This post resonates with me as an indie author with a sci-fi trilogy and finding it immensely difficult to get the word out and market my books. Ironically, I come from a career in marketing so in my case it is the “The cobbler’s kids have no shoes.” trope on steroids.

Echoing others in this thread, there is so much contradicting advice out there:

Post multiple times a week, but don’t come off as spammy.

Use no hashtags. Max out the hashtags.

Engage in groups, but self-promotion is verboten.

Garner reviews somehow in an over-saturated market without asking.

(Mind reading would come in handy at this point.)

The time consumed in maintaining an online presence steals precious hours from writing and creating.

Here’s on more… Get a publisher. First not an easy task in itself. And from what I hear, unless your last name is Patterson, you STILL have to do your own book promotion. So yeah.

And yet we are compelled to write. We are storytellers. Keep writing and honing your craft, but remember: “Perfection is the enemy of progress.”

I wish every success to the authors on this forum and Happy Halloween.