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0 pointslogfromblammo8y ago0 comments

I wrote, edited, and published-as-EPUB an entire fiction novel. It made about $22, before taxes. I then decided not to bother publishing it in print, due to obvious lack of demand.

It didn't really cost me anything but my leisure time, though. I'm still working on a second one (but I don't feel quite so motivated to finish it in a timely fashion).

If I cared at all about making money off of it, I'd have to hire someone to market it, and then maybe also hire a second person, so that I never have to interact with a marketing/advertising person directly. Making things is fun. Selling things is horrible torture. I pity those startup founders that have to do both, even if only for a short time.

0 comments

roryisok8y ago

The majority successful authors don't get their first book published, or their second, or sell any copies of their third.

This is normal, please don't give up!

logfromblammoOP8y ago

Give up? The goal is to write, not to sell. I already won.

I just didn't get extra gravy on top by getting paid for it.

LaundroMat8y ago

Is the novel still available?

logfromblammoOP8y ago

Yes, but I don't feel that HN is an appropriate venue for promoting it. More importantly, I don't want to definitively link this forum handle to a real name, as I prefer to post strictly pseudonymously.

If you can figure out who I really am on your own, go right ahead and read the book, but there's no way I can tell you exactly how to find it without spoiling one of my principles for this forum.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

0 pointslogfromblammo8y ago0 comments

I wrote, edited, and published-as-EPUB an entire fiction novel. It made about $22, before taxes. I then decided not to bother publishing it in print, due to obvious lack of demand.

It didn't really cost me anything but my leisure time, though. I'm still working on a second one (but I don't feel quite so motivated to finish it in a timely fashion).

0 comments

roryisok8y ago

The majority successful authors don't get their first book published, or their second, or sell any copies of their third.

This is normal, please don't give up!

logfromblammoOP8y ago

Give up? The goal is to write, not to sell. I already won.

I just didn't get extra gravy on top by getting paid for it.

LaundroMat8y ago

Is the novel still available?

logfromblammoOP8y ago

If you can figure out who I really am on your own, go right ahead and read the book, but there's no way I can tell you exactly how to find it without spoiling one of my principles for this forum.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse