Having just self-published a book that capped out at 10 sales, yes.
For me, the hardest problem is even getting the word out. I’ve used a few different platforms to get my book in front of people. And by and large, the ones who start it also finish it. But even giving away content, it is surprisingly hard to connect to an audience of any size.
Pick any kind of writing, and you’ll find the marketplace is incredibly crowded. There is so much content vying for a finite set of eyeballs. And it’s not just other writers; you’re competing with all other uses of leisure time: Netflix, Fortnite, Twitter, TikTok, hell, even Tinder
I think you have to enjoy writing because it scratches your own itch. If you’re lucky, maybe you’ll attract a few like-minded followers. If you’re hoping for a more sizable audience, you’d better enjoy marketing.
I'll probably write a blog post at some point covering the things I've tried, which is admittedly not a lot. There are vanishingly few free marketing channels, and paid marketing typically only makes financial sense once you've got at least a few books to increase your revenue per reader. Otherwise your customer acquisition costs exceed your margins.
If you're writing fiction, the best freebie I've found is sending advance review copies through Voracious Readers Only. They limit you to twenty without paying, but that at least got me a pair of reviews on Goodreads (sadly nothing on Amazon).
If you have specific questions, I'll answer them to the best of my ability. Whether you want to take advice from the guy who only sold ten copies is up to you.
For me, the hardest problem is even getting the word out. I’ve used a few different platforms to get my book in front of people. And by and large, the ones who start it also finish it. But even giving away content, it is surprisingly hard to connect to an audience of any size.
Pick any kind of writing, and you’ll find the marketplace is incredibly crowded. There is so much content vying for a finite set of eyeballs. And it’s not just other writers; you’re competing with all other uses of leisure time: Netflix, Fortnite, Twitter, TikTok, hell, even Tinder
I think you have to enjoy writing because it scratches your own itch. If you’re lucky, maybe you’ll attract a few like-minded followers. If you’re hoping for a more sizable audience, you’d better enjoy marketing.