“Tension Mounts put together a wonderfully charming book that I felt validated many of my thoughts. I read this while my toddler was sleeping right next to me, and I am so glad my outbursts of random laughter did not wake her up! If you want to laugh and feel like you are sitting next to your wise but ornery Great Aunt Molly, this is the book for you!” -Laurie on goodreads.com

That is the first review of Book of Snark I have received by someone I am certain is a stranger. And I can not tell you what a thrill it is for me that my book makes its readers laugh out loud. Several friends have kindly texted me to tell me that they laughed while reading it, but now I have confirmation that it is not just my current fanbase who enjoys it. The book is finding its audience out in the wild.

One of the great challenges of independent authors is to convince strangers to read the book. Afterall, we are asking people to exchange the limited commodities of time and money for our writing. It had better provide information, entertainment, or enrich their lives in some way. Slick marketing by corporations have fooled too many people. How many stupid movies have you seen that were promised to be ‘laugh out loud’, but turned out to be, well, stupid movies?

“Just because you say it doesn’t make it true.” -Book of Snark 9.6.1

So, I can’t say it. My readers have to say it in the form of online book reviews and talking about it in their social circles. Word of mouth is truly the best marketing. It’s so powerful, the algorithms on FB suppress it if they detect you are trying to promote something in order to force you to buy advertising, even among your friends and family.

Now, my friends and family already know how much of me they can take and that will indicate how much they will like my book. If I don’t make them laugh, the book won’t make them laugh. And yes it’s true, not everyone is a fan. But either way, I run out of fans quickly. I do not have a legion of readers built up over years of publishing. It is my first time after all.

So, I am taking to long road of providing advance copies and running ads to increase awareness of the book. To date, roughly 25,000 people have been exposed to it and as expected, 1% of them have interacted with the book online. But I am here to tell you, I have not sold 250 books as a result. People are curious, they find the title and the concept funny, but very few are buyers.

They want a guarantee that it is not a turd wrapped in tin foil.

So, here is where book reviews come into play and a favor I ask of my fans: If you read Book of Snark and enjoyed it, please go out to Goodreads.com or Amazon.com and write an honest review.

It helps ensure this funny little book keeps going. And a big thank you to those who already have- from your wise but ornery friend, Christine!

-Copyright C.M.Mounts, November 2020