My Worst Month of Book Sales So Far…What’s Going Wrong? – ESP 8

33 thoughts on “My Worst Month of Book Sales So Far…What’s Going Wrong? – ESP 8”

1. SCAM ALERT: There’s someone targeting people who comment on my videos. If you receive an email from “me” about your book or services, please report it as spam. They are grabbing your email from your YouTube account. Here are directions on how to make your email private:
   -Go to YouTube Studio on your computer.
   -Click Customization on the left menu.
   -Choose the Basic info tab.
   -Scroll down to the Contact info section.
   -Delete the text in the email address box.
   -Click Publish at the top right.

2. So sorry for the downtime in sales and business but thank you so much for sharing. I’m experiencing the same here and I thought I was just alone in this. Your video encouraged me. So thank you again. And I’m rooting for you🎉

   1. I really appreciate that, it means the world to know this helped you feel less alone in it too! 🙌🏻

3. I totally understand how you feel. I hate social media too. I did try it to promote my books but after seeing poor results I just abandoned it. I decided to spend the time on writing instead

4. I do feel for you! The struggle of being an independent artist is hard even without taking care of two kids. Though here’s a fun idea for an experiment: after the 6 month ends (or later), don’t post anything on the socials about the old books (I get that you’ll have to post about the upcoming one) and see if there’s any change in sales😅

   1. I fear I know the results if I did that, and I think it would make me want to pull my hair out 😅

5. Grateful for your transparency! I feel your pain as I am out here trying to sell books too. It’s rough right now. Praying for you as you remain faithful to your work. Don’t quit! Though I understand the desire to do so. Onward. 🙏 🪫🔋

   1. Thank you!

6. Oh Mandi, I’m sorry. I have 2 kids and 3 romcoms that aren’t selling, even after a 50k pr push (self-funded) that went nowhere. I’ve been wanting to give up too ❤.

   1. Oh! I feel your pain!

7. Try your best not to quit. You are inspiring so many people.

   1. Thank you so much, I really appreciate the encouragement! 🥰

8. Thanks for sharing your experiences, Book marketing and social media seems like an uphill battle for indie authors to find new readers. I’m already on other platforms and don’t think Instagram is in my reader demographic wheelhouse.

   1. It definitely can feel like an uphill battle!

   2. @MandiLynnWrites good luck to you and enjoy the time with your children. I have three in college and recall fondly our time together traveling as a family.

9. I sold 1 book last month, so you sold more than me! ❤😂

   1. We’ve got this 😂

10. Your commitment to productivity and your willingness to work hard are both very impressive and admirable. I honestly think a huge part of the issue is that people are so dumbed down at this point. Most people aren’t reading actual books. Young adults at this point have no attention span for an entire novel. Things have changed SO much in the 13 years since I started self-publishing books. Peoples’ brains have changed. In the beginning, there were times I made $4K a month just in sales. Now, despite the fact that I have added more titles since then (arguably better than that first book), I’m lucky to make $30 a month in sales. Personally beginning to think the way forward is to write short stories and read them aloud on YouTube (check channels like Sleslor. In the beginning the content sounded possibly? authentic but most of what he posts lately has got to be written by AI – though he is reading it; it’s not an AI voice – yet I still find myself playing it in the background while I work on projects associated with my other income streams). Sleslor, for instance, popped up in my suggested videos this past spring. He’d only had his channel up for a week and already had like 40K subscribers. That’s what caught my attention; those numbers. He’s at over 300K subscribers now and it’s only been like 6 months. I’m finishing up one last novelette (because it’s part of a series that actually sells a few copies every week) but after that I think I’m going to seriously consider a storytelling channel instead. Fantasy and dystopian stuff still seems to have a market in terms of books, but I hate both of those (lol!) and will never write anything in either genre. Idk, girl…the last of us who care about real storytelling ( but still have to use our time on things that will actually generate income) may have to pivot soon.

11. I will say a big shift for me in social media was making it more fun. Admittedly, I’m a nobody no one knows about, so there’s not a huge risk for me, but I’ve said I hate social media for years, and literally felt the same (I could delete it tomorrow and feel oh-so-freeeeee), but I was watching Mary Mecham talk about marketing on social media, and she said something that kind of exploded my brain, “Make sure it’s fun. People can tell if you hate posting” (I am paraphrasing).

    So it might be worth looking at posts and seeing what looks fun. If something is trending, but I think it’s dumb, I don’t do it. If I see someone do something, and I think “Oh, that could be a fun way to talk about my book,” I do it. Or if I get an idea that *I* would think is hilarious, I do it–sometimes it gets 12 views (yes, 12), but it wasn’t a waste of time because I had fun doing it. It still feels like throwing spaghetti at the wall to a degree, but it’s more fun and I don’t hate social media marketing anymore.

    1. The past week or so I’ve been focusing on posting in a way that feels fun to me. The good news is there’s definitely an increase in views, but it hasn’t translated to sales yet.

12. That’s true it isn’t going to work if you don’t take your time

13. If it’s any consolation this is hitting most of us right now

    1. That definitely makes me feel a little better knowing I’m not alone! 😅

    2. @MandiLynnWrites It’s been the same with me!

14. Greatly appreciated the pep talk at the end 🙏💛

    1. I’m so glad it resonated with you! 🥰

15. I understand that for trial reels, if it’s been posted already, it’s not going to be shown to more people. Are you finding this true if you are just reposting things you think are already working?

16. Thanks for being honest. I have been writing for over 40 years, have made very little money, but I still have that love of writing. Don’t give up. You are a great encouragement to writers.

17. Hello from Australia! First, I want to say that I’ve been watching your videos for the past four months as I have started writing my own self-help book on addiction. Your honesty regarding the struggles of becoming an author is truly inspiring and sobering.

    Since I only use YouTube, I can’t see your other social media, but I have two observations from watching other authors in this space: 1) Many creators use the exact same strategies; it might be worth trying something “out of the box” or “against the grain” to stand out. 2) I see many authors flooding the internet with daily posts (which you mentioned you tried). From my perspective, that often leads to burnout on your part and can feel like I’m being spammed to death, which pushes me away as a viewer.

    You made a great point about daily posting feeling robotic, in my opinion if it feels robotic to you, it likely has become robotic. I might love an author’s work, but I don’t necessarily want to hear from them every single day; eventually, it becomes noise.

    Your YouTube videos, however, are spaced well, feel authentic, and offer high quality. That quality will always beat a “quantity-first” approach. You’ve stayed true to yourself, which is why people stay subscribed. I’ve seen other authors fall into the trap of posting daily crap which well to be honest turns me off the author and I end up unsubscribing because the posts become silly, lack quality and are just routine. Your email list is growing and is a fantastic achievement for your next book. Best of luck with your writing endeavours; keep up the great work!

18. This is cool. This was a lot to share, and I’m glad you’re not giving up. We need creative people now more than ever.

19. Sobering. Honest. Love!

    1. I feel your frustration. Thanks for sharing with us. You are not alone.

20. I’ve followed your kickstarter!

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