[Sam Frank]

We are not good at deciding if a book is going to sell. We can put a lot of effort into writing it. This book is so good that we pay for services such as editing, book covers, etc. Then we publish it, and it gets very few sales or maybe none.

I had one novel that I wrote that I loved and still love since I read it from time to time. However, it sold few copies, or maybe none. I couldn't believe it, so I changed the tittle and book cover and still no change. So, I gave up and realized that some books just don't sell. Some of my other books that I wasn't that fond of sold though.

Have you written books that don't sell?

 

[Anarchist]

You start a lot of threads.

 

[Sam Frank]

You start a lot of threads.

That is true. More people should start threads.

 

[jb1111]

Yeah. The ones I seemed to enjoy writing the most sold few copies. They still sell, but not as much as other titles.

That's how you figure out what your readers want, I guess. Go by what sold.

 

[Madeline2015]

That is true. More people should start threads.

Nah, I think this is your issue and why you might be having issues selling books. You seem to spend more time online posting questions than writing. If that's the case, yes, books will definitely not sell. For example, I've been in my writing cave for days. Wrote FOUR books in about 6 days. Some in one day. I write fast and I outline PLUS I put in the work. I buckled down and did nothing but write for days because I'm working on next year's schedule and beyond. So maybe others who haven't been posting much are doing what I've been doing... writing. It's fine to post all you want of course but you keep talking about your books not selling and maybe part of that is you seem to spend a lot of time asking questions on forums instead of writing and then wondering why others aren't doing the same. Again, maybe they are... I don't know. Writing?

 

[Ed Nelson]

Nah, I think this is your issue and why you might be having issues selling books. You seem to spend more time online posting questions than writing. If that's the case, yes, books will definitely not sell. For example, I've been in my writing cave for days. Wrote FOUR books in about 6 days. Some in one day. I write fast and I outline PLUS I put in the work. I buckled down and did nothing but write for days because I'm working on next year's schedule and beyond. So maybe others who haven't been posting much are doing what I've been doing... writing. It's fine to post all you want of course but you keep talking about your books not selling and maybe part of that is you seem to spend a lot of time asking questions on forums instead of writing and then wondering why others aren't doing the same. Again, maybe they are... I don't know. Writing?

With an insane writing schedule like that life will catch up, either quality will go down or you will burn out. As to posting threads this is my first, so not overdoing. I'm retired and choose to write a book every four months. Best I have done is three weeks so my hat is off to you on that issue. Books will sell if you have good advertising, I don't. Books will sell if you have a large fan base that was built up over time, I do. Your work ethic has nothing to do with why his books don't sell.

 

[Becca Mills]

If another member's threads are unwelcome to you, don't open them. You can also use the forum software to put another member on ignore. You can also report another member if their posts seem in some way abusive. But telling them publically or via PM not to post here, or to post less, is not okay.

 

[hopecartercan]

One of the books that I've written that I like the best actually doesn't sell very well. But I still love that book.

 

[Patty Jansen]

Selling is a comparative, transitive and variable verb.

Compared to Harry Potter, nothing "sells". If you always compare yourself to bestsellers (or compare full stop, to anything), you're always going to feel resentful and depressed. Quit worrying about the outliers.

Selling is a transitive verb, because you sell the book. If you don't do anything, it's highly unlikely the book will just magically sell itself.

Selling is variable because there are many factors that make sales go up and down like the age of the book, promotions you've run, other new books in the series, the list is endless. It's more useful to look at lifetime income of a book than to look at rankings or current sales.

 

[chrisliberty2019]

I only compare my books to earlier editions of my books, otherwise, I'd go crazy. The first edition of my book was through a small traditional publishing house. Throughout the three years the book was under contract to them, it garnered 9 reviews. When I got my rights back, I released a 2nd edition 4 months ago, was able to do my own promotion, and it has 29 reviews. So this edition is doing much better than the first. That's progress.

 

[jb1111]

Hey, the OP has been at this game since 2011 (I think he said). So he starts a few threads.... Keeps the forum active. Maybe he's taking a break from writing. I know I did, due to circumstances beyond my control.

 

[Decon]

Yeah, it's strange how some new release books just don't get off the ground, even after a marketing effort that has worked on other books. The reasons are many, and all you can do is to try and see if it's something that can be rectified.

I think I have around 11 books, but of those the only ones that sell to any degree are a trilogy which I market. The other books do nothing, but most have had their day of sales over the years. They do sell if I market them, but not in enough numbers to make a profit, so i let them languish to pick up the odd sale.

 

[Sam Frank]

Nah, I think this is your issue and why you might be having issues selling books. You seem to spend more time online posting questions than writing. If that's the case, yes, books will definitely not sell. For example, I've been in my writing cave for days. Wrote FOUR books in about 6 days. Some in one day. I write fast and I outline PLUS I put in the work. I buckled down and did nothing but write for days because I'm working on next year's schedule and beyond. So maybe others who haven't been posting much are doing what I've been doing... writing. It's fine to post all you want of course but you keep talking about your books not selling and maybe part of that is you seem to spend a lot of time asking questions on forums instead of writing and then wondering why others aren't doing the same. Again, maybe they are... I don't know. Writing?

Wow! I am impressed. At the rate of four books in a week that will be 104 books this year. Even if you sell them for 99 cents you will get rich. I would suggest that you raise the price then you will get richer. I have published more books than 104, but it took me longer since I spent time developing my characters and events. Most of the time my books sell fine except for a few that were written too fast. If you are working on new year's schedule, you should double what you wrote this year and will have 208 books published. You are a fast writer so you should have no problem doing that.

My only concern is that you may flood the book market and the rest of the publishers will be pushed out of the market and may become homeless.

 

[Doglover]

One of the books that I've written that I like the best actually doesn't sell very well. But I still love that book.

I started a saga last year which I thought was great and even my narrator told me how great she thought it was (I didn't ask). It does not sell as well as my other books, and after three in the series I've left it to sit for a while because I need to be writing things that sell right now. I will go back to it.

On the other hand I have a series which people love, which sells really well and about which I get emails all the time asking me when the next one is coming out. But I don't like it myself and am finding it a struggle to write book 10. I have also shelved that for a while, done something else. I intend to return to it at some point.

 

[Sam Frank]

Books are like your children. You have great expectations for them, but sometimes they don't amount to much.

 

[Patty Jansen]

Books are like your children. You have great expectations for them, but sometimes they don't amount to much.

If ever I think of my children like this, somebody please shoot me. I don't think of my books like this either. Books (and children) are what they are. You find them a place where they can be happy.

 

[Doglover]

I would never think of any of my children as not amounting to much. Even my son, who was born with brain damage, now has his own flat, his girlfriend, his friends. It might not sound like much to others, but it's a wonderful achievement for him. If your book pleased only a few people, they are worth the effort.

 

[jb1111]

If ever I think of my children like this, somebody please shoot me. I don't think of my books like this either. Books (and children) are what they are. You find them a place where they can be happy.

Even if your children end up in prison? Some parents have to deal with that sort of thing. Didn't happen to me, but to a guy I know.

You still love them, but yeah, sometimes they get involved in things and 'don't amount to much'. Unless prison is amounting to something.

I myself don't personally equate books to having children. They are an artistic (?) accomplishment, they are a result of labor and time, they're not really like children at all.

 

[Decon]

I don't think of my books as children, more like girlfriends past. Great at the time, and mostly thought of with affection, and an equal amount of disappointment for the effort. But all things pass, and so onto the next, in the hope one of them will stick.