The whirlwind of wanting to being seen, but being invisible.
Within a day of me posting my first writing related post on my brand-spankin new instagram of all of 26 followers, bookstagram promoters flooded my DMs.
Now, don't get me wrong, these promoters aren't doing anything wrong. In fact, I was really appreciative of some of the conversations I had with some of them, and even took a couple up on their services to help promote my novel 'To Pine for Pink Opals'.
However, with going over the rates of different promoters, ranging from 9k followers to 850k followers, all quoting me rates from $12 usd for a few instangram stories, to $125 dollars for a full spread on instagram, facebook, and interivew made my head spin.
I was left wondering, 'Is this how you get people to read what you write now?'
For indie authors who self-publish, or use digital-publishing houses like I do with eGlobal Creative Publishing , trying to get your book read and reviewed online relies heavily on reaching out to friends and family, and other fellow authors to help boost your book.
I soon found myself inundated with the pressure of taking advantage of these influencers' promotional services.
I even made a spreadsheet (I know) to keep track of them all, and even though I only ended up putting the relevant ones on my spreadsheet, even a smallest of small fish like me still had over TWENTY SEVEN different bookstagrammers or book reviewers actively messaging me at once.
My brain is burning.
It was a lot for someone like me, who in 2020 deactivated and deleted all my social media accounts aside from Linked In and Wechat.
I felt the pressure of having to give these bookstagrammers an answer, and I honestly haven't made up my mind how I feel about using promotions like this.
On one hand, I feel like I've definitely spent $30 on more useless things (like a shampoo and conditioner that didn't work). Shouldn't I try to do anything to get readers to choose my book over thousands and thousands of others?
On the other hand, it feels like cheating, or cheap. Paying people to help people read my book when I what I really want is for people to stumble across it, like a lead in a bookstore rom-com.
Again, I am NOT against using bookstagrammers, or any other promotional tools. So far I've used one and I really liked the instagram story and post they did for my book. I think it even resulted in a small boost of traffic to my book on Webnovel.
I just am new to being a published author, and I just really want people to read what I write, and like it.
I am just really struggling with the pressure of 'keeping up' and figuring out how much money I should yeet out of my Paypal account to help me chase my dream.
Yet another day being blown around in the Paper Hurricane. I think I need another energy drink.
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