I just skimmed the thread, but the little bits I did slow down and read carefully were helpful! I'm planning to self publish one of my novels to keep myself from going insane with all the waiting that comes with traditional publishing. I'm doing a crowdfunding thing for it on Publisherizer and noticed that while my followers, friends, and family respond to my posts and tweets about anything but my book, they seem to ignore the few tweets I do make promoting my book.
I post I got a request from an agent about the ms I'm taking a traditional route for, I get a dozen likes in an hour. I share a link to my book that I am self publishing, I get a like from my mother and no one else. I haven't been spamming people. I posted once before I launched the campaign, once when I launched and one or twice after. I have been blogging about the experience, but my blogs have been more what someone else in the thread described as publishing journey diaries. And people have been reading them, but probably to decide if they want to try something similar, or avoid it.
At first, I was thinking the hive mind was telling me not to bother with self-publishing, but really, they just didn't want to be marketed to. Period. If I want to sell my book, they are not the ones who are going to buy it help me promote it. It took me about two days to get that message. I think some people never get it. When I have more time, I will read this thread in more depth to figure out the right way to do things.
Thank you!