Gumroad Disappointment: Free Poetry Giveaway and No Customer Downloads

 And the immediate action I am taking today.

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay- Edited by Marilyn Glover with Canva

Self-publishing is no simple task. I find the marketing aspect a little overwhelming, and to be completely honest, highly disappointing.  At least so far. While I've been an online writer for six years, to date, self-promotion has involved LinkedIn, X, cross-publishing between Vocal Media and Medium, and utilizing Pinterest.

Easy peasy, and I've enjoyed it.

However, now I am set to release my debut poetry collection, a Jungian-themed chapbook, and I am learning the nitty-gritty details beyond the art of words.

Writing and formatting my book is only the artist's vision, but releasing that vision into the world and finding actual readers requires skillful marketing. For someone who thoroughly enjoys the artistic side of matters, this has proven quite an eye-opener. It's a completely different beast.

Which leads me to Gumroad.

Three weeks ago, I decided to give Gumroad a go and give away a free poem a week, leading up to my Jungian-themed chapbook release. I saw another writer I know from a different platform do it and thought, hey, why not?

So, I learned how to navigate Gumroad, made some mistakes, edited, and kept at it until I thought I got it right.

I made my poems free, thinking this would be an ideal way to get my name out there beyond my usual writing platforms and find a potential audience. And why not: free is always good, right?

To my profound disappointment, free poetry giveaways have resulted in no customer downloads. That's right, folks; I can't even give my art away.

Now that is likely more than enough to deter most would-be artists, but not this gal.

As determined as I am to keep my project moving forward, I did a little brainstorming, digging, and reevaluating.

This is what I have learned about Gumroad:

• Gumroad Checkout Friction- Even a free giveaway requires a name and email. This alone will turn away many otherwise potential clicks.
• Questionable Value- While "Free" sounds enticing to some, for others, it prompts an immediate low-value response.
• Lack of Social Proof-Who is this person? Many will ask. Despite my 6-year online writing presence, this is still small compared to the much wider writing industry.

Gumroad Stats-Author's Screenshot

As you can see, I've had 134 views over the past 3 weeks but zero customer downloads. 

Surely this is disappointing, but maybe not all is lost. Perhaps I need one simple tweak to my strategy.

This tweak entails how and where I display my free Jungian-themed poetry, and it's immediate action I am taking today- Matter of fact, here and now with this post.

134 Gumroad views isn't horrible. 0 downloads tells me that something is amiss.

Readers are busy. They don't want to give out their names and emails and value their privacy. Besides, what if the download is low-quality content and from an unreliable source? Readers think about these scenarios, and I get it; I am a reader, too!

So, the still hopeful writer in me is giving away my free 3 Jungian-themed poems here today on my own website. 

Each poem aligns with the three parts of my chapbook.

• 1st poem- Alibied by Ink from Part One: Persona
• 2nd poem- Reprieve Reclaimed from Part Two: Shadow's Reprieve
• 3rd poem- Whole Circle from Part Three: Self

The chapbook, Shadow's Reprieve, is due out at the end of May (possible June 1st release), and the full-length book, Archetype of the Unlived, is slated for release in December 2026.

Free 3-poem Preview

Alibied by Ink

I’ve been with my pen all this time
writing things I can never say—
Conversation.
Utterance.
Speaking.
Saying thoughts aloud feels like a misdeed.

I won’t commit this crime:
A violation of my space.
Might it be
if I were to talk,
Convey my mind?

Orate is an ornament others use,
decorating communication
vowels, consonants,
Stressed. non-stressed
syllables, sounding
Ideal.
Appropriate.
Inspirational.

My voice chokes up—
suffocated by fear.
Impostor syndrome.
Cat snags my tongue,
preventing me from conversing

Gift of gab evades me,
but ink saves me

I jot it down
because writing feels innocent,
and chatter endures
Conviction.
Sentencing.

Reprieve Reclaimed

Punished to pardoned,
Internal call
Dialing backProjections—
For self-protection
Yet,Infection lingers
Not enough fingers
To count
My woes
Add in the toes
Still not enough; it’s tough
I grasp these bars
Still in a cell
Absolved of nothing
This feels like hell

People, associated and strangers
Suppressed attributes

Projected
Denial festered equals dangers
I testify; might I atone
A pause, a pardon
Doesn’t mean done

Light to dark; dark to light
Imprisoned
From a perspective
Opposing reflective
Hidden, disowned, repression
A mighty push down
Hand’s suppression
Entangled emotions
All that I hid away
No embracing compassion
Without shadow play

Distorted, downplayed, degradation
A silhouette’s side bar; self-conversation
Enlightened, NO
Might I fix
Edit my human stance
Mind and its tricks
Truth be told: self—I’ve deceived
Put myself in jail
Thrown away the key

Reprieve, a pardon; I’ve had many
Temporary relief
Truthfully, there isn’t any
Cycles, circles, swing back around
Insights skimmed
Not really found
Reclaimed reprieve is only a delay
Might shadow and me
Get on someday

Whole Circle

I watched the final raindrops plop into a pond
One. Two. Three.
The third held me
Hushed water spoke
Rippling
I stood on the perimeter
Soaked shoes. Soaked socks. Wringing my shirt.
Might I step into the water
Immerse myself
Why not, I thought—
I’m already wet
Subsurface
What type of ripples might I create
If I explore beyond top-layer
Head-dunk; Mind’s eye plunk

I step in
Recalling the rain
Only up to my trunk
Half a splash
Not too many waves
Partially certain, a little more brave
Feeling close, not complete
Me, myself, and I
Look at pond’s perimeter
Noting my muddy footprints
Soil-etched steps
Earth tremors
Orbit soul’s sound return

Back to square one
It’s raining again
Baseline return; pond’s edge
I count the raindrops
One.
Two.
Three.

Closing out this post, I'd like to mention that I greatly appreciate any and all reads. As an artist, the name of the game at this stage is exposure, not money.

Shadow's Reprieve will hit Draft2Digital within the next couple of days. I also plan to create a print-on-demand option for the hardcover version.

Self-publishing is proving to be quite the journey, but one I am happy to pursue.

Where will this all lead? I have no clue, but all I know for certain is that the poetry must continue.