Everyone’s Making Money from My Books Except Me

“At an age when I thought I might be doing less, I’m trying to give strangers on the internet a reason to watch me,” writes second-act author Cheryl Janer, expounding upon the challenges of “making money from my book.”

I’m a self-published author trying to sell my books.

Apparently, that makes me an excellent customer.

There are people offering to promote my books, improve my marketing, and help me reach readers. Everyone has something to sell me. I’d just like someone to buy something from me for a change.

When I wrote my first book, I knew selling it would take work. I didn’t expect readers to gather outside my door. Although, if they did, I would happily sign their copies. I might even put my hearing aids in.

But I thought writing the book would be the difficult part.

That was adorable of me.

Then I was foolish enough to write two more books. I also created journals, in case anyone wanted to do their own writing instead of reading mine.

One book wasn’t selling enough, so I gave it company.

Writing requires you to find the words. Marketing requires you to find the people who want those words, discover where they spend their time, figure out how to get their attention, and somehow avoid becoming the person they mute on Facebook.

I’m 63. I have a job. I was hoping to sell a book, not qualify for a second career.

My first book, The Fire Within, came from wanting to share my experiences of being deaf and Jewish. Those are personal things to put into the world. You worry about what people will think.

Then you discover a whole new concern: whether anyone will know the book exists.

It turns out you can spend a great deal of time worrying about strangers judging you when the strangers haven’t even heard of you.

The people offering marketing help, however, seem to have found me without difficulty.

Perhaps I should ask them what search terms they used.

I know marketing is work and people deserve to be paid. I would just enjoy being on the receiving end of the transaction occasionally.

There are so many ways to promote a book that learning about them could keep you occupied indefinitely. Social media. Advertising. Newsletters. Keywords. Categories. Somewhere along the way “I have a story to tell” becomes “Should I be making a video?”

I make TikToks. Some involve dancing in a chair.

If sitting down and moving my arms could sell books, I would be willing to consider overtime.

At an age when I thought I might be doing less, I’m trying to give strangers on the internet a reason to watch me.

Then there is the advice to build an audience. That requires having interesting things to say regularly, even when you have no book news.

Fortunately, I have plenty of thoughts. Unfortunately, some are about what to make for dinner.

I have made money from my books. As far as I know, most of the sales came from friends and family, with perhaps one or two readers who didn’t know me. I’m grateful for every one.

Still, there are limits to the family business model.

You cannot reasonably expect the same relatives to keep buying the same book. At some point, they’re going to want a new plot, and my life can only provide so much material before someone in the family asks me to stop taking notes.

What I want is fairly modest. I’d like someone who has never met me to find a book, think it sounds interesting, and read it.

That person does not have to change my life. Buying the paperback would be lovely.

Meanwhile, I keep trying to figure out how to reach them without spending more than I’m likely to earn. It is a peculiar business calculation: how much should I pay to persuade someone to pay me less?

I’m proud of what I wrote. I’m glad the books exist. I still hope they’ll find more readers.

And I have learned something useful about sales.

If I ever write a book about how to make money selling books, I already know where to find the customers.

Cheryl Janer is an author and middle school paraprofessional in Boca Raton, Florida. She spends her summers working at Tranquillity Camp in Earlton, New York. Her books include The Fire Within, Still Camp Sick, and Something Always Happens. Her humor essay “All-in-One, Sold Separately” appeared on the Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop blog.

Learn more about the author and her books on her web site or find her books on Amazon.

Find your own second act in retirement:
Finding the Courage to Start – Again
10 Top Second Acts After Retirement