/lit/ - Literature

Should I give up on being an author? Book 1 sold 40 copies. Because many were signed special editions, that made me about a thousand bucks. Book 2 is likely to make only a small fraction of that, at least during the first print run, though I can't imagine why there would be a second. I'm feeling pretty demoralized. My publisher didn't do any promotion, but put it all on me, as I understand is increasingly standard for small publishers. You're just expected to already have a newsletter and a following so you can market to them. I don't know what to do, but I'd sooner lie down on some railroad tracks than resort to a vanity publisher.