On one hand, you think: your work is good/great. You put so much effort into creating the product, why not promote it? It's unlikely to get any traction if you don't promote it. Doing zero promotion seems like a disservice to all the work you did in creating the art.
But then on the other hand, as you demonstrate, the more work you do promoting in relation to creating, the more chance you'll start to resent creating.
There's also the heartbreak of realizing that maybe your work isn't good enough, or at least appealing to a large enough audience. I make music and I'm struggling with this now. I've learned how to do promotion and have gotten some traction but it doesn't feel like enough and doesn't feel like it's catching on enough.
It's much easier for self-doubt to creep in when you put yourself out there then when you do zero self-promotion and allow yourself the self-delusion that you are great and the only reason nobody knows it is because the world sucks.
>> maybe your work isn't good enough, or at least appealing to a large enough audience.
That is very true. In my case, I found the type of fiction that sells is in a few mainstream genres, and in series (so you write a dozen books, all with a hard boiled detective, for example). Thats why every book nowadays is in a series, because publishers (traditional and indie)have figured out this is the "formula" to success.
I like to experiment and play-- one thing I didnt mention in the oriignal comment, a big reason that caused me to burnout-- writing for the "market", or trying to write in a way that appeals to the mainstream, or at least a large number of people. Forcing yourself to write a book in a way that would appeal to many people-- while you can do it short term, over long term, I began to hate what I was doing and one day, I just couldnt type anymore.
It all comes back to doing it for the love, and accepting that perhaps this will always remain a hobby.
But then on the other hand, as you demonstrate, the more work you do promoting in relation to creating, the more chance you'll start to resent creating.
There's also the heartbreak of realizing that maybe your work isn't good enough, or at least appealing to a large enough audience. I make music and I'm struggling with this now. I've learned how to do promotion and have gotten some traction but it doesn't feel like enough and doesn't feel like it's catching on enough.
It's much easier for self-doubt to creep in when you put yourself out there then when you do zero self-promotion and allow yourself the self-delusion that you are great and the only reason nobody knows it is because the world sucks.