Do book sales and Amazon rankings matter?

Have you ever felt stuck staring at your Amazon KDP dashboard, wondering if all your efforts as an author are worth it?
In this heartfelt episode of Anointed Scribe: Diary of a Christian Writer, I open up about my personal struggles with doubt, disappointment, and striving for success in the indie publishing world. Sharing the powerful lesson God taught me during one of my lowest moments, this episode is a reminder that writing with a Kingdom purpose goes far beyond book sales and Amazon rankings.

Tune in for encouragement, actionable steps to overcome the “valley season” in your writing journey, and a fresh perspective on aligning your expectations with God’s mission for your life.
Whether you're a Christian fiction or non-fiction author or someone navigating a purpose-driven path, this episode will inspire you to press on and thrive as God’s Anointed Scribe.

👉 Listen now for the encouragement your heart needs to press on with faith and purpose!

✅ Subscribe or Follow so you don’t miss the next episode if you want my proven formula that will transform your writing career!

Transcript

The numbers on your KDP dashboard are stuck no matter how many times you refresh the page. You keep writing more books, work hard at your covers, your blurbs, your reviews and your marketing.

You're doing everything right, yet your sales are barely making a dent in your bills.

Then you ask yourself the question you've been pushing to the very back of your mind.

What's the point of writing if my books aren't even selling?

Have you found yourself at this crossroads? Is your hope hanging by a thread and you second guessing all you once felt so passionately was of God?

Well, you're not alone on this one. This was me not too long ago, and in today's episode I, I'm sharing the answer God gave me when I asked him this very question.

You're listening to the Anointed Scribe Podcast and this is episode four.

I'm Urcelia Teixeira, ex real estate agent turned award winning author of Christian fiction. It wasn't that long ago that I wrote my first novel on a bucket list Whimsical. Setting the course for a spiritual journey that transformed my life.

But the journey through self publishing hasn't been easy as I soon found myself obsessing over book sales rankings and getting to the top of the shelves, all the while trying to stay rooted in Christ and live out my purpose.

But God has graciously been teaching me how to navigate the spiritual pitfalls of the brutal book publishing industry. And now I'm sharing them with you. Welcome to the Anointed Scribe Podcast where each week I open my personal diary to share soul nourishing stories designed to inspire, uplift and equip you for your writing life.

If you're already a Christian author or one in the making trying to balance faith with business, you're in the right place. Because for such a time as this, you have been called to thrive as God's Anointed scribe.

Are you ready? Let's get started.

Hey, it's your author friend, Ursilia. And can I just say how deeply grateful I am that you're choosing to spend this time with me today. It means the world to me and I'm trusting that what God's going to say to you today will be exactly what you need to hear.

Now, as I was preparing for this episode, I must confess I got a bit emotional because today's topic is something that keeps rearing its ugly head no matter how many books I've written.

And if I'm brutally honest, it's threatening to happen to me again right now. At the time of recording this episode.

So yes, we're tackling a topic I've personally encountered many, many times in my journey as a Christian writer.

And spoiler alert, many other authors go through this as well.

But first, if you're new here and this is your first episode, I want to welcome you to the Anointed Scribe family. I pray that God uses this podcast to speak directly to you, and that these topics will not only give you deep insight into the struggles you face as a Christian writer, but also draw you into a deeper relationship with the Lord.

And if perhaps you are a reader who found your way here, you are of course, very welcome here, too.

I think this might just give you a little bit more insight into into our world as authors and what truly goes on behind the scenes of writing the books you enjoy reading.

So before we get into today's topic, I do suggest that you go back to episode one and follow on from there, because a lot of it will make a bit more sense if you have the full backstory on how I got to this point.

I know it's a bit cheeky of me to make it sound like I'm selling you a series, so forgive me, but I'm a very linear writer, and so doing these episodes as I experienced and journaled them seems to make a lot more sense, at least to my mind.

But that's entirely up to you, of course. I have no doubt that it will still make sense and that you'll find value out of today's episode.

So back to today's spiritual crossroads and my obsession with book sales.

The first time it happened was back in February 2021, when I wrote this in my journal.

I'm at a crossroads, ready to give up.

Maybe I'm not meant to write.

Did I miss the mark?

Did I hear God wrong?

And this is nothing but a crazy pipe dream.

What's the point of doing this if I can't pay the bills?

Now, back when I first wrote this in my diary, I had just published my second Christian suspense novel and was about a quarter into the third novel by this time, Book One, Every Good Gift had just won an award.

And so I had a little bounce in my step, which made it easy to jump straight into writing book two, Every Good Plan.

But here I was, 25% into the third book in the series, Every Good Work, and I was completely flatlining because somehow I had expected that my sales would just skyrocket because, well, I now had God's anointing, right?

But as you can tell from the title of this third novel, every good work, I was seriously questioning if the good works I was doing was even worth it. Because the numbers on my KDP dashboard weren't aligning with my efforts, I was convinced that I had done more than enough to earn that spike in sales just like everyone else.

It's so funny actually, because looking back now, at the time, I didn't even realize that subconsciously my spiritual dilemma was shaping the faith plot of my third novel.

You see, I kept writing out of sheer willpower at this point in the novel, all the while trying to work through this deep perplexity of faith I now found myself in.

And I just couldn't get past it.

I followed God's call to write and I'm honouring God in my writing.

So where's the blessing that's supposed to follow my obedience?

And the sad part was that I couldn't jump ship even if I wanted to.

I had already lost 80% of my readership who read my Alex Hunt series and who weren't looking to read faith based fiction.

I had bills to pay, a family who depended on my contribution.

I had put everything on the line.

So I did the only thing my years in sales trained me to do. And I fought harder.

I kept going and convinced myself it was hope, determination, pushing on to finish the race that motivated me.

But as it turns out, it was nothing more than self reliance and strife.

And unfortunately, it wasn't an easy lesson either. Nope, when the enemy hooks his claws into your finances, it has a way of quickly spiraling out of godly dependence and into self dependence.

If you're not on God.

Which I wasn't.

You see, I got swept up in the motions of the publishing world where sales and reviews earn you a position on the top shelves.

I had a small taste of sweet success and I wanted more.

Feeling utterly defeated and lost, I went ahead and published the third book. And although we were well received and loved by my readers, the joy of it somehow fell short for me.

Disappointment about the supposed lack of sales I allowed to take root was overwhelming.

And suddenly my path, which only a few months before was crystal clear and full of promise, was blurred by a thick fog of doubt and despair.

But the more I felt sorry for myself, the more God showed me grace. Because barely a week into my pity party, during the launch of every good work, I got an email from a reader that said this.

I wouldn't have made it through my chemotherapy if it weren't for these books.

I so needed the spiritual food they gave me. Thank you, Ur. Celia.

Wow. Just reading it out loud now still gets me all choked up. Because that right there is when the fog lifted away and clarity started to set in again.

You see, somewhere along the way, I had lost my true north, my perspective, my true motive for writing.

And it all stemmed from having an expectation.

I had allowed myself to take my eye off God and my mission and got sucked into the world of profit and fame.

The forums were full of posts that showed other authors sales graphs and income spikes. And it looked oh so awesome.

I remember one particular post where one author shared her KDP dashboard showing a $35,000 income for that month.

And this after the release of only her second self published book ever.

And I remember physically ticking off the debts I'd be settling the next month when my sales would also spike.

But of course, it never did. And that was the precise point where my expectation fell flat on its face.

So as I quietly sat pondering my place and purpose in the world, another question gently made it to the front of the line.

What was God's expectation?

If I expected a fat bank balance, what was God expecting?

Of course I knew the answer wasn't money, and it certainly wasn't fame.

It wasn't even for me to work harder or to write faster or to sign a Netflix deal.

It was much simpler than that.

God's only expectation was that I would let him be in control.

You see, I had attached my worth to the number on the KDP dashboard, to the ranking spot, the position on the shelf.

The higher the number, the more proof I had that I was good enough for the task.

But what I failed to see is that God had already found me worthy.

He had already chosen me, set me apart, and found me equipped enough for a purpose. To serve his kingdom and to spread the good news to his people.

I wasn't like all these other authors whose high sales numbers came from writing books that didn't honor God.

I was on a heavenly mission, powered by the grace and provision of the One who reigns over it all.

This isn't my business. It's God's business.

I'm in his service, appointed and anointed to serve him in his plan.

And news flash, the goal of it isn't to make money.

And you know, do you want to know the really crazy thing?

I knew this. Of course I did.

I wasn't exactly new to my faith, so why then did I feel I had to take control?

How did I end up in this place of pride and wanting to take control?

More importantly, how do I stop this from happening again.

Now, if you think I'm immune to this, I'm definitely not. It's very easy to get anxious about the money side of things when you're struggling to keep the lights on.

But I've learned my lesson the hard way, and I now know what to do to guard against it the moment it tries to slip through the cracks.

So how do you overcome what I call the valley season?

Because let's face it, being at the bottom of the bell curve is not fun.

And if it affects your emotions, your faith, and even your writing, it's not a healthy place to be in and definitely not one you want to get stuck in.

So let's look at a few ways you can prevent and or overcome the Valley season.

These are things I personally do and they work well if you are strict with them.

Start by going back to your godly motive for writing.

Type it out or write it down and keep it somewhere on your desk where at a quick glance you can remind yourself of your faith, mission, your purpose.

I have mine typed out and stuck to my inspiration wall directly in front of my desk and it says this handing out healing one book at a time.

If yours doesn't come to you right away, ask God to tell you. But. But the point is to keep your focus on your mission.

The second thing I do is to be clear about my expectations.

Not just my expectations, but God's expectations.

Because the biggest reason for disappointment is when we set our expectations too high or on things that don't have a God honoring kingdom building outcome.

What is it I expect might happen after release?

Is it perhaps that this one line, this one paragraph might be read by that one person who's battening cancer and who desperately needs to hear that God loves them?

Is it to take my reader deeper into the understanding of a specific Bible chapter or faith element?

Whatever it was that God initially put on your heart when you invited the Holy Spirit into your writing, make that your expectation.

Another reason why we might also fall off the mission wagon is because we feel powerless and out of control.

This is a biggie for me personally, because I find security in being in control of my situation and I like knowing where I'm going.

So when I don't know what's coming, I don't feel safe.

And when things don't happen the way I planned it to happen, patience becomes an issue, which, truth be told, is one of the biggest areas of weakness for me.

And so if you're like me and you need to feel like you're in control of your author business.

This area might require a bit more prayer and surrendering the wheel.

Make a conscious decision to trust God in that moment when you feel out of control.

One way I do it is by putting scriptures of promise on my faith wall, which is next to my desk so I have my inspiration wall in front of me and my faith wall with the scriptures next to me.

The fourth reason we fall off the mission wagon is linked to pride.

We want to feel worthy and good about ourselves.

We want readers to leave five star reviews that say this is the best book I've ever read because we need the validation.

Somehow we think that our readers, our agents, and our critique group's opinions of our books are worth more than God's opinion.

So we attach our self worth as writers to our reviews, our sales numbers, or our rankings.

Wouldn't you rather hear God whisper well done, good and faithful servant?

And finally, one of the most freeing ways I directly guard against falling into the trap of doubting my worth as a writer is to cut myself off from the things that trigger me into self reliance, strife, and pride.

For example, I used to have the KDP Sales dashboard bookmarked on my phone so I could check it easily.

Yeah, don't do that.

I found myself refreshing it the moment I got up, even before I had my coffee or quiet time.

Another trigger might be social media, in my case in particular the Facebook forums and groups where I often leave feeling awful about where I'm at in my career.

I've stopped scrolling through these, and I've also unfollowed most, if not all of the authors whose posts trigger my imposter syndrome.

Because what I discovered in my own writing journey is that the enemy preys on my weaknesses and my insecurities, and he, more often than not, uses social media posts to plant doubt and fear in my mind.

I've come to recognize this as my Achilles heel, so I avoid it at all costs until I'm freed from it.

So I fill my mind with God's promises and focus on serving my readers instead.

So, dear Anointed Scribe, I hope that I managed to put things into better perspective for you in today's episode, and that you are reminded to trust in God for every detail of your author business.

One scripture that brings all of this together beautifully, which you might want to print out and stick on your faith wall, is in Jesus own words in Luke 4:18, which reads, the Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor.

He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind.

Being anointed doesn't mean the journey is without its challenges.

In fact, it often means the opposite.

But if we believe in our anointing as writers for God's kingdom and put purpose before profit, we unlock true transformation and freedom in our writing.

If you haven't yet subscribed or followed, you might want to do that now, because in the next episode I'll tell you how I came back from this place of despair with my proven formula to writing Christian books that sell.

I'll share the tips and tactics I personally tap into every day before I sit down to write. And I think you're going to love it because for such a time as this, you have been called to thrive as God's Anointed Scribe.

See you next week.

Thanks for listening to today's episode of the Anointed Scribe Podcast. I hope you're leaving feeling inspired, encouraged, and on fire to step boldly into your calling as a writer chosen and set apart to fulfill a unique purpose in God's plan.

If you found value and like today's episode, would you stop right now and share this episode with someone else who's struggling to balance their faith with building their author career?

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Then head on over to anointedscribe.com for today's show notes and free access to my entire resource library to keep you rooted and on course. There's also a link where you can shoot me a message or ask a question.

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I look forward to our next episode together. And remember, for such a time as this, you have been called to thrive as God's Anointed Scribe. I'll see you next time.