What is a "Pity Patron?"

We've all seen these familiar posts on X, Insta, and FB. I've even posted a few with the hopes it would raise some kind of awareness to my work. If you're not familiar, this is a screenshot of a KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) sales dashboard, and it currently reads zero sales. A social media post with this image is usually accompanied by: "How's your month going?" or "After all my hard work, this is what I have to show for it." Or my personal favorite: "Who will save me from this ugly set of ovals?"

What is your first instinct when you see a post like this? Do you feel sorry for the author? Does it make you feel inclined to buy a copy of the author's book, as if your one purchase will make the author feel validated? Or do you make a snap judgment about the book, or the author's ability to write based on the number of sales? Maybe you just ignore the post. Maybe a completely different thought?

To be clear, Yes, I will take all the pity sales anyone wants to give me. But in my heart, I'd really rather someone bought my book because it was something they're interested in. I sometimes wonder how many "pity patrons" actually read the book they purchased, or if the book just sits in the back of their kindle queue to be forgotten about. I'm certain I am making a lot of unfair judgements here, but if you read between the lines, you'll realize I'm writing this post out of my own experience. Yes, I have purchased books out of pity for an author, hoping to raise their spirits. Also, yes, I have let the book sit in the back of my kindle queue with nearly zero intentions to read it. And if you really want me to be honest, the pity purchases I've attempted to read unfortunately don't hold my interest and they end up on another dreadful list: My "Did Not Finish" list.

These are just my first thoughts on "pity patrons", we haven't even touched on what these types of sales do to the amazon algorithm. If a "pity patron" buys a copy of one of my mystery novels books but the patron is traditionally a romance reader, suddenly the Amazon algorithm gets the idea that my mystery novel fits in with the romance genre. Okay, this may not happen after one purchase, but if something like this happens enough, my book could be shown in the suggestion window to romance readers, which are not my target audience. Finding an audience for your writing can be extremely challenging. I don't need something like a confused algorithm slowing me down on top of everything else.

I'm probably dousing the flames of the supportive writing community right now (or maybe I'm throwing gas on it). I realize I'm making some assumptions that other people's buying habits are similar to mine. Or perhaps I'm way off, and some of these sales are from people who had been meaning to buy a book for some time but just forgot about it. Maybe the patron's interests do align with the author's writing, and they want to take a chance on the book. Either way, I stand by my point: what good are we doing if we buy books from authors who simply beg for the sale. It kind of feels like we're just dropping a few bucks into a hat. At the very least, maybe we’re increasing their Amazon sales rank for a few days. As an author, I would rather have true organic readers/patrons. I want patrons who buy my book because something about the tag line caught their attention—or maybe there was something about the cover. Better yet, I'd love a patron who buys my book because they had previously enjoyed something else I wrote. These are the best kind of patrons because they're no longer just patrons, they're fans! My main goal as an author is not to sell the most copies of my book, it’s to find my audience. Once I do that, sales are likely to follow.

There are so many other and better ways to support writers, and it costs you nothing! A simple like and share of an author’s post goes a long way. If you want to go the extra mile, leave a positive comment about the book to give it relevance to other people. Sure, you may be a fantasy reader, but maybe you have some followers/friends who read hard crime. Recommend the book to a book club who reads the genre of the book being promoted. And of course, if you have generally read an author's book and enjoyed it, share a review.

As I'm writing this, I realize this might be something I will want to delete later. I have this nagging feeling that someone is going to read this and think I'm calling them or out, or that I'm stepping on their supportive toes. I hope not, because that’s not my intention, and I apologize if I’ve upset you. If you are a "pity patron," I want you to know you are still very much appreciated. I'm sure your intentions are good, and I don't know for certain that your efforts are not worth the action. These are just my own thoughts I'm firing away with. I welcome any of your thoughts on this as well so we can have a respectable discussion on this. I don't think I have all the answers, and I'm certainly not perfect, because as I said at the beginning of this post, I will take all the pity sales anyone wants to give me!

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