When I decided to publish my book in January 2025, I tried to have the most positive attitude possible. My mantra was, “I’m the biggest fan of this story, and I should be the first person who has to love it for this to work.”

At first, this worked perfectly. All my friends and family loved the story as much as I did. I sold the book to them as the best contemporary fiction they’d read this year, and as a story based on real events, drawn from the depths of my heart.

Everyone around me loved it as much as I did, and I was happy that I had managed to build something so beautiful.

However, beyond them, no one else bought the idea.

I started having trouble with marketing. I wasn’t getting any views on the book premiere, and no one seemed to care about the story.

The book has a 4.42 out of 5 on Goodreads. Why don’t people buy it?

I didn’t know how to continue my journey. I didn’t know how I should improve for my next book. And I didn’t know what had made no one else decide to rate the book. In my mind, it was perfect. And everyone around me had validated it. So what happened?

Then I got the feedback I actually needed.

While searching for ways to increase my book’s engagement on social media, I discovered a site where people could read my book for free and leave a voluntary review. I felt it was a good way to get more people interested in the story, so I signed my manuscript.

A month later, I received my first 2-star review from someone who didn’t like the book at all.

I was shocked and offended, but I decided to read it anyway, even though many authors recommend not reading negative reviews because they can affect your mental health. I needed to know why someone had such a different opinion from everyone else, and after reading it, I realized why the book was not getting the attention I expected.