BWFoster78
Myth Weaver
As I approach the transition from "aspiring author" to having something actually up for sale on Amazon, I've been thinking, and reading, a lot about how to achieve success. To be clear, what I'm writing below is what I think is the key for me and is not meant to imply a prescriptive path for anyone else. Feel free to comment on my keys or share what you think your keys are.
First, one must define "success."
On the highest level, "success" for me is having people like my work. Having some of my readers rank any of my works in their favorite top ten is my ultimate goal.
This post, however, is more focused on a secondary, more easily measurable goal - money. I think I'd consider an average of $2500 to $3000 total per month spread over 5 to 10 novels to be a "success." I truly don't know if that bar is unrealistically high, way too low, or reasonable. I think the ultimate replace-my-day-job-salary amount is more in the realm of a dream than a goal.
Here is what I think my path is to achieve success as a self published author:
Step 1 - Write a book that readers want to read.
Step 2 - Get that book in front of the readers who want to read it.
Step 3 - Go back to Step 1.
That's a great path, but a bit vague and not very actionable as written. Here are what I think the keys are to me walking that path:
1. Perserverence - Ultimately, I'll never achieve success without my butt in a chair producing words on the page (of a novel, preferable, rather than an internet forum ).
2. Write better, faster. I can't take 4 and a half years to produce my next book. I need to write as fast as I can and continue to improve both my craft and storytelling.
3. Use my published works to get feedback. I got caught up for a while on the concept of "good enough." I thought that my future success was largely dependent on the ability of my debut novel to catipult me to great heights. Now, I think that, as long as my first book provides adequate entertainment value for the buck, the important thing is that I get it out there and get feedback on it from real readers.
4. Use the feedback from 3 to make my writing more what the readers want. 1 and 2 are tough, but I understand what I need to do to move forward. This one...not so much. The feedback isn't likely to be that every reader perceives the same thing and states it as, "I loved this. Hated that." If that were the case, I'd simply do more of this and less of that. Simple. Instead, I have to mine each comment for a kernel of truth, be ready to make major changes if needed, but not make any change that will fundamentally undermine what makes my writing uniquely good. And, to figure out how to do that, I...uh, kinda, uh...
5. Experiment with marketing to determine who my readers are, where they hang out, and how best to reach them. I have some definite ideas on how to start this process, and I'll share my experiments with the board.
That's all I got.
Thanks.
Brian
First, one must define "success."
On the highest level, "success" for me is having people like my work. Having some of my readers rank any of my works in their favorite top ten is my ultimate goal.
This post, however, is more focused on a secondary, more easily measurable goal - money. I think I'd consider an average of $2500 to $3000 total per month spread over 5 to 10 novels to be a "success." I truly don't know if that bar is unrealistically high, way too low, or reasonable. I think the ultimate replace-my-day-job-salary amount is more in the realm of a dream than a goal.
Here is what I think my path is to achieve success as a self published author:
Step 1 - Write a book that readers want to read.
Step 2 - Get that book in front of the readers who want to read it.
Step 3 - Go back to Step 1.
That's a great path, but a bit vague and not very actionable as written. Here are what I think the keys are to me walking that path:
1. Perserverence - Ultimately, I'll never achieve success without my butt in a chair producing words on the page (of a novel, preferable, rather than an internet forum ).
2. Write better, faster. I can't take 4 and a half years to produce my next book. I need to write as fast as I can and continue to improve both my craft and storytelling.
3. Use my published works to get feedback. I got caught up for a while on the concept of "good enough." I thought that my future success was largely dependent on the ability of my debut novel to catipult me to great heights. Now, I think that, as long as my first book provides adequate entertainment value for the buck, the important thing is that I get it out there and get feedback on it from real readers.
4. Use the feedback from 3 to make my writing more what the readers want. 1 and 2 are tough, but I understand what I need to do to move forward. This one...not so much. The feedback isn't likely to be that every reader perceives the same thing and states it as, "I loved this. Hated that." If that were the case, I'd simply do more of this and less of that. Simple. Instead, I have to mine each comment for a kernel of truth, be ready to make major changes if needed, but not make any change that will fundamentally undermine what makes my writing uniquely good. And, to figure out how to do that, I...uh, kinda, uh...
5. Experiment with marketing to determine who my readers are, where they hang out, and how best to reach them. I have some definite ideas on how to start this process, and I'll share my experiments with the board.
That's all I got.
Thanks.
Brian
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