: Re: Is it true that good novels will automatically sell themselves on Amazon (and so on) and there is no need for one to waste time promoting? This is what Dean Wesley Smith teaches in his articles

No. The identity of the author matters a great deal, as evidenced by J. K. Rowling's experience when she tried publishing a new book under a pseudonym. Rowling is the author of the Harry Potter series and a very well-recognized name. At the moment, one can practically guarantee that any book written by her - even if it's terrible - will sell well.

In 2013, under the pseudonym of Robert Galbraith, Rowling published The Cuckoo's Calling. You can see from the sales & reception section that the book was met with critical acclaim. This allowed the book to sell quite well by book standards: 1500 physical copies as well as 7000 electronic copies. But then after Rowling was identified as the author, sales blew up. The book went from the 4709th best-selling novel on Amazon to the first. That is the how powerful Rowling's name is.

Note that, as given in the "editions" section of the Wikipedia article, the book was published with three quotes from fellow crime novelists. This is a sign that marketing has already been done on it, so it's not a complete analogy. Still, you should be able to see how star power matters in getting a book to sell. A good book will sell better than a bad one, but a bad book by a well-known author will also sell better than a good book by an unknown author with no advertising.

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: Re: Is it true that good novels will automatically sell themselves on Amazon (and so on) and there is no need for one to waste time promoting? This is what Dean Wesley Smith teaches in his articles

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: Help! My Character is too much for her story! A while ago, I started writing a short story for a competition. It was supposed to be about four girls in a shared student apartment. The plan

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