After Avrin and I published our novella, Coup De Grăce, sales were amazing. We sold 9 copies within the first few days, but then, nothing. Our sales have literally come to a standstill and even with Coup De Grăce on Kindle Unlimited, we still don't even have page reads.
Here are some of the thoughts running through my head:
1. Is Coup De Grăce a terrible novella? Do people hate It?
2. Have I done everything in my power to promote it?
3. Do I really just not have any friends who are willing to read my work?
I think the biggest kicker, and I already knew this, so I shouldn't be surprised, but I really thought with my visibility on social media, we would sell more copies. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying this to be conceited, but there have been a number of friends books from social media that I have purchased and read, just because they were my friends. But, I get it, the writing community on Twitter is not to sell books, it's to connect with other authors, so I shouldn't be surprised.
I found myself hovering over the sales page and the reviews for Coup De Grăce, literally checking multiple times a day, but I can't be a helicopter author anymore. So, if you find yourself in my situation, here are a few things that I'm doing to keep myself motivated and distracted.
1. I recently read that once you publish something, you need to prepare to publish again within 18 months, so I have strapped on my seatbelt and I'm on the fast track to getting my next novel ready.
2. I've let my anxiety about Coup De Grăce go. I know that we wrote a good novella, and I'm refusing to let anyone diminish that. I never expected to get rich or become a best seller after publishing one work, so why am I setting my standards so high?
3. I'm going to focus on building my author platform and get everyone excited about my next novel. If you want to be a successful author, people need to know who you are. So I'm putting myself out there. I will try to participate in more writing and author events.
4. I have really dove into getting some of my short stories published. In the past 2 weeks, I have submitted 2 stories for AFOW and 1 to Reedsy.com. If I can get my name out there and get people to read my other stories, maybe they will be more interested in reading Coup De Grăce.
So, if you find yourself in my situation, just take a deep breath, forget your KDP login for a few weeks, and refocus yourself on your writing. Don't let lack of sales get you down and don't let bad reviews diminish your work. You've accomplished something just by finishing and publishing a novel. You are an author now. Live that moment and don't let anyone take it away from you.
