Why Are So Many Indie Authors Just Marketing to Other Indie Authors?

Hint: It’s Not About Selling Books

Jul 11, 2025

You ever scroll through #WritingCommunity on Twitter—sorry, X—and feel like you're watching 400 people shout “Buy my book!” into a void while simultaneously retweeting 400 other people also shouting “Buy my book!”?

You’re not imagining it. You’re watching the literary equivalent of a snake eating its own tail… while also trying to sell it a Kindle Unlimited subscription.

I recently got two brilliant comments on my Substack that perfectly nailed it:

“Why are so many authors on social media marketing to other authors, not readers? The #WritingCommunity is just a circle jerk with everyone screaming ‘Buy my book’ while they reciprocally repost their self-promotion ad nauseam into the same inbred echo chamber.”
“Vanity metrics… sucks to see them affect so many who don't want to sell books, they want validation from others.”

And honestly? That’s it. That’s the blog post.

…But let’s dig in anyway.

The Circle-Jerk Economy of Indie Publishing

A lot of indie authors aren’t marketing their books to readers. They’re marketing to other writers—and not because those writers are their target demographic or loyal audience. Nope. It’s because deep down, many of them aren’t trying to sell a product. They’re trying to prove they belong.

They want to be told:

"Your book looks amazing!"
"You’re doing great!"
"You're a real writer!"

And where better to get that fix than from people in the exact same boat, addicted to the same need for affirmation?

The result is a closed system of self-promotion, where no one is actually reading anyone else's work, but everyone’s applauding the covers, trailers, and aesthetic reels like it’s a high school talent show.

The Psychology Bit (Because Let’s Get Nerdy for a Second)

This isn’t just laziness or delusion—it’s insecurity, plain and simple.

Writing is lonely. Publishing is hard. And the internet makes it worse by gamifying success. You don’t get real-time stats on your craft, your storytelling, or how someone felt reading your climax chapter. You get likes, retweets, followers, and those wretched little “Impressions” metrics that whisper, “People saw your post… but didn’t care.”

So what do you do? You chase the metrics you can get. You optimize your “brand.” You make Canva graphics of your fake five-star reviews. You tag every writing friend in your cover reveal because you need the dopamine hit.

And slowly, without realizing it, your book stops being a story and becomes a prop. A trophy to show off to the same five people, all doing the same thing.

"Buy My Book" Is Not a Marketing Strategy

There’s a reason readers roll their eyes at writing Twitter. There’s a reason BookTok feels so different—it’s reader-first. It’s chaotic, it’s unhinged, but it’s real people talking about books they loved. Not just pushing their own work in hopes of validation from their peers.

Meanwhile, on Instagram or Threads or whatever we’re all pretending to use now, the indie community is saturated with writers reposting their own “preorders open!” announcements and calling it outreach.

At best, it’s noise. At worst, it’s the illusion of effort that stops anyone from doing the uncomfortable work of actually finding their real audience.

Because real marketing is hard. It’s slow. It means talking to strangers. It means accepting that maybe your book isn’t what they want. It means rejection. And the #WritingCommunity is allergic to rejection. That’s why so many people would rather stay in the warm bath of mutual back-patting than risk a cold splash of reality.

So What’s the Fix?

Here’s a wild thought: stop trying to impress other writers.

Writers aren’t your customers. Writers are broke. They’re busy. They’re insecure. They’re too busy writing their books to read yours, unless they’re guilted into a swap.

Instead, ask yourself:

Who is my actual reader?
Where do they hang out online?
What do they care about?

Talk to them. Make content for them. Show up in spaces where people aren’t also trying to sell you a $3.99 Kindle ebook.

You might get fewer likes. You’ll definitely get fewer reposts. But maybe, just maybe, you’ll start building something real—an audience that reads your stories, not just claps for your effort.

Final Thought: Do You Want to Be Read or Reassured?

There’s no shame in wanting community. God knows writing is brutal, and having friends who get it can keep you sane. But community is not the same as an audience. And if you confuse the two, you’ll end up with 300 mutuals who like your posts but never buy your books.

So ask yourself honestly:

Are you marketing your book… or marketing yourself as someone worthy of being called a writer?

Because if it’s the second one, you don’t need a reader. You need a therapist.

(Said with love. And maybe a hint of self-drag, because I’ve been there too.)