoint-book-sales/717912/7 "2015-04-17T16:10:44Z")
I know it’s crazy in the sense of “give away stuff for free?!” but I’ve heard that putting a short story or short novella on amazon for free will help pique interest in the rest of your books. Readers will have a sample of your work and from there become interested in your other books (which naturally they must pay for). Spend a buck to get a buck, I suppose. But what with everyone being able to self-publish these days, it is a way to get in above a lot of other people competing for the same attention. Are anthologies for short stories still a thing? That might help get your name out there too. I’ve looked up authors whose short story for an anthology I’ve liked. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2015, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-disappoint-book-sales/717912/8 "2015-04-17T16:12:09Z")
> [@Fluffy\_PickleSniffer](#): > > PERFECT! Just bought both books - can’t wait to read them and will put up a review for each when I finish! 🙂 Thanks so much! I really hope you enjoy them! For now, it’s a side-hobby with me too. But I hope one day to be an actual professional writer, if I can just get past this “can’t quit my job to write full time until I’m selling lots of books/can’t sell lots of books until I quit my job and write full time” catch-22. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2015, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-disappoint-book-sales/717912/9 "2015-04-17T16:14:21Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > Problem is that the same thing that enables you to publish with such ease also enables a zillion other people to do the same. So you can get your book published, but it gets drowned out in a cacaphony of other people publishing their own books, and similarly publicizing them on social media and various message boards. Yeah, but my book is better than those zillion others 🙂 > [@](#): > > Good luck. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2015, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-disappoint-book-sales/717912/10 "2015-04-17T16:15:27Z")
That might well be true. But no one has time to read through a zillion books to figure out which is best. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2015, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-disappoint-book-sales/717912/11 "2015-04-17T16:18:28Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > That might well be true. But no one has time to read through a zillion books to figure out which is best. I know, I was joking. I know that very few indie authors ever break out of the pack. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2015, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-disappoint-book-sales/717912/12 "2015-04-17T16:24:11Z")
> [@Macca26](#): > > I know it’s crazy in the sense of “give away stuff for free?!” but I’ve heard that putting a short story or short novella on amazon for free will help pique interest in the rest of your books. Readers will have a sample of your work and from there become interested in your other books (which naturally they must pay for). Spend a buck to get a buck, I suppose. But what with everyone being able to self-publish these days, it is a way to get in above a lot of other people competing for the same attention. For Amazon, unfortunately you have to sign up for their Kindle Direct, which means I have to remove it from all the other online retailers in order to do one for free. I have done a couple of giveaway contests on Goodreads, with a lot of interest (but I don’t know how much interest turned into sales). > [@](#): > > Are anthologies for short stories still a thing? That might help get your name out there too. I’ve looked up authors whose short story for an anthology I’ve liked. This is probably a good idea – I have a few short story ideas in my head, and at some point I’ll try to get them down on the computer. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2015, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-disappoint-book-sales/717912/13 "2015-04-18T04:17:13Z")
If the thread title is any indication . . . perhaps the problem is your poor command of English. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Robert163](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4af34b/32.png) [@Robert163](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robert163)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2015, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-disappoint-book-sales/717912/14 "2015-04-18T04:50:37Z")
purchased 😃 ---
**Author:** ![yo\_han\_go](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yo_han_go/32/130_2.png) [@yo\_han\_go](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yo_han_go)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2015, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-disappoint-book-sales/717912/15 "2015-04-18T10:02:29Z")
I see a bit of guerrilla marketing is allowed here, so I’ll use this topic to shamelessly promote my masterpiece e-book. In return raw data. I’m selling through [Smashwords](https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/492780). It says 100 copies sold in Q1. About as expected. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2015, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-disappoint-book-sales/717912/16 "2015-04-18T11:20:10Z")
> [@Robert163](#): > > purchased 😃 I hope you enjoy it! ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2015, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-disappoint-book-sales/717912/17 "2015-04-18T12:24:29Z")
Yep. The first thing I point out to anybody who asks me about self-publishing is that the wall of apathy is astounding. This is why I’m going with the “writes books in series/serials, make the first one free” approach. Nothing moves a title like “free”. On my KDP Select giveaway days I could easily give away 100 copies of a book a day–sometimes as many as 250. Sales? Not so much. ---
**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2015, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-disappoint-book-sales/717912/18 "2015-04-19T05:42:31Z")
> [@Macca26](#): > > I know it’s crazy in the sense of “give away stuff for free?!” but I’ve heard that putting a short story or short novella on amazon for free will help pique interest in the rest of your books. Readers will have a sample of your work and from there become interested in your other books (which naturally they must pay for). Spend a buck to get a buck, I suppose. But what with everyone being able to self-publish these days, it is a way to get in above a lot of other people competing for the same attention. > > Are anthologies for short stories still a thing? That might help get your name out there too. I’ve looked up authors whose short story for an anthology I’ve liked. I have clients who completely give away a first book for free, but then they have followup books already done that are promoted in the free one. They also promote with social media in the ways that make sense, targeting relevant interests and personas, similar authors, etc. So, if I wanted to do it myself, I would probably write a series of some sort and have it all done, all followup marketing (links to other books, newsletters, social media profiles already fleshed out with followers, etc) setup and then release the 1st one for free and invest in advertising my free book. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2015, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-disappoint-book-sales/717912/19 "2015-04-19T12:16:37Z")
Maybe it’s just me, of course, but every time I see this thread it gives me a giggle. I mean an author complaining of poor book sales with the title, “I am disappoint”, that’s kinda funny don’t ya think? Days pass, no one considers changing/correcting the thread title? That’s even funnier! It makes me giggle a little more each day it remains. I can’t believe no one has come into the thread to ask if they spell checked the book? Probably just me! Good Luck with your book sales regardless, hoping you hit the best sellers list! (But thanks for all the silly giggles too!) ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2015, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-disappoint-book-sales/717912/20 "2015-04-19T12:28:30Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > Maybe it’s just me, of course, but every time I see this thread it gives me a giggle. I mean an author complaining of poor book sales with the title, “I am disappoint”, that’s kinda funny don’t ya think? > > Days pass, no one considers changing/correcting the thread title? That’s even funnier! It makes me giggle a little more each day it remains. I can’t believe no one has come into the thread to ask if they spell checked the book? > > Probably just me! > > Good Luck with your book sales regardless, hoping you hit the best sellers list! > > (But thanks for all the silly giggles too!) “I am disappoint” is a [silly meme](http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/son-i-am-disappoint) from a few years ago, and my book has a lot of fun with internet fandom and internet humor. I’m glad it gave you some giggles though, even if it was for the wrong reason! 🙂 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-disappoint-book-sales/717912.md?page=2)