Probably the thing I most dislike about being an authorpreneur is the selling. Not so much the marketing, as the notion of holding my hat in hand and reaching out my cup and saying (in my best British accent), “Please, good person, for just a few shillings, won’t you buy my books?”

There is something deeply raw and unsettling about prostituting myself in any way to get more sales. (Well, that’s often how it feels, at least.) I know that I’m not forcing anyone, pushing too hard, or being unreasonable. After I took the time and effort to write, format, and publish my book, asking you to buy it isn’t in any way, shape, or form, unreasonable. Right?

So how come it feels like I’m asking a lot? Maybe even too much? Why do I so dread the rejection and judgment that is largely only in my head from the act of selling books?

I can rationalize all day long. My eBooks are all more than reasonably priced, the most expensive being a bundle. Maybe the paperbacks are thin for the price, but that’s the nature of the beast in this market. And yet, I feel this sense of dread at the notion of putting myself forward and directly asking people to buy.

How come asking you to buy my books feels so inappropriate?

Worthy, deserving, and blah blah blah

Not to get too personal, but I’ve spent large swaths of my life fighting my sense of self-worth. What’s more, various and sundry channels have caused me to question my value as an author. Or, in my case, a non-traditionally published author.

Despite all the proof to the contrary, my mind often still defaults to this bullshit: A real author is traditionally published. You have an agent and/or a contract with a major publishing house (like Tor, Random House, Orbit, etc.), and they promote you and legitimize you.

Except it’s 2026 and that’s totally bullshit. Plenty of respected indie-authors do just fine on their own, make good money, and have respect across the industry. Hell, several traditionally published authors ALSO publish independently.

Still, letting go of the old mindset and subconscious belief is not easy. Especially when some of the people I most expect to offer support and cheerleading are meh about it at best (no, I’m not calling anyone reading this out.)

This frequently comes back to the sense I have that I’m not worthy or deserving of succeeding at this. Why? Old beliefs I can’t fully dig out of my subconscious. The question that nags at me: Who the hell is this guy to think they should be successfully writing and selling books?

What makes me more or less deserving than any other author? I do the work, and it feels like one of the main reasons I am here in this world. I’ve been writing fiction for a long time now. Sure, I could have jumped into the authorpreneur game years earlier. Yet I’m here now, writing, editing, and publishing more books, and continuing to pursue new stories to tell.

But I still need to sell the books I’ve written!