Success? Part 2

I subscribe to the blog, Live, Write, Thrive by C.S. Lankin.  It is an excellent blog and would recommend it highly (www.livewritethrive.com).  She posts several times a week and is very open to guest posts.  The topics range from inspirational to craft to grammar.  On July 24th there was a post called ‘Redefining Success in order to Stay Sane.’  The topic is so important to Lankin that she encouraged readers to re-post.

I would like to share some of the material from the post along with my own comments.  First, the desire for success can wear you down (success defined as selling a lot of books).  Defining success only in terms of book sales is limiting.  Writers suffer disappointment, frustration and despair over sales numbers.  The truth is no one has an idea of what sells books.  That’s the simple truth.   If the number of books sold is your measure of success prepare for a rough pot hole filled road.

Lankin offers the following “truths” which she is also working to embrace:

Success is not defined by numbers or money earned.  Writers need to believe in themselves and their work.  You need to believe that what you write is significant and important.

You are not writing to please the masses.  There are some writers who write in a specific genre to attract the masses.  Mystery writing tends to fall into that category; they are often serial books and have the same protagonist in every book.  There is mass appeal to mystery books, it all started with Sherlock Holmes and I admit, growing up I too was a Holmes addict.  For most of us we don’t appeal to the broad commercial market.  My understanding of “commercial fiction” is fiction written with the sole purpose of huge sales.  For example, paranormal especially vampires is now all the rage.  Writers need to know who their audience is and write with passion and sincerity.

Don’t validate yourself based on others’ opinions of you or your writing.  A local bookstore owner had someone read my book for their opinion.  The bookstore owner went from being enthusiastic about scheduling an author presentation/signing to not being willing to schedule an event for me.  The mystery reader didn’t care for my book and thought there were “errors” in it.  I never did find out what that meant.  However, I submitted my book to the annual Milwaukee Irish Fest; they loved my book, offered to sell it for me and offered me two presentations during the four day event in August.  It happens.

Find a few really supportive writer friends to be on the journey with you.  In my case, I have one writer friend on the journey with me.  I asked him to content edit my first novel and the made several stunning recommendations which added depth to my story.  In exchange, I’ve read his behemoth 400 page manuscript and offered my suggestions on plot and especially the ending.  We trust each other and will never be critical.  We respect each other’s talent.  I’m lucky.

Know that traditional publishing is undergoing radical changes.  I had a contract with a traditional publisher and spent 2 ½ years revising manuscript and missing two publication dates.  I terminated the contract in disappointment and anger which lead me to independent publishing.  There are still a few vanity publishers that don’t have standards for either the writing or the quality of the hardcopy book, but they are dinosaurs.  Create Space and Lulu have revolutionized independent publishing.  I learned that independent publishing gives the artist complete control and has shaken the traditional publishing world – as it should.

The key is to NOT accept the worldly definition of success as book sales or money earned.  Take the time to define success for yourself, write the best damn novel you can and believe that you will connect with your readers.  “If you write it, they will find you.”