Instagram isn't what it used to be—and authors are suffering the most.

Instagram isn’t what it used to be.

It’s become temperamental. Moody. Sulking like that kid in class who always has his head down, like that grumpy math teacher who doesn’t like you—no matter how well-behaved you are.

And frankly, I’m fed up.

Let’s rewind…

In 2021, a post of mine went viral. Because of this viral post, I sold 12,000 copies of my book DEAR SELF in one month. I repeat—one month. I was a self-published author. An ‘insta-poet’ as the literarily-entitled like to call us. Selling 12,000 copies of a book I self-published using my own wit and determination (as well as talented freelancers, IngramSpark and tips from other self-published authors) was beyond my wildest imagination.

After this viral post—my life changed for good.

I sold over 30,000 copies of my self-published poetry and prose books in that year alone, making 5x more than I did in my part-time job admin job. Currently, my sales stand at over 70,000. That’s wild to me.

It was that year and now—and nothing’s been the same.

2022 was okay.

2023 became a little slow.

2024 was even slower.

And 2025? I don’t want to talk about it.

The worst part? Currently, I have 600,000 followers on Instagram alone, compared to the 200,000 I had in 2021. But now, my posts don’t garner even half the audience they did back then. The engagement is embarrassing, to be honest. The percentage of followers my posts are shown to is sometimes less than 1%, and even on days when a post does go viral (specifically a reel, because that’s what garners traffic these days) it doesn’t result in any book sales. At all.

Can you believe that a reel with 60,000 likes doesn’t produce any book sales?

Well—believe it.

Instagram has become a funnel for quick likes and snappy swipes, but no one wants to stick around. No one wants to find out where that passage came from—which book, which page, which author? No one cares.

It’s demotivating. Upsetting. And downright sad that it’s come to this. These days I spend most of my time looking for ways to get a post to go viral for engagement rather than utilizing that time to actually write a book—which is my real job.

Would you believe me if I said I haven’t written a single piece of prose in the last six months? For a while, I developed the “What’s the point?” mentality, where I thought that if new posts are only going to get me likes and follows, but no readers, then why should I waste my time writing pieces for social media at all.

My issue isn’t with Instagram or TikTok per se—because once upon a time, those platforms helped self-published authors like myself find real readers.

My biggest complaint is that pages like mine—poetry and prose ones—have become ‘quotes’ pages. A place for people to find ‘relatable quotes’ to send to their family, friends or romantic partner, and maybe even put up on their stories to get a message across, without resulting in any interest from real readers.

You know, those people who actually like reading books and are eager to find out when the next title by their favourite author is out? Those people.

And, after much thought, I’ve decided to make a heavy-hearted decision. I’ve decided to create a new Instagram page. I’m tired of posting pieces of prose and giving people a quick-and-easy-bitesize-access to deep conversations within those books I rip off from (even though they’re my own books).

I just want readers.

Real readers.

And that’s what this page of mine, @rubydhalbooks, is about. An author page, for real readers, aspiring writers and fellow authors. I created this page for people who are interested in reading books, want to know more about the authors they follow, want to learn from them, and aren’t just looking for another ‘quotes page’ where they can find relatable passages to like, send to their friends and forget about after 5 seconds.

First and foremost—I’m an author, so, I want to build a community that reflects this.

I’m done chasing thousands of likes. What I want now is realness. I want readers. Actual readers. People who love to get lost in the pages of a new novel they picked up in a cute bookstore tucked away in a quiet little town where dreams and coffee are sold in exchange for smiles and soft hellos.

I might post on this new page once a day, or once a week, or once a month. The point of this page isn’t in consistency, or in the number of likes or followers I garner. The point is in building a close-nit community consisting of readers, book-lovers, and fellow authors and writers.

I’m done playing the Instagram game.

I just want to write books—cute, romantic novels, and coming-of-age stories with dynamic voices at the forefront about underrepresented characters that inspire and enthral readers. Then, I want to share news about those books with fellow book-lovers—people who live and breathe in books as much as I do.

That is all. That is all.

If you love books and want to see more of the author behind those books, then follow my new page, but if not—then that’s no problem at all. My writing page will always be active, and you can find relatable quotes there whenever you need them, but this time, I want to do something for myself instead.

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Love,

Ruby Dhal xxx