This is something I wrote to address a fellow author that gave away many copies of their work but was surprised that the promotion yielded only modest sales. After all, writing is like fishing. You never know what you may get on the other end of the line. But, just as you return to fish another day, you will write more.
I have been through that same process of giveaway mystery syndrome. I gave away over 2,000 combined copies of my books and have to date recieved but two reviews. It turns out the two people kind enough to leave feedback actually paid for their ebooks. I am of course grateful for their purchase, but feedback generally yields sales as people gather in curiosity to see for themselves what is intriguing enough to gain such attention. It is not an unfair comparison that one reading a free book, created after many hours of effort by the author and not at least expressing gratitude to the author with feedback is like enjoying a free lunch and leaving no tip. That is why I have adopted the attitude that I am most rewarded that people took the time out of their busy lives to read something I wrote. Sentiment won't put gasoline in the fantasy Ferrari I will probably never own, but I will forever remain grateful that people at least downloaded my writing, which strongly suggests they may read it eventually, and is exposure. So, to that I say thanks to all readers for their interest. In the end, a writer will continue to write, anyway. Fame and fortune are never guaranteed, but the satsfaction of completing another project remains, as does the gratitude for readers that wade through an enormous variety of entertainment options to at last settle into your corner of a world you created. As I have stated before, and to quote Rocky Balboa: "Just keep on punchin, Apollo."
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Rocky Balboa is a appropriate analogy. I sense a lot of authors seem to think that they will make money with their work. Historically, very few authors have. Today, with the Internet, it is very easy to get published. Getting published is no guarantee that anyone will read your work, especially with the time crunch that most people have to take the time to read.
The idea of the starving artist is historically correct. Van Gogh never sold any of his work. Many authors that we consider to be famous only wrote one book that was famous. I'm with you that I think the most important thing is to be read. Like you, I get very few reviews except if I do a tit-for-tat. Reviews don't necessarily help sales either. Whenever I ask people that have read my work, they always say that it is “very good.” I take that with a grain of salt, because most people do not want to say anything bad to your face about how poor your writing is. I did get that from one literary critic, but I understand where he was coming from. In his novel and movie, Thinner, Stephen King cast the villain with the same name as this critic, leading me to believe that King had received some bad reviews from the man, too––and rightly so––considering some of the trash King has produced with his fame.
Like you, I'm going to keep writing and giving them away.
The idea of the starving artist is historically correct. Van Gogh never sold any of his work. Many authors that we consider to be famous only wrote one book that was famous. I'm with you that I think the most important thing is to be read. Like you, I get very few reviews except if I do a tit-for-tat. Reviews don't necessarily help sales either. Whenever I ask people that have read my work, they always say that it is “very good.” I take that with a grain of salt, because most people do not want to say anything bad to your face about how poor your writing is. I did get that from one literary critic, but I understand where he was coming from. In his novel and movie, Thinner, Stephen King cast the villain with the same name as this critic, leading me to believe that King had received some bad reviews from the man, too––and rightly so––considering some of the trash King has produced with his fame.
Like you, I'm going to keep writing and giving them away.
Ron