Frustrated and confused

Status
Not open for further replies.

midazolam

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 24, 2010
Messages
190
Reaction score
15
My book has been out less than a week, and my agent is already telling me it's a failure. My publisher didn't really promote it, every blog that has kindly reviewed it says something along the lines of, "Why is there NO hype about this book? It's great!" The reviews on Goodreads are almost unanimously good. The trade reviews were good. All is good. But no promotion = no sales = inevitable failure.

I did hire a freelance publicist to help out, which cost me the equivalent of a new car, and I'm not sure it did a damn thing. I feel lost, confused, and frustrated. I understand that some books get a lot of promotion, but I feel like mine never had a chance, and I don't know why. The reviews from people who don't know me, don't care about me, and don't care about my feelings have all been fantastic (reviews from friends have been good, too).

I kind of want to throw in the towel, but my agent thinks I can still get some traction if I hustle for readers. I'm not even sure what that means, plus I work 80 hours a week at my day job, so it's hard (and potentially emotionally damaging) for me to travel all over the place for a book signing with three people in attendance. I just don't know what to do.

Any ideas? Comfort? This business is rough.
 

T Robinson

Born long ago, in a different era
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 22, 2013
Messages
1,282
Reaction score
212
Location
Southern USA
If it is the same one I saw, it is pretty good. But the first question should be, If the agent thought that, why did he try to sell it in the first place? I hope he is on commission and not salary. If he is not on commission, sounds like a money grab to me.

One week is also (IMO) not enough time for anything.

Take a deep breath and work on your next project as you can. You have cast the first one to the universe, no point in fretting over it.

Move forward, not backward. Remember, you cannot control the past or the future, only the present moment.
 

midazolam

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 24, 2010
Messages
190
Reaction score
15
Thanks, T. That's solid advice. It was a whirlwind week, and the combined launch activities and disappointing news about sales numbers was a lot to take.

You read my second book, which my agent is holding on to for now. He wants to see how the sales numbers progress before pitching it to anyone.
 

Old Hack

Such a nasty woman
Super Moderator
Absolute Sage
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 12, 2005
Messages
22,454
Reaction score
4,956
Location
In chaos
Who is your agent, and your publisher? Have you spoken to your publisher to see how they feel about your sales? What levels were they expecting, and how far below those levels have your sales fallen?
 

oceansoul

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Aug 18, 2014
Messages
743
Reaction score
91
Age
34
Location
Seattle, WA
Wow, less than a week and the agent is already saying that. I would think it might be more productive for the agent to be saying, 'the sales in the first few days haven't quite met the publisher's expectations, but here are some things that you can do to try and help?'

I know that for some publishers the first days of sales are considered critical, but it still seems like that's not a helpful way to approach it from the person who is supposed to be your advocate. It sounds like you did everything right if you hired your own publicist.
 

Treehouseman

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 24, 2013
Messages
1,090
Reaction score
102
I've taken this to mean you have all the website/social media/blog-tours up and running for your book at least? They may need tweaking for max potential, but that's not entirely out of the question.
 

eparadysz

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 10, 2011
Messages
1,090
Reaction score
327
Location
come, been, and gone
You might start here, with a link in your signature or an entry in the AW Library. I'd check out your book if I knew how to find it. :)
 

Barbara R.

Old Hand in the Biz
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 4, 2009
Messages
1,963
Reaction score
242
Location
New York
Website
www.barbararogan.com
My book has been out less than a week, and my agent is already telling me it's a failure. .

This is such a puzzling post for me. One week is way too soon to know how a book is selling. Preorders may have been disappointing, but actual sales figures can't be known this early; and if anyone had an inkling, it would be the publisher, not the agent. Even the publisher---I can't imagine anyone deeming a book a failure after one week.

And what is a failure, really? In publishing, it's a book that didn't live up to expectations, expectations being expressed by the size of the print run. IOW, it's the ratio of sales to returns. But it's way too early for returns to have started, so again the agent's statement makes no sense to me. Is it possible that you've misinterpreted it? A lot of agents spend a good deal of time deflating writers' inflated expectations about what their publisher would do. I could imagine such a conversation being misinterpreted as "Your book has failed," when in fact it was really something like, "Publishers spend money promoting the sure things, the lead books on each list, and little or no money promoting the others."

There are things publishers can do that don't cost money. Do you have a publicist assigned to your book? Can you sit down with that person, or talk on the phone, and see what they have in mind and how you can help? My publisher allotted very little in the way of paid promotion for my last book, but they worked with me by lining up reviews (including one on NPR), signings, interviews, feature articles, etc. They also worked with me on amping up my online presence.

It's way too early for despair. You should still be in celebration mode. Congrats on your debut publication. Please read this, and enjoy every moment of this exciting time.
 

midazolam

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 24, 2010
Messages
190
Reaction score
15
Thanks, all. Appreciate the support and sound advice.

I've never directly asked my publisher about sales, but my agent has. No concrete numbers yet - just Amazon and information about the print run.

Barbara, I do have an in-house (and freelance) publicist, and both have been very good about getting blog reviews, social media attention, etc. No national coverage, though. I think that would have helped a lot.

I think I'm going to take a step back from writing for a while. I know I'll come back to it, but right now I'm just overwhelmed. There is a lot more to the story that has just exhausted/demoralized me - with time, I'm sure I'll move on. I know I'm lucky to have published a book, and believe me, I'm incredibly grateful for it. This is just part of the process, and I have to adapt to it somehow.
 

Old Hack

Such a nasty woman
Super Moderator
Absolute Sage
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 12, 2005
Messages
22,454
Reaction score
4,956
Location
In chaos
I've never directly asked my publisher about sales, but my agent has. No concrete numbers yet - just Amazon and information about the print run.

If there are no concrete numbers yet, it's too soon for your book to be labelled anything, let alone a failure.

The print run should have been decided months before your publication.

I'm getting worried about what's going on here. Would you consider letting me know by PM who your agent and publisher are? In confidence, of course. I strongly suspect that either you're misunderstanding what they're telling you, or there's something really off-kilter here.

Either way, I hope it all goes well for you.
 

Fuchsia Groan

Becoming a laptop-human hybrid
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 27, 2008
Messages
2,870
Reaction score
1,399
Location
The windswept northern wastes
I hope things get better soon, midazolam. Maybe those blog reviews will help build positive word of mouth for the book — I've seen it happen, especially in YA (is it YA?).

I reviewed a thriller last December that started as e-book only (but from a Harper imprint) and somehow made it to the NYT bestseller list. Every time I was on Twitter, the author was tweeting about some blog rave he'd received.

If your book is YA or MG and a debut, have you joined your debut group? That can be a great source of cross-promotion and general cheerleading and support.
 

knowthyreader

Registered
Joined
Sep 2, 2015
Messages
43
Reaction score
0
Location
UK
What influenced your decision to hire a freelance publicist? Was it advised?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.