This article will ignore the common mistakes I’ve already explored elsewhere, like not having a professional cover or not using a beta reader. Rather, I’d like to dive deeper into smaller things that you may not have thought about and that are not frequently discussed in forums. Let’s go.

You didn’t pick a unique series title.

Unfortunately, this advice won’t help you if you have already published your title. This is more for those who haven’t published yet.

There are thousands upon thousands of titles in your genre. Many of them are very similar, often following in the footsteps of more established authors. Hence all the books called “A Noun of Noun and Noun” in fantasy land.

Your job, then, is to find something that is catchy and memorable but aligns with your genre and the overall tone of your book.

“Eirenic Verses” is a very unusual phrase that cannot be confused with anything else, so Google recognizes to provide only information on my series.

I even catch stray website visitors from people who just want to know what “eirenic” means. That is the whole reason I created my article on names in the Eirenic Verses: to capture those specific searches. I saw that a few people were hunting for that in my Google Site Kit keywords, so I formed the post around what people wanted to find.

And “eirenic” is a very old-timey word, so it fits well into the fantasy genre. It wouldn’t do well in any other niche.

You are pricing too high.

A while ago, I came across someone who was coping hard about the fact that they had sold only 13 books – then revealed that each of their five books was only about 32,000 words (so about 125 pages) and was priced at $5.

Well, no wonder. This person was expecting people to pay tradpub prices for a novella from a completely unknown, self-published author.

Pretty much every time I see someone complaining about no sales, they also have a ridiculous price for their books. One person I saw had only sold two books in a month – and their debut novel was priced at $7.99. It had a self-made cover and wasn’t hosted on a major platform, automatically limiting its reach.

Look, I get it. You spent a lot of time on this book and want it to be taken seriously. You also likely spent a lot of money on the book and want to get your investment back.

But here’s the deal. Your readers don’t care how much money you spent to get a book in their hands (or on their e-readers). They are not obligated to recoup your losses for you.

In fact, you likely won’t recoup your losses at all. Publishing nowadays is a labor of love. Unless you’re ruthlessly writing to market, you are not going to become a millionaire.

I have sold over 1,200 books now. This is ten times what 90% of self-published authors sell in their whole lifetime, done in about 19 months.

How? I’m not some magical guru and I don’t spend a million dollars every month on marketing. It’s because my books are professional grade and priced at $2.

All my books. Even the 200+ page ones.

My first book is only 126 pages, so people are going to balk at even one dollar more because they assume that the rest of the series is that same length. Untrue, but unfortunately, that’s my fault for giving them that assumption. I have to eat the cost.

Readers only have one obligation to you: not to pirate your books. That’s it. They are not required to leave you a review, to talk about your books with other people, to help you make back the money you spent on your books. They do not care about you, don’t know you, aren’t thinking about how much you must have spent on this book when they purchase it.

As soon as your book is on the market, it is a product, and you have to stop thinking of it as your book baby. If that means pricing so low that it makes you feel a little sick, then that’s what has to be done. Sales volume, not individual purchases, is what will help you make it.

Every sale pushes you higher in the Amazon rankings, which means that you have a higher chance of getting noticed by someone searching in your niche. If you reach the top 50 in your categories, then you have a significantly higher likelihood of being noticed by others. And more notice begets more reviews, more sales, and so on.

You have to price low, even if it hurts, because that is what will get you more sales. I’m really sorry. I know how it feels.

Now, when my books are more well-known, I will likely raise the prices because I will have demonstrated that my book is worth that price. I already know it is, but I have to prove it to the market first before I can demand that sum.

You don’t care about Search Engine Optimization.

I have spent a significant amount of time on my SEO, including paying for reviews (not on Amazon or other sales platforms, mind) and writing my blog. As such, Google recognizes “the Eirenic Verses,” and the Gemini AI overview will spit out a quick synopsis of my series with links to my Amazon profile and website.

This AI overview does more for me than if I just explained everything to every reader. It’s quite accurate because it’s drawing on each page that I have produced for my series. Additionally, the result is a little different every time the AI generates an answer. Things change depending on what I have written recently and whether anyone has mentioned my series anywhere else. But most of that comes almost directly from the FAQ I wrote (more on that in a minute).

Yes, I know that everyone hates AI and thinks it sucks and so on. I agree. But I can’t really help what Google shows people except by shaping it to include what I want.

This is why having a website is so, so important. You get to determine what shows up in the AI overview and top listings. Again, if you have a very unique series name, you are far more likely to get to the top of the results.

Note the “Annalise Reads” link there. That was a review I paid for. Given that Annalise has been around for quite a while, she has very strong SEO, so she almost always comes up for my books. I will likely pay for more reviews from her in the future.

Buying reviews isn’t cheating as long as you don’t buy reviews on Amazon or other sales platforms, which is cheating. Whatever is hosted somewhere else can help your SEO and won’t get you penalized.

Will some people think it’s scummy? Maybe. But most readers have no idea that the majority of book reviews on a private website are purchased. Nor do they care. Nor does Google care all that much as long as it is not excessive.

Say it with me now: Search! Engine! Optimization!

Yeah, I hate it too. SEO consumes most of my waking hours because that’s my day job. But it also plays a key role in whether you get noticed.

Writing a blurb is surprisingly hard. You want to explain the genre, themes, and tropes without coming across as too salesy. Additionally, you have to describe the plot without giving too much away.

Blurbs are honestly one of the most difficult parts of marketing. I’m so serious.

But it is important to use keywords that will draw readers in. Not only do these help you appear higher in search results, but they also serve as a shorthand for what your readers want.

I can’t tell you the appropriate keywords for your book because I don’t know what it is. However, there are plenty of good ways to find them. I mention some of those in my best resources for writers page and in my SEO article.

You are not engaging with the community.

A significant portion of my readership didn’t come from Amazon searches. They in fact came from social media: particularly Reddit, Facebook, Bluesky, Tumblr, and Twitter (back when I used it).

I have found that Reddit is an excellent way to engage with readers without specifically selling them on my books. Instead, I contribute thoughtful insights to different writing subreddits, ensuring that my flair mentions my series name somehow.

My books aren’t linked anywhere because self-promotion is typically against the rules of the given subreddit. I also don’t link my website, as that is also self-promo, but I may pull a quote from an article I wrote and mention it comes from my website.

It helps that my username is weird (Topazadine, from back in my fanfic days) and I have something other than the Reddit alien avatar.

Commenters then ask me where they can buy my books, and then I tell them to Google “The Eirenic Verses.” And then my SEO-optimized overview shows up with book links and all that wonderful stuff, as mentioned above.

Choose your favorite platform that has high engagement and stick with it. Don’t spread yourself too thin by trying to target every social media site, though you can use tools like Hootsuite to automate posting. I used the WordPress Jetpack integration to seamlessly funnel my blog posts to my Facebook page, then supplement it with some additional content once or twice a week.

You aren’t producing extra content around your work.

A lot of writers balk at making free stuff. They don’t want to set up a site, pay for it, organize it, and continually publish on it.

“Nooo!” they decry. “I want to be paid for every single thing I ever write! Give me the money right now!”

I do understand your frustrations. It’s a lot of work to create two blog posts a week and write a newsletter every Sunday. I often feel like I’m shouting into the void because I haven’t built up a large following yet.

Still, I would not be a known entity on Google and other platforms if I didn’t produce such a huge volume of additional, freely available work that shouts out my name and series title.

Google sometimes notes me as a “public figure,” which makes me throw up in my mouth just a little bit. No! I am a weird lesbian from Cleveland. Go away.

Enough about the mortifying ordeal of being known. If you can’t afford a WordPress domain (though it is quite affordable tbh) you can instead create a dedicated Tumblr or other blog for your stuff.

I have found that one of the most important posts you can make is a Frequently Asked Questions. Google loves that shit and uses it in the AI overview almost exclusively. This is true for other SEO too and is the reason why nearly every post I make for clients includes a short FAQ.

That is because people are usually asking questions about a given topic, not just searching for a keyword. For example, they may go, “What is the Eirenic Verses about?” and bam, answer is already there for Google to draw from.

When using Tumblr or another platform, make sure that your blog is set to be indexable on search platforms or it won’t show up.

You are annoying online.

Okay, last part. It sounds mean and I’m sorry. But I do have to say it because this is one of the most common ways I see authors shooting themselves in the foot.

The biggest one is “No one is buying my books and it makes me sooo sad” or “No one is buying my books but I am being sooo brave about it.”

If you post that you are not making any sales, then you are basically roasting yourself and making everyone think your books suck.

Your sales are not publicly available to anyone. You do not need to tell people that no one is buying your book. This is a common problem that many, many authors have, particularly self-published and debut authors.

A lack of sales does not necessarily mean that you’re not good, just that the market is saturated and no one is making a lot of sales. There are simply too many books for people to buy.

But, when people hear you’re not selling anything, their immediate thought is that you are not very good at writing. Then they don’t want to buy either, and you’re perpetuating the cycle.

There are plenty of other ways you can ruin your own career by complaining. These are a few.

Excessively fighting with people on social media. I have been guilty of this plenty of times. Way more times than I should be. If you find yourself arguing too much, then make a private account that does not mention your books at all.

Complaining about bad reviews. People will wonder why you have bad reviews, and they are then prejudiced against you.

Saying you were fleeced by a publishing scam. Now everyone thinks you’re stupid. It’s fine to spread awareness. Just … anonymize it a bit. Suggest this happened to someone you know.

Mentioning your age if you are under 30ish. Firstly, if you are a minor, do not share this with anyone. Please, please, please. You have no idea what skeezy people are out there, and now they know how to groom you. But people are also going to assume that someone in their 20s isn’t ready to publish either. Because, well, they’re probably not.

Pouring out your life story. “Oh well I stopped writing for a long time because I had three kids and two jobs and now I’m just publishing my first book in my 40s” blah blah blah. Not interesting. Will not sell your books. Is it relevant to what you’re asking? Probably not.

Calling yourself an amateur after publishing. Pleeeease don’t. Everyone will now assume you are an amateur forever. That remains on the internet and is always going to be associated with you.

Asking dumb questions. For the love of god, do not ask “How do I plot this?” or “How does publishing work?” or “Do I have a good story idea?” or “How do I write good characters?” ad nauseum. Everyone is so sick of these questions. Google it. My blog has plenty of resources, too.

Trying to slyly mention your Kofi, Patreon, etc. Not only can this get you barred from platforms, but it’s annoying. If people want to know, they will ask. You don’t need to bring it up.

Bemoaning the state of publishing. We all know it’s bad. You don’t need to tell us.

Attacking other authors. Okay, I fall into this too, but only when I am calling out bad behavior or unhelpful mindsets. But saying a certain author is a hack, or lazy, or that a certain genre is stupid and overdone, makes you look like a big whiner. No one wants to read a book by a big whiner.

And oh my sweet loving Jesus, do not review bomb other authors from a private account. You will get found out. Everyone will hate you. Everything is ruined forever.

I’m not saying you have to over-sanitize your social media, or lie, or any of that. It’s perfectly fine to have private accounts where you do get pissy. Have a separate account for your flame wars or something. Many people do this, and no one bats an eye unless you are being truly evil.

So, what should be associated with your series on social media?

• Constructive comments that help other authors.

• Success posts when you reach certain milestones.

• Useful advice and in-depth articles that demonstrate your expertise.

• Additional lore about your book series.

• Book reviews and recommendations.

• Side stories and other free “sneak peek” content.

• Fun anecdotes about your personal life or writing journey, phrased in a positive way.

• Posts that share your unique voice and perspective.

• Interviews, such as those on Authoriview or other free sites.

As self-published authors, we are responsible for all our own marketing, which includes producing significant amounts of content that will link our name and book series on Google or other platforms.

The downside is that this takes a lot of time, practice, and patience. The upside is that most of the time, we are in total control of how we are presented to others, save reviews or other things we didn’t produce.

Everything we put into our series, whether that’s in the book or online, will contribute to visibility and, hopefully, sales. You can do this; nothing is impossible. But remember that it’s a long, hard road, and you cannot expect immediate success.

Have a growth mindset and remain optimistic. This, more than anything, will help you win.