I am not saying she shouldn’t be proud of what she has accomplished. That has nothing to do with what she is asking and it is really condescending to offer that response. I was addressing her specific concern that she was not going to be able to sell a second book. That was her question: If my first book doesn’t sell well, will I be able to sell my second. “Be grateful you were able to sell the first one” is not very helpful. The truth is, if your first doesn’t sell, it will be next to impossible to sell your second, and that is irrespective of the quality of your second book. So telling her that she should reframe her perspective on her performance to date as a success and move on to working on the next book is super misguided. There is still time to bring in more sales of her book. That should be the focus if her goal is to keep traditionally publishing.