I'm wondering if putting my stories out there is actually worth it.

I’ve been feeling quite discouraged lately, and I’m not sure who to ask for advice.

I’ve been trying to find people who might be interested in reading my book since March.

I’ve done a lot during that time. I translated my book into English because I couldn’t find enough Spanish-speaking readers interested in it. I created a website and tried to build an email list by getting people interested in reading the first three chapters, which I offer for free. I created a lot of content for Pinterest and made several posts on Instagram and Facebook. I ran an ARC campaign, sent around 100 messages trying to find ARC readers, and still ended up with very few reviews.

I don’t have a budget for marketing, ads, or paid services like BookFunnel either, because of the health issues I’ve been dealing with and the long recovery process I’ve been going through. I’m currently unable to work, struggling financially and I'm depending on my parents. So I’ve been doing everything on my own.

I’ve barely had time to write because I started this whole process in October of last year. My book was published one month ago, but after all that time and effort, I’ve only managed to get two sales, both from people I know who are more like acquaintances than close friends. Honestly, that has been really discouraging.

At this point, I’ve been seriously questioning whether it’s worth putting my stories out there at all. It feels like I’m putting an enormous amount of effort into planting seeds, only to have almost nothing to harvest. And when you’re already dealing with limited energy, it becomes very difficult to keep pouring so much of yourself into something without seeing any results.

I’m still trying to figure out whether I should continue pursuing this path. I know writing is worth it because I feel happy when I write. But is it worth continuing to publish? I honestly don’t know.

Maybe it was naive of me to think I could make this work while dealing with my health issues, but I really needed some income. And on top of everything else, the current witch hunt has been making me feel even more stressed.

I feel stressed, discouraged, sad, and exhausted, and it has drained my creativity. I stopped marketing for two weeks just to take a step back.

My ADHD hyperfocus will probably keep me writing, but it also makes the marketing process feel incredibly overwhelming.

If you’ve been through something similar, I’d really appreciate any advice. What would you do in my situation?