The Plight of the Self-Published

There are a lot of great things about self-publishing and there are a lot of drawbacks. It's nice to be able to have such control over every aspect of your own project but you also don't have the resources that are available to people who have real publishers backing them.I'm lucky in that I worked in advertising and design for years so I have that experience going for me. I also worked for Barnes and Noble for more than 13 years so I have a good understanding of how the actual business side of selling books works. All good things, however, I do not have the cash to actually do the things I need to do to promote my work to the best of my ability. If I could afford to invest in some publicity I would be further along in building my career but I do not have the resources for that right now.I'm definitely not making money at this and probably wont for quite a while. I have sold books but the profit margin can be pretty slim. If I'm lucky, I can make $1 off of some of the books depending on where it is purchase. However, I can also end up making $0.01 per book depending on where it is purchased. I try to set my prices as low as possible and still make a profit, but it can be tricky.Setting the 6x9 paperback from Createspace at $5.99 can earn me $2 if it is bought from CreateSpace (Has anyone actually bought books from here?), $1 if that same book is purchased from Amazon, or $0.01 if it is bought through Barnes and Noble or any other bookstore.Recently, I added a hardcover and a 5x8 paperback through Barnes and Noble Press. I had to set the paperback at $6.99 there. When someone buys the book from Barnes and Noble, B&N takes $3 off the top and $3.99 goes to me, but then the printing costs come out of my portion. Before I actually get paid anything, $3 is taken for the printing of each book and I am left with $0.99. The hard cover book is paid out the same way with me receiving $1.10 per book. And this is all dependent, of course, on if they sell. I have had months were nothing sold.When you consider all the hours I work, either writing, editing, designing, creating ads, posting on my social media pages, etc. I work more hours now than I ever did at a 9-5 job and am currently actually losing money instead of making it. It can be very discouraging.Trying to get people to post reviews is another issue. There are writers groups where indie authors trade books to read and post reviews for each other but to get reviews I would have to take the time to read other writers books and leave reviews for them as well. I just don't have the extra time for that right now considering I'm doing everything myself from writing and editing to publicity and acting as publisher, it can be extremely time-consuming. But I'm going to have to find time to participate in something so I can get reviews. Reviews are what drive indie authors sales.I have noticed a few people on Goodreads posting stars for my books but they don't leave any comments. The stars are great, at least it's something, but it would be wonderful to have some constructive criticism.I refuse to let the obstacles deter me at this point, this is still a work in progress, I will have it all figured out at some point. For now, I will just keep plugging along and hope the people who are reading my books like my work. It takes time to build a following and I'm determined to do just that. If nothing else, I am at least loving the work, something I haven't been able to say in a very long time.