This time last year. . .

(An end-of-year post for my self-published author friends.)

.  .  . The Unlived Lives of Raymond Quinn had been out six weeks. I had coerced and threatened all my friends and family to buy it. Total sales by the end of 2024: 47.

Sales from January 1, 2025, to February 28, 2025: 3

Sales to date for Raymond, and the sequel, The Unlived Lives of Shelly Bennett: 1,572.

What changed?

Well, for starters, I was out of friends and family. If I wanted to sell more books, I would have to find more of each or learn how to sell to people I didn't know who didn't know me.

I completed the Click Testing for Authors course at the end of February 2025. I began advertising on Facebook the following week, and on Instagram in April. I thought I would also place ads on Amazon, possibly LinkedIn, and/or Goodreads.

​I don't want to bad-mouth anyone, but when it comes to selling books, Meta (Facebook and Instagram) works, the others .  .  . 🙄

Speculative question for (authors) today.

If the book in this image existed (it doesn't), would you read it?