When a friend tell me they “wrote a book” I cringe. Well at least they’re on line now, and you don’t have to buy a minimum run of 1,000 anymore. There are crates of books in people’s basement, only 995 more to sell.
The pay for publicity is a scam, too.
Have you considered a different career path? I have a higher rating on Amazon and all I wrote were some silly alternate history novels.
Hilarious!