Authors' Discussion and Promotion Group discussion

I have heard that 250 copies is average. It's been a week, and I'm up to 36. I am SURE that 20 of them were friends and family. I have about 400 Facebook friends, and some friends shared. I have an e-mail list of 100 friends, and some of them forwarded. I have tried those "promotion" thingy's and had my book put into lots of e-mail boxes. But mine is "niche". Choose "African-American fiction" or "Contemporary Fiction" or "Women's Fiction" or "Short Stories"... but it's not thriller/horror/romance/mystery. And I'm pretty sure it's going to be the only one I write. It took me 15 years to write all of those stories. They don't just roll off my fingers.

I have chosen not to spend money on "Secrets of Selling 10,000 books". I have chosen not to spend money on BookBub, and BookSirens rejected me. I tried Pubby.co and got ONE review. (Five stars). I tried Book Bongo and Bargain Booksy and It's WriteOn, and BookRaid. And sold 11 books. Next week I try Bookgoodies, Free&Discounted Books, and Booksprout. I have posted a description of my book in 30 groups on GoodReads, and there are about 20 people who have my story on their "plan to read" list. I have 5 reviews, all 4 and 5 star, and I need 10 in order to try The Fussy Librarian and eBookSoda. There are 15 people who are doing ARC/Beta reads for me, and I'm hoping to have more reviews by the 11th.

I have chosen not to pay Kirkus for an editorial review. They are pricey. Someone tell me if they are worth it.

I have fixed my 10 categories in Amazon. I'm down in the thousands. No where near best seller. I did not pay for Book Rocket. I have done TONS of keywords.

I have an Author Website and a press release coming out next week. I hope to have a second press release going to black media companies around the 19th. Google is optimized by SEO. Frankly, if this doesn't do it, I give up.

What works, people????

There is an Author Marketing group on Goodreads; in the group, you can ask for marketing tips. Book exchanges are also allowed, so your book can get publicity and even reviews. Here is the link to the group:
https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...
I also recommend using your Goodreads Authors' blog whenever you release new writing. Goodreads Authors can go to their Authors' Dashboards. In the Dashboard, there is a section that says, "Your Blog," which you can click on. Underneath Your Blog would be a hyperlink that says, "Write a new post," and once you click on this, you are taken to a page that you can type in.
When I write new articles on my website, or when I release a new book, I write it in my blog, so my followers will know about it. I also send such notifications to Goodreads groups dedicated to authors' book promotion as well.

Finally, I recommend blogging on a personal website (if you haven't done that), and then notifying people about these blog posts in Goodreads groups that allow authors' book/writing promotion. I have gotten a few comments to my blogs in Goodreads discussion threads by doing that.

Wish you the best of luck in writing!

Thank you so much.

The thing I struggle with - it seems that everyone is planning to write several books, everyone looks at the first book as sacrificial, everyone builds up an e-mail following or blog following for The Next Book.

I do not plan to write another book. I just want to sell this one book. So, none of the strategies I see seem to work for me.

I will go to Author Dashboards and see if there's any good advice.

Thanks much!