Is it my writing...?
When book sales are disappointing
A lot of authors begin conversations with me by saying, "I don't know whether it's because my writing isn't good enough, but..."
The rest of that sentence usually goes on to express the disappointment, frustration or despondency that comes with having ploughed your blood, sweat and tears into a passionate creative endeavour, only to find that others don't seem to care about it in quite the way you'd hoped they would.
In other words, if you have ever wondered to yourself that the reason you're not getting more readers must be something lacking in your writing or storytelling skill, or perhaps your book just isn't "up to standard", then firstly you're not alone in having these doubts.
Secondly, I can tell you right now, it is not because your book isn't good enough. Let that one sink in.
The single biggest reason that you've been disappointed in the lack of readers claiming an interest in your books, is because you haven't figured out exactly who those readers are.
If you don't know who you're speaking to, or who you ought to be speaking to, about your book, then your chances of drawing in readers with your marketing, ads or any promotional activities, is going to be dishearteningly small.
It's great that there are so many marketing tools available to authors now, and SO many social media platforms out there. You're encouraged to have a website and a newsletter list (if you don't, how can you possibly call yourself a real author?!) I'm being tongue in cheek here. But the fact is, you could be reaching your readers and selling books without any of these things in place. Without any instagram or tiktok accounts.
You might have identified that your readers are most likely to be found in your local library on a Saturday afternoon. You arrange to go in and give a talk about being an Author and include a reading. Or you've understood that some of your ideal readers attend an online book club. You arrange to introduce them to your book and answer their questions. You have signed copies from the author to sell. You could be making more sales in one day than if you were posting consistently for months on Instagram with the wrong people following you.
There was an interesting discussion online recently about whether readers buy from seeing social media posts and whether having a big following is an essential.
My answer to this is that no one thing in isolation sells books (or that's the exception rather than the rule.) Book selling is about creating an impression for your readers that your book is familiar, endorsed and to be trusted. Put simply, that your book is very likely to be something they will enjoy or get value from. This effect happens when all of your marketing and promotional activities are working alongside each other - to create the impression for the reader that your book is a safe bet for them.
Identifying who your readers are, or are most likely to be, is absolutely essential as one of the very first steps in this process. Know who you're speaking to with your marketing efforts. Don't allow your energy and time to be wasted in the wrong places, trying to appeal to the wrong readers. (Oh, and this isn't as simple as knowing which genre you're writing in. Or which age group you're targeting. We want to get much more specific than that.)
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