(I usually only post poems on Thursdays, but that’s old stuff. Had the urge to write something new and this popped into my head.)
I see zero
No change
The bars stay gone
Elusive
To the point of legend
Do books sell?
Do people read?
Probably
Not what I write
It stays in the shadows
Crippled
And confused
No promos can revive it
Not without a fortune
That will go to waste
Sales will remain
The ephemeral pipe dream
Legends of Windemere 
This is heartbreaking. 🥺 😢 So sorry!
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Thanks. Seems it’s the way things are these days.
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I feel like no one reads anymore.
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Feels that way. Although, I think it’s more that people don’t stray from the authors they already know.
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I hear, “I don’t read” from adults at an alarming frequency. Yes, the ones who do are comfortable staying with safe familiars.:/
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I’ve heard that a lot from my generation. Many tell me that they don’t have time or they are too tired, which I get. It’s why I tend to stick to graphic novels. I’ve heard others admit that they haven’t read a book since graduating. I actually made a post for mid/late May about this situation.
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I’ve enjoyed every one of your books that I’ve read so far, Charles, so you have at least one fan 👍😃
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Thanks. That’s really great to hear, especially since it’s been so long since I published anything. 🙂
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I don’t bother looking at my sales anymore. When someone buys one of my books, it’s a nice surprise!
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I try to do that too. Probably check once a week.
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The sadness of being an unknown Indie author. We all have the same lament
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Definitely hurts.
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An experience of every author, for sure.
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Definitely.
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Right there with you. Totally understand.
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Thanks.
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I try to recommend your series to just about everyone who mentions that they like Fantasy or would like to try Fantasy, but I am honestly close to just start buying books for other people until I am bankrupt.
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I don’t know what gets sales any more. Kind of given up wasting money and energy on trying.
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Its weird because I personally at least never heard an actual author recommend any of the promotional services as Oh this worked for me, that are out there , what I still do hear though is that word of mouth is still the best way to drive sales – but just like you say, it partially all sounds like hogwash to me. At the same time, but maybe that is just my impression, and I do not know where to look properly, as a reader, I am overwhelmed with suggestions for books that all sound the same to me, judging from the synopsis. Nothing wrong with that per say, we all like to indulge in our favourites in various aspects, what bothers me I think is that the advertisements for these promise uniqueness that I do not feel upon the initial look and explore. (Whilst I do with your books).
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They used to back in the heyday. People talk about word of mouth too. Yet, most don’t spread the word be recommending and reviewing. There’s no way to make an indie book stand out now. Not unless you drop thousands of dollars on promos or have a massive amount of fans who promote for free.
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Its hard for me to imagine the thousands of dollars on promo returning anything but breaking even. I would say its also the platforms. They likewise keep popping up, and I myself have huge trouble adjusting with that, TikTok being the latest – as someone who does not enjoy social media for even private purposes (which makes it seem not genuine because I would only share book related stuff). Our convo here does make me think back of same convos we had a few years ago, which makes me feel like absolutely nothing changed, or very little, in the industry regarding these things – and that makes me dissapointed.
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People who drop that amount usually don’t even break even. I can’t even figure out the way to use social media now. People said TikTok and Instagram. I looked at authors who got those to work for them. Nearly all that I was directed to were attractive women who wrote some type of romance.
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I hear you on that, because I checked it out too, but unknowingly. It looked like an experience post and then the “plot” of the TikTok made no sense to me, and sounded not-realistic – and it is when I figured out it was a book advertisement / showcase. The other equivalent to that which I personally would find more acceptable is those mini moodboards of sort that showcase your characters or sort of major plot points and most of all, do not require us to show our mugs if we are not into it.
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Those posts always throw me off. It takes me far too long to realize what they are.
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This is a very relatable poem and anyone who does creative stuff can see so much truth in that. Not everyone is making Stephen King or James Patterson as an author and it’s a plight of indie writers. I hope you’re not discouraged from writing any stories or other fiction projects.
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It can be discouraging. At least with getting the urge to actually publish. I make no money on this anymore.
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Gotcha. I hear that about not making money on publishing. Sometimes I do wonder if some people still even read. However, I want to do my best to get into writing again besides the stuff in my blogs.
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I wonder that a lot. I know many who don’t. They either have no interest or time. People overlook graphic novels too. It’s still reading in my mind.
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Understood and it is a bummer more people don’t read whether it’s with a physical book or an ebook. Graphic novels count as reading, so I agree with you there. I’ll ignore the low-hanging fruit that stems from people who think superhero movies think it’s a substitute for them.
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I figure movies will help if it leads people to read the source material. Work with a few students who only got into reading because of an anime or movies. The superhero ones all seem to be DC though.
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I have no problem with people watching superhero movies or movies based on graphic novels on principle. It can get a bit annoying when you have some people think it is the only (true) version of the story in regards to superheroes and whatnot. Maybe that’s just the inner comic book nerd inside who used to read a good amount when I was young which also includes non-superhero works and manga. If they get into the source material, then that’s good. DC? That’s an interesting choice. I thought they would be more into Marvel given how ubiquitous the MCU has been for over a decade now. To be fair, both companies made good storylines in the original comics.
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It seems MCU movies are so removed from the comics that most fans don’t bother. It’s probably for the same reason you mentioned. With DC, especially the animated movies, the fans feel that there’s a closer connection. They’re interested in the comparison. I’ve seen it with anime that have different versions too. Fullmetal Alchemist having the first series then Brotherhood based exactly on the manga come to mind.
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That’s not surprising. They take the basics of the origin story and one story line, but get divergent with it. That’s not always a bad thing, but let’s not pretend everything in the MCU is 100% accurate to the source material or even 80%. For the DC animated movies, do you mean those direct-to-video ones they’ve made for years now? I’ve heard a bunch of them were good and accurate to the comics. Are they related to the DCAU stuff like the 90s Batman and Superman cartoons, or Justice League Unlimited? Yeah, the FMA anime is a good comparison with how Brotherhood was more accurate to the manga.
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MCU and DC are in two different positions too. For the MCU, the movies, shows, and comics are all controlled by the same company. If they want to change things for a movie then they’ll make the alterations in the comic to make it ‘source material accurate’ years before its needed. This gives the fanbase a defense against those who don’t like the changes. DC movies/shows are by Warner Brothers, who don’t have any control over the comics. So, they have to take from the source material. The animated movies are hit-and-miss, but many of them are really good. A student showed me clips of one called ‘Superman vs the Elite Four’ or something. It was based off a single comic where a group of heroes were trying to convince Superman to kill bad guys. The writer of the comic wrote the movie to extend the story, but it call came from a single issue. Some of the movies are connected to the older stuff, but I don’t think they do a connected universe thing.
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Very interesting. I wondered how much the parent companies had an effecton either with the comics and the movies respectively. I know they reboot the universes every few years to attract new readers, but I didn’t know about that with Marvel or DC. I might have to check out at least one of them at some point with the DC animated movies.
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