I'm a writer, which doesn't mean I'm a book marketer. I want people to read my books, yet, like every indie author, I have no backup or help to promote my books. I just published a LinkedIn post about selling my books on the sideway of a busy street.

When writing my first short story many years ago, I never thought of promoting it, least of all self-promoting. I read lots of books, and I always thought, naively, of course, that anybody could be interested in reading my stories. It did not go that way, though.

For example, what kind of book promotion Charles Dickens, George Orwell, or Balzac did they have? They did not have an interview with Oprah Winfrey, an article about the author in the New York Times, or space on TV or mass media platforms. As a cynic, I would say that they did a great job in writing. But this skill is never enough because thousands of well-written stories are sleeping on bookshelves in every bookstore, unknown to thirsty readers.

I thought of hiring one of those "experts" so abundant on the Internet that promise "to sell millions of your inspired words." But no. I've done nothing of that. There is no marketing, just writing; thus, I'm an indie author orphaned from publicity.

I believed I just needed one reader. One reader only, and I would become a global success. I thought it would be something like the story of the chessboard game. Do you know it? It's about the chessboard, a king, and the guy who brought the game to entertain the king. So, like in the chessboard story, if one person read my book, this first reader would recommend the book to another, then two would read the book, and then 4, and 16, 32, exponentially, to reach as many readers as they are on Earth. Ha, ha!

Apart from family, indie authors only readers (or buyers) are friends willing to "spare" some dollars in a literary venture. It happened to me. Thank you very much, folks. However, this kind of "promotion" lasts just a few days and seldom expands beyond the circle of family and friends.

So, in conclusion, I am still holding on to the story of the chessboard game to propel myself into the world as an accomplished author. But because I'm independent, I must go the extra mile: write well and re-write better, understand basic storytelling better, embody whatever story I imagine into a human context, and thus, make the story attractive to my audience, design a great cover, and write an amazing blurb.

If this works, I will surely be on that chessboard.