What I did not expect was to become the target of what appeared to be an international effort to help me part with my money.
The transformation happened almost overnight.
One day I was simply a person who had written a book. The next day I seemed to have entered a parallel universe where hundreds of complete strangers had suddenly become deeply invested in my literary success.
My inbox filled up. Facebook messages began appearing. Comments showed up in unexpected places. Everywhere I turned, someone seemed eager to explain that my book possessed enormous potential and that, fortunately for me, they had a service that could unlock it.
It was strangely flattering at first. Apparently I had written a future bestseller. A future award winner. A future international sensation.
The only obstacle standing between my little cozy mystery and worldwide fame was the small matter of sending someone a few hundred dollars. Or a few thousand dollars. Sometimes considerably more.
As it turns out, there is an entire ecosystem built around authors and their dreams.
Some people wanted to create dazzling book trailers. Others felt my listings desperately needed 'optimization'. There were offers to manage my social media accounts, run advertising campaigns, arrange reviews, secure publicity opportunities, introduce me to agents, connect me with publishers, and generally guide me toward literary greatness.
The remarkable thing was that most of these people had never actually read my book.
Some hadn't even managed to spell the title correctly or left the [insert book name here] bracket. One enthusiastic marketer addressed me by the wrong name entirely while explaining why they were uniquely qualified to help build my author brand.
That one was a memorable moment.
Nothing inspires confidence quite like receiving a personalized marketing proposal addressed to someone else.
We authors are dreamers by nature. We create stories because we care about them. We spend months or years working on projects that may never earn back the cost of the coffee consumed while writing them. Then, after all that effort, we release those books into the world carrying a tiny spark of hope that readers will discover them.
Hope, unfortunately, attracts sales pitches the way porch lights attract moths.
Many of the people contacting authors are undoubtedly sincere. Some provide valuable services and earn every penny they charge. Professional editors, designers, narrators, marketers, and advertising specialists can make tremendous contributions to a book's success.
The challenge is that mixed among the professionals are plenty of people selling little more than optimism wrapped in impressive-looking promises.
Whenever someone guarantees success, guarantees sales, guarantees visibility, guarantees reviews, or guarantees some mysterious breakthrough that can only be achieved after payment is received, alarm bells start ringing loudly enough to wake the entire neighborhood.
Fortunately, I have always been stubborn. Some might say excessively stubborn.
When I couldn't afford something, I learned what was involved. When I didn't know how to do something, I researched it. When I made mistakes, and there were many, I treated them as tuition payments to the School of Doing Things Myself.
My books exist today largely because I refused to pay someone else to believe in them for me.
That doesn't mean I've done everything perfectly. Far from it. Independent publishing often feels like assembling an airplane while already flying through the clouds. You learn as you go, occasionally discover parts left over after assembly, and try not to think too hard about what those parts might have been for.
Still, every year I become a little more grateful that I trusted my own judgment instead of every stranger who appeared in my inbox carrying promises of bestseller status.
These days, whenever a message arrives claiming that my books are moments away from worldwide domination if only I purchase the Deluxe Platinum Diamond Visibility Package, I smile, delete it, and get back to writing.
After all, writing books is what made me an author in the first place. Apparently, it is also what made me prey.
I'd love to know whether other authors have experienced the same thing. Did your inbox suddenly explode after publication? Have you received any particularly memorable pitches? Or is it just me wandering through the internet wearing what appears to be a giant invisible sign that says, "Author. Please market to me immediately"?
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