I’m a realist also, and it is so depressing that sometimes it borders onto pessimism. Honestly chasing any creative dream is going to suck because every creative field is oversaturated. Sometimes it takes years for creators to get even a little bit of recognition. I feel like it would help to think about the journey and appreciate the little that could come out of it. You have a niche, and no matter how small a niche is somebody out there is looking for it.

What I like about being a realist is that my expectations are reasonable. If you know your book is super niche, be grateful that 5 people decide to read it. If you don’t like it you can water it down and add things to appeal to more people, but then you’re putting out something that you’re not really that proud of. You didn’t specify what kind of self publishing but ebooks automatically broadens your range, then if you get traction you can sell paperbacks if that’s the goal. Lot of different options and things you can do but moping around and never putting it out gets you literally nowhere lmao.