Everyone has the answers, but there are no answers

There is no shortage of experts who will tell an author what the secret to financial success is in publishing.  Also, there is no limit to the number of experts who will contradict the last expert with whom you spoke.  Some charge money, some don't.  Some have risen to respected positions in publishing, representation, or the media, and some haven't.

Eager authors jump from expert to expert, trying something new, trying to unlock the magic formula.  For those who take comfort in organization and predictability, this can be frustrating.  They sometimes can't understand why the last effort didn't work.  

They think, "If I throw a match on a puddle of gasoline, there will be fire.  So, I did what they said, and my book didn't explode.  It makes no sense."

However, marketing art is not like a lab experiment or writing software.  It's not a series of "IF...THEN" statements, like flipping binary switches, that must result in the desired outcome.

It is art.  Human taste is involved.  Human instincts come into play.  There is luck in the mix. None of these things can be quantified, and so authors end up with a recipe without measurements.

To bake a successful book, add 1 cup of water to some flour and salt, some sort of sweetener (the customer will tell you which one is the best after it's baked).  Put into the oven.  What temp?  The industry will crank that up and down, so good luck, you have no control on oven temp.  Leave it in there for somewhere between 15 minutes and 6 hours.

This is especially hard on those authors who insist that there must be a correct combination, and those who have found a way to succeed all their lives by simply working harder.  They believe success is nothing more than will power and talent.  With art, it's simply not the case.  

We cannot will an agent or publisher to love a story.  We cannot will a customer to buy a book.  It's not all up to the author.  Some authors, when they truly learn this, abandon publishing.  If they can't control everything, then why put that much work into something?  They can't imagine working their asses off, only to have success determined by the tastes and whims of other people.

But that has ALWAYS been the creative person's lot in life.  The zen of it is learning to write for writing sake, offering work that you love to others knowing that they might reject it.  Being rejected is not losing.  When I go fishing, with the first cast of my line, and I reel it in without a fish, I haven't "lost" at fishing.  I cast again.

Imagine sitting on a bank and a fly fisherman comes along.  He wades in, with a fly he tied himself, that he thinks is great, and he casts.  Hooking nothing, he casts again.  As the afternoon goes on, each cast is a bit angrier, and he's looking on his phone, watching YouTube videos of expert fly fishermen casting.  Now, imagine how much worse it would be with people on the bank calling out conflicting advice: "Cast over there! It worked for me!"  "You didn't invest enough in the pole and waders! You have no chance of the fish noticing you!" "You should be spearfishing!" "There are so many fish here!" "Fishing is dead!"

You look up, at the beautiful sky, and the wonderful day around you, birds, sweet scent of grass, the sound of the river, and the noise of a cussing, stomping fisherman making his way out of the water, saying, "The whole system is corrupt!  And rigged!  I'm doing everything right!  The fish in this river are especially stupid!" 

Just stop.  Stop.  Move to a different bend in the river.  Calm down.  Maybe put that fly away, and tie another.  Don't throw it away, simply put it aside.  A frustrated fly fisherman is missing the best part of the experience.  Smile at the advice, but don't chase from one advisor to another, in a panic.

Keep in mind, most overnight successes took 15 to 20 years to be successful.  Also keep in mind, some fisherman go home empty-handed, even when they did everything right.  The unhappy ones are the control-freaks who attempted to compel the fish to behave a certain way.  The happy ones are the ones who enjoyed the fishing.  

Finally, books aren't something we cram down people's throats.  Books are what authors leave behind.  F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby was considered a failure until AFTER he died in 1940.  It was made popular by thousands of soldiers, serving in the war, who were sent piles of books. The GIs discovered it, and it became a huge success.  The novel brought entertainment to so many in such a tough situation.  It has been a huge success ever since, and there are many examples like it.  

If you're an author, you're a part of a much bigger thing than some transactional arrangement where you build a widget, and try to sell it. If you don't get that, you're missing it.