I get Substack emails that have a few recommended articles in them–some I can access for free, and some I can’t–but came across this juicy-titled one: “I Spent $44,000 Launching My Book. Three of those dollars worked.“

Author of UNSINGLE, Amy Chan writes a pretty blunt article with astounding numbers and goes through what worked, what didn’t and what her recommendations are.

As always, I have some thoughts.

First of all, I wish I had $44,000 to blow through. I’m really poor, so I would use it on debts and practical things. However, if I was only allowed to spend it on book marketing, I would commission so much more artwork for my books and get more swag goodies to give to reviewers, buy more review copies, buy copies to be sold on consignment in bookstores, and buy enough copies and have enough money to appear at a table at a convention or conference or festival or something like that. Right now, I don’t have money to do any of this.

The big takeaway from the article: “[…] if you’re spending months of rent money to promote your book (anywhere from 1K-20K) you just realistically will not hit enough momentum for it to make a big dent.” She recommends the following things she would try with that $44,000:

• Invest in Amazon ads
• Invest in Meta ads

And of all the things she did try, here is what worked for her:

• Podcasts
• Events
• Amazon
• ARC reviews (she specifically lists Hidden Gems)
• Goodreads Giveaway

Well…I already stated I have no money. Events are out of the question, although I have Matsuricon coming up in September (which doesn’t really equate to book sales; it’s just fun). I believe my publisher handles all things Amazon, so I really can’t do anything there (plus I can’t afford it); we do ARC reviews through Booksprout, not Hidden Gems; my publisher opted not to do a Goodreads giveaway for The Name and the Key like they did for Son of the Siren, so if I want to do one, that’s on me. And I’m strongly thinking about taking my author copies of the book I just got and running one, although that’s $119. I have to wait for work paychecks to start coming in, and they won’t until mid-September. I borrowed money for Book Two art and I might not be able to run the giveaway at all if I can’t budget out the repayment plan for the art in an affordable way. See, you’re not just paying $119 to run the Goodreads giveaway campaign–you’re paying for the copies of the books, plus the cost of shipping them.

I’ve talked about how much money I’ve wasted on books here and how much The Name and the Key has cost me so far here. And I agree with Chan’s statement that spending that kind of money (I spent over $3000 on Son of the Siren and over $2000 on The Name and the Key) doesn’t make a dent. At all. My sales numbers and review numbers have certainly proven this to be true.

$44,000 is dream money to me. Chan doesn’t say where she got that money or how she came up with it, which I think would’ve been helpful information, but you can assume she’s got financial support or has personal wealth if she’s able to “waste” that kind of cash. Nonetheless, I found her article helpful and reinforcing of my own opinions about marketing books based on my experiences thus far.

It’s a good read. You should check it out here.