How many books have you sold already?

That's the question I've heard the most in the following weeks after the publication of The Factory of Gods. It is nothing new, in the past the same thing happened to me when I published my first novel, but it is interesting that it is repeating again. The explanation, however, is simple. Many people measure the quality/success of a book by the number of sold copies. Rather, they would classify a good book as one that has sold a lot (without necessarily specifying a quantity). But in my opinion, that approach is incomplete, especially when we talk about self-published editions. The number of books you've sold doesn't reflect how good or bad your novel is. It only reflects your marketing skills, how good the book promotion has been, etc. Of course any great book will sell well, but if poor marketing, it will take time, a long time until it becomes a known work and becomes a bestseller.