I’m really torn. Amazon has been draining my bank accounts for almost a decade now, and while it has resulted in book sales, it’s always been at utterly atrocious returns on my money. Traditionally it was a good month if I sold $1 worth of books for every $12 worth of advertising… and that’s just not sustainable.

I mean, it is if you have a lot of money and nothing else to do with it, I suppose. I do not.

I’ve managed to get that ratio a lot closer to $1 in sales from $5 in advertising, which is significantly more reasonable… but still a losing calculation. That’s a lot of my money going out into the void… and while I’m positive I have a significant number of repeat buyers (people who buy, say, Caitlyn Morcos, who then go on to buy Desperate Path), even including that as a possibility isn’t a good showing for my advertising.

I’ve mentioned it many times before, but I’m not an ad guy. I don’t “think” in ad-speak, or how to sell my books. I’m a writer, I want to write stories, not sell stories. But if people can’t find my work, they won’t read my work, no matter how good it is.

But I don’t know. Money is getting increasingly tight, and after a decade of trying to make the ads work for me… maybe it’s time to just throw in the towel for ads for a few months at least. Maybe until the next book releases, give me time to save up money for editorial costs and cover art…

Anyway, something else I’ll have to grapple with. Because, obviously, I don’t have enough on my plate already.

Hope everyone out there is staying safe and healthy!