While I’m sitting here jealous of you that you actually have a book out there. Be proud of that huge accomplishment!!

My first book did not get traction.

My first trilogy got a little bit of traction.

My new series is making real progress, especially with the release of book three.

People will tell you this is not a sprint, it’s a marathon, and that aligns with my experience. The people who achieve incredible success with their first book are one in a million.

My advice is to write for your own enjoyment and not for external validation. Don't write because you want to prove that you're a good writer. Write because the act of writing is fun. If you expect too much to come after you write then writing becomes preparation rather than the act itself.

If you don't think a year or more of manic 24 hour streaks, elation when "it all click!", loud laughs, zombie writing at 4.30 in the morning, despair when hitting the obligatory cul de sac of the process, depression of writers block, Euphoria of finding 'the zone' - that rare moment when you somehow wrote 11 perfect pages and you just KNOW it won't happen again -, single minded entrenched grunt work hammering one key a time muttering "I could have a life instead I'm stuck here", nervous breakdowns, sighing so deep you get woozy, yelling at the cat, forgetting to eat, drink just enough and sometimes too much - if you don't think this is not worth it, then no, don't write.

Simply put: You must be a little crazy if you want to be a writer. Oh, and social life? What's that?

(This comment may contain traces of hyperbole.)

Writing is mostly art. You generally do not do art if you do not enjoy it.... this is true to some extent for everything, but particularly so with art. Not saying you *cant*, you definitely can write just professionally but you still need to tolerate it and not suck at it. Making a career out of something you dread is a bad idea, specially with one as unlikely to properly feed you as this one.

Now, do not confuse actually disliking it to being tired or feeling doubts, those two are normal regardless, specially after a long stretch

As for success, it isequal parts talent, luck and marketing, and somethimes ttalent is not even a part of the equation

How many times and what type of edits have you put it through? Is it under or close to 100k words? What kind of beta-reader (not friend or family) feedback have you received?

If your manuscript is well polished with no plot or flow issues and your beta-readers are all positive, then maybe it's just a marketing thing?

O que você está sentindo é muito real e tem até nome: luto pós-projeto (ou a "ressaca do livro").

Você correu uma maratona emocional por meses e, agora que cruzou a linha de chegada, não houve aplausos, fogos de artifício ou uma medalha de ouro imediata. Só o silêncio e o cansaço muscular. É natural que o cérebro interprete isso como "fracasso", mas não é.

Uma coisa que me ajuda a manter a sanidade é separar o Escritor do Vendedor

O silêncio de agora não é uma sentença final, é apenas o começo da vida comercial do livro. Mas a vida artística? Essa já foi uma vitória.

Descanse. Você fez o mais difícil. Vale a pena sim.

I'm just doing it for fun.

Did you…edit it? 

Writing a book is different from selling a book.  

However now that you have written one, you can write a second, and it will be easier.  Which is most important? Selling? Or writing?  Does it have be “most” - what does “and” look like? 

Do you have an agent? A publisher?  Are they local? 

Vent here for a minute.  Realize how far you are from your goal.  What is the next step? Take it. And continue. 

Share your book

They will suck the joy out of anything they can. Do what you want to do.

That's how writing always been. It's always been about reach readers. Nowadays with the changes of the industry, it's becoming more on the writer to market and promote their own work unless the publisher knows they have guaranteed money on their hands.

I haven't published my book yet, but I have plans to in the new year, amd I one hundred percent can relate to what you're saying. I put so much time into it, was all that worth it? But when it really comes down to it, even if it doesn't pick up traction, I still would want this story to exsist.

And like other people have said, I've also heard it's a long haul kind of thing, you got to get multiple books out there to help you gain traction.

Have you advertised? You need to constantly promote and advertise on social media, the book isn’t gonna sell itself. That’s a much more difficult thing than the writing.

If you’re feeling emotionally drained after writing, I think you might be doing it wrong. Are you writing because you genuinely love it and can’t imagine NOT writing? Or are you one of those people who are under the delusion that you can write a book, toss it out there, and instantly become a bestseller? Because if it’s option two you are probably gonna be in for a world of disappointment.

Being an author is a waiting game. You might need to wait months or years before catching a “big break”, assuming that happens at all. In the meantime, you keep writing. The more books you have out, the better your chance of catching the eye of some influencer who might just be the lucky break you need to go viral overnight or something.

But it still might never come. Best you be prepared for that. If you want the book to sell, your best chances are to sell it yourself. Arrange book signings, promote on social media, push to get it into local bookstores and libraries. The more people who know the book is out there, the better your chances are to make sales on it.

You tell me. What did you get out of it? What will you get out of it? Do you value those things?

It’s like saying “Is it worth it, to go for a walk?” I don’t know, is it?

My mantra going forward for the next year is what I see when I open my laptop to write. In biig bold letters, it says: "IT WILL NEVER GET EASIER"

This keeps me motivated, because it's my reminder that just because it sucks and hurts and is very, very, very hard even after finishing 7 novels...I'm not doing anything wrong. I'm not doing the wrong thing. Doing it more, doing it better, doesn't mean that it gets easier. And that is okay. That's just how my process works. I'm not failing, I'm not doing the wrong thing, I've just chosen to do something that is not easy.

1, don't write, dictate it into your phone....yes, you'll still have to write it out later.

2, anything that is worth doing will always be hard.

3, maybe writing isn't your thing

4, be rich and pay someone to write out what you narrate

I'll be pleasantly surprised if I'm even moderately successful as a writer, but I'm still going to write. I must write, as I can't live without writing or somehow else telling stories. So, I write.

My only published work is a 500-word short story that won second place in my high school's writing contest in my junior year. That was several decades ago. Since then, I found some stories I'd begun many years (decades) ago and decided to finish them. I don't write for an audience, but for the worlds I created and the characters in them. I haven't had time to concentrate on writing until recently.

Yes, it's worth it. Some days I don't write because I need a short break, or I have things that take up the entire day.

Some of my friends aren't interested in reading the stories nor in giving feedback, and others read them and like them, or they don't. The latter two groups are the ones from which I request feedback.

Congratulations on finishing your book. Give yourself time to rest and recover from that monumental endeavor. Apologies in advance if I'm repeating things you're already familiar with:

Not everyone is going to like every book. Also, if you're a new writer, it takes time for people to learn about your stories, find them, and read them.

What do you, yourself, consider to be success? Usually, it takes many, many years of hard work in your chosen field. That's an investment in growth and the development of your craft.

Ask both the readers who like your book, and those who don't, what worked for them, what they liked, and what they didn't. Most importantly, ask them why it worked or why they liked those things, or why it didn't and why tgey didn't lije them. Good feedback and constructive criticism are useful when applied judiciously.

Most importantly, remember that you can't please everyone.

Also, word of mouth can help as much as favorable reviews at a book website.

It matters because you have accomplished something that many others wish they could. It will be a bonus if it sells but nothing can take away the fact that you are an author!

I want to thank all of you for your critique, advices and encouraging words. I really appreciate it. Now I'm going to start my 2nd Novel, shorter and inspired by real historical events.

Thank you and good luck to everyone

Remember that writing your book and marketing your book are two completely different skill sets, so don't think of your sales as a reflection on the book's quality. Many of the most successful authors have also put a ton of effort into building a community that would go by the book on page one to help get it traction into the public consciousness. I'm not saying you have to do that, but it's good to remember that a book sales aren't just about the quality of the book.

"It feels like the world doesn’t really read now."

Book sales are always trending up. There are occasional dip years, but overall the trend is up. You can reach a far more massive audience and with relative ease than at any time in the past.

Write for the love it. There are huge swaths of authors that will never sale a single book. Not all stories are deserving of being read, but all are deserving of being told.