success | The Creative Penn

Why Authors Should Throw Out Their Timeline For Success

January 5, 2019 by Creative Guest 9 Comments

We all want to know how to become more successful authors – but the main question you need to answer is: What is your definition of success?

Once you have defined that, you can then consider how to get there. But often, it takes longer than expected – and the point is to enjoy the journey, not just the destination.

In today's article, Bonnie Baguley from WildMindCreative explains why your timeline might be skewed.

It takes 10,000 hours to achieve success. At least that is the idea popularized by Malcolm Gladwell's book Outliers. The reality, however, is somewhat different.

While it takes close to 10,000 hours to achieve mastery in any skill (which is really what Gladwell is suggesting) success is a different beast altogether.

Many indie authors, starting out, visualize success as a magical end-point. A final state in which everything will be perfect. We say things like “when I get the perfect book deal/ literary agent/publishing contract, then I'll be happy”. Or “when I have x number of readers, I'll have it made”.

In doing so, we are setting ourselves up for disappointment. If we focus too much on the end result what happens when things don't go to plan? We wind up discouraged, disappointed and feeling like a total failure.

We ignore everything we have learnt along the way, everything we have achieved and how close we might have gotten to realizing our dreams.

While it's important to have big bold goals, it's also vital to celebrate the small wins along the way and realize that success is not an end-point but an infinite journey of highs and lows. I urge all indie authors to throw out their narrow timelines for success and embrace the following.

It's a Bumpy Ride

Becoming a successful indie author is one hell of a journey.

When you read about best-selling authors there is a tendency to believe that they have been ‘blessed' or everything magically fell into place for them. In the majority of cases, this couldn't be further from the truth.

Many of these authors have had to struggle through innumerable rejections and severe self-doubt before becoming best-sellers. Think of JK Rowling who sent her Harry Potter manuscript to 12 different publishers only to be rejected by them all.

Or Stephen King, who hurled his first draft of Carrie into the trash. Or even Dr Seuss who was heading home to burn Green Eggs and Ham, before a friend persuaded him otherwise.

Literature is filled with best-sellers who tried and failed, yet persevered.

It's a Marathon

It is said that it takes 10 years to be an overnight success. Achieving your author goals is more likely to be a long-term marathon, than a sprint.

To maintain motivation try breaking it down into achievable steps and rewarding yourself along the way.

Finished off that difficult chapter you were struggling with?
Nailed a tricky plot twist?
Or set up a regular plan for book marketing?

Give yourself a pat on the back. Maintain your momentum with mini-goals and enjoy the journey.

Success is Different for Everyone

Your vision of success is unique. So, while media and society might try to sell you the cookie-cutter image of a successful author, it's important to assess what success means for you.

Ask yourself from time to time:

What am I trying to achieve with my writing?
Am I enjoying the journey?
Why am I writing?

It's easy to fall into the trap of comparing ourselves with others and adopting their visions of greatness, but maybe you don't need 50,000 raving fans. Perhaps your dream is to be able to set your own hours and never work Mondays again.

Everyone's journey is different and success is meaningless if you are living someone else's dream instead of your own.

There is no End Goal

Having goals to work towards is essential for moving forward and progressing. After all, if you didn't have the goal to write and publish a book it would be unlikely to happen.

Being an author takes persistent dedication and it can help to have an ultimate aim. Yet, the reality is that your goals are stepping stones and, as you progress on your author journey, your ideas will evolve as you do.

For example, at first you might start with wanting to see your story in print, then once you have achieved that you want to publish a series, then you might have a specific sales goal to reach, then you want to see your name on the best-sellers list.

Our goals evolve as we do. Sometimes, we also find that achieving our goals is not what we envisioned. Both success and failure are threatening to self-image and the final result might be a reassessment of our aims.

More than an end-point, our goals should dictate the direction we want to head in.

Success is not age dependent

There is no finite timeline for success. In a society that glorifies youth, it can be easy to fall into the trap of thinking that we have left it too late. History disagrees.

Some of today's most successful authors didn't become best-sellers until later in life. Success is not age dependent, so stop thinking that by this stage you should have hit certain targets, or achieved specific goals.

Don't limit yourself with invisible self-created boundaries.

A Final Word

What if success is not about just achieving our goals, but everything that we learn along the way?

There is no state in which all our problems magically disappear and we have achieved everything we set out to do and to be honest, I'm relieved. Life would be terribly boring if we had nothing to strive for.

So, assess what success means to you. Set yourself goals based on the direction you want to take. Work persistently to achieve your dreams, accept the challenges, and give yourself credit for every achievement that occurs along the way.

And most importantly, enjoy the journey. Look around and soak it up, this is life in all its bumpy glory, and there's something magic about striving to share your story with the world.

Have your goals evolved since you started writing? Please leave your thoughts below and join the conversation.

Bonnie Baguley is a Marketing Consultant, Writer and the Founder of WildMind Creative, Book Marketing for Authors. For more book marketing inspiration, motivation and resources head to the WildMind Creative website or follow WildMind Creative on social media via: Instagram, Twitter, Facebook or Pinterest.

[Desk and flower photo courtesy Plush Design and Unsplash. Fulfill your destiny image courtesy Danica Tanjutco and Unsplash. You are here image courtesy John Baker and Unsplash. Ladder image courtesy Samuel Zeller and Unsplash.]

What Is Your Definition Of Success? How Do You Measure It?

March 1, 2014 by Joanna Penn 59 Comments

OLD POST ALERT! This is an older post and although you might find some useful tips, any technical or publishing information is likely to be out of date. Please click on Start Here on the menu bar above to find links to my most useful articles, videos and podcast. Thanks and happy writing! – Joanna Penn

One of the inherent parts of being human is a general dissatisfaction with where we are. However much we achieve, we often want more.

This has an evolutionary benefit as it means we are always striving, always creating, always building. But it’s important to recognize your achievements, so whatever you decide you want, you also need to establish how you will measure this success.

I’ve also been thinking about it in the wake of the discussions around the Author Earnings site, which has had the industry blogs all aflutter and brought out the agent and publisher big guns to discuss the impact of self-publishing. Some have said that the report is turning the focus to money, that writing should be about creativity and the rewards are in the work themselves.

But it’s important to remember that we are not a homogenous bunch, and we all strive for different things, for different reasons.

For me, it comes down to three questions:

What is your definition of success – for this particular book and for your writing career?
How will you track and measure that success?
What do you want to do with that success? What is the point in your work?

It will also tend to change over time as your definition of success will be dependent on the progression of your writing career. In this article, I outline some of the more common responses to the question, as well as potential options for measurement.

(1) I want to create something I am proud of and hold my book in my hand

This is perhaps where we all start – with the desire to finish a project and create something tangible. This is also why most first time authors want a printed book.

Arthur J Penn with Joanna Penn, celebrating!

I helped my 9 year old niece publish her first book, which led her to win national prizes speaking publicly about the experience. I also helped my Dad with his historical thriller, Nada. Neither of these are really commercial prospects, so the focus of success is more on creativity, which is a totally brilliant reason to write a book!

If this is your goal, check out this article on how to self-publish and look at print-on-demand options. If you don’t want to DIY, I would also recommend you read ‘Choosing a self-publishing service,’ by the Alliance of Independent Authors so you can avoid the (ever-increasing) scams in this growing industry.

(2) I want to see my book on the shelves of a bookstore

We have shopped in bookstores all our lives and for many of us, the bookstore is a place of solace as well as adventure. When I was most miserable in my job, I would go to the bookstore at lunchtime and indulge in retail therapy to escape my life for a time. To see a book with our own name on it on those shelves must surely be every authors dream.

This is easy to measure but the truth is that it is extremely difficult to get into bookstores as an independent author. It’s also costly even if you can manage it because of discounting and returns.

You can definitely do it – as Dean Wesley Smith explains in this article. It’s also possible to build relationships with your local bookstore as Karen Inglis, children’s author, has done. But it’s about where you want to spend your energy, and for me, print distribution is not a major concern.

I’ll admit that this is still a dream of mine and I’m definitely open to print only deals with traditional publishing, but it is no longer a definition of my success.

(3) I want to reach readers with my words

This is fantastic but I always challenge this definition of success, because it is so intangible. If you want to reach readers, then just put your book out for free and on every platform in the world, as Seth Godin did with ‘The IdeaVirus’ a few years ago. But most people don’t mean this kind of ‘reach.’

So be more specific – does it mean 10 x 5 star reviews on Amazon? Does it mean a fan email from a reader you have never met and who isn’t your friend or family member? Or should you measure this reach in book sales?

(4) I want to sell 10,000 copies of my book/s

This is a better definition than (3) because it is measurable and you know when you get there. The number is obviously dependent on many things: the genre you write in, as a children’s picture book will sell far fewer copies than a commercial romance novel; a literary novel will generally sell less than a commercial thriller. It is also dependent on how many books you have, as you will more easily reach higher figures with more books.

This volume type of definition will also change over time. I started off with 1000 books as a goal when I only had one book. Then I moved to 10,000, and I am just about to crack 100,000 so now my goals have changed again.

(5) I want to win a literary prize and receive literary/critical acclaim

You can achieve this as an independent author. The Alliance of Independent Authors has an Open Up To Indies campaign, which will hopefully mean that more prizes and festivals are open to self-published books over time. There’s also been the recent success of A Naked Singularity by Sergio de la Pava, which started out as self-published and won the PEN/Robert W. Bingham prize and has been shortlisted for the Folio prize.

But you’re still far more likely to win a literary prize if you go through the traditional publishing route. It’s the goal of most MFA programs to produce books capable of winning prizes. As for critical acclaim, again, you’re more likely to get that through traditional publishing and reviews in literary journals.

If this is your goal, you should also be aware of recent research that shows literary prizes can make the book less popular. So this definition of success may be incompatible with making a full-time living as an author.

(6) I want to make a full-time living with my writing

Again, I challenge this because the definition of ‘full-time living‘ is different by country, even by region, as well as the huge difference between income needs from a family with kids to a professional couple or single writer. Try and be specific about the actual figure you are aiming for, and think about how that may grow over time, based on how much you are writing over the next few years, as well as your own financial requirements.

Then have a look at the Author Earnings website to see if your genre is likely to earn that kind of money. Follow authors like HM Ward, Hugh Howey, Joe Konrath, Barry Eisler, CJ Lyons, Bob Mayer, Dean Wesley Smith and Kristine Kathryn Rusch who all make a great living writing books. Study how they write, how they run their creative businesses and their recommendations.

Making a full-time living became my goal in 2009, and in September 2011, I left my job as an IT consultant to become a full-time author-entrepreneur. I make about one third of the income I used to make back then, but downsizing, paying off debt and changing my own definition of what a ‘full-time income‘ was meant that I could leave the job I hated and start this new creative life.

An income goal is not necessary for everyone, and for many, creativity alone is the reward.

But I have been challenged on my own focus so I have been thinking about it a lot recently. My desire to earn (very) good money stems from my upbringing by a single Mum who worked long hours to provide for me and my brother. I am married, but my financial independence as a woman is incredibly important to me, and I’ve had paying work since I was 14.

My lifestyle is also important, with travel being a part of what I define as a good life rather than ownership of physical

Cycling down the Western Ghats from Ooty into the tea plantations

things. Last year I had several weeks cycling through South India, and this year I will be in Canada, Spain or Israel, as well as back in New Zealand. So the ‘why’ behind my definition of success is around my self-esteem as a financially independent woman, as well as wanting to live life on my own terms.

(7) I want to create a body of work I am proud of over my lifetime

This is the definition that will keep you honest about your creative output. You won’t rush a book to publication. You won’t put a book out without a professional edit, or a professional cover. You will strive for the best this particular project can be.

I am trying to balance this with (6) above and it can be difficult. Part of me wants to learn to write faster and produce more words, but my books are characterized by deep research and a sense of place, both of which require a longer writing process. I also want to live a life of research and travel so I want to honor that part of my process.

In the end, I want to write for the rest of my life, hopefully another 50 years, so I’m in this for the long haul. How about you?

I want to hear from you on this important topic. What is your definition of success? How has it changed as your writing has progressed? Who are your role models for success? Please leave a comment below and join the discussion.

Top image: Flickr Creative Commons Clouds by Jonathan Kos-Read

Redefining Success For Self-Publishing

August 14, 2013 by Joanna Penn 38 Comments

This writing life turns out to be a roller-coaster that just doesn't stop!

There's the creative and writing process, but then you have to run the gauntlet of publishing as well as the sales and marketing aspects. It can also be hard to focus on what success really means to us when the stories of mega-indies fill the publishing press. Today's article by Leslie Ramey from Compulsion Reads challenges us to reconsider …

From the first moment you officially became a self-published author, I’m sure you have discussed, worried and debated your success or lack thereof, which for many authors is all about the numbers.

We stalk our sales reports like we are teenagers worried our boyfriends are cheating on us. This self-abuse beats on our confidence and has us hitting our heads on our desk as we try to come up with new marketing gimmicks or fretting over why readers don’t want to read our books. Self-publishing is hard. Finding readers to take a chance on your book is even harder.

While it would be amazing to quit our day jobs and become writers full time, reality has a different plan for most of us. It is estimated that most self-published authors will only sell between 100-250 copies of their books. It can be soul-crushing to watch your magnum opus languish, which is why it’s time to take a step back and redefine what it means to be successful at self-publishing.

Here are the standards that I think self-publishers should use when they ask themselves, Was it worth it?

You have written and published a book which means you are an author.

Writer Joel Epstein has estimated that 81% of the US population wants to publish a book. If Mr. Epstein is correct, that works out to be 200,000,000 people in the United States, and we haven’t even looked at other countries with just as many ambitious and creative people.

Last year approximately 250,000 books were self-published. If we assume that each book was written by one person that means less than 0.125% of Americans followed their dream to publish last year. This number is pretty inflated since we know that many authors wrote more than one book last year and we haven’t included all of the people around the world who wrote some of those novels.

What this really means is that if you have written and published a book you have done something that 99.98% of the people who just dream about writing didn’t do. The fact is you are not a failure. Going after your dream and sucking up the fear that comes with an endeavor like self-publishing makes you a hero. So, put away your creeper binoculars, turn away from your Amazon sales report and bask in your success at completing your dream of writing and publishing a book.

You’ve sold at least one book to a stranger

We all know that we have a core group of loyal supporters who will buy our books. They love us because they are our family and don’t have a choice, or they are our friends and despite our canceling plans with them to write, they still want to hang out with us. These loyalists will be the first to buy our books in both e-versions and print. We can count on those sales.

Now, if you sold even a single book to someone you didn’t know, then you, my friend, have beaten some serious odds.

A study done by the Pew Internet Library Service showed that 75% of Americans read at least one book in the last year. Of these, 48% read less than one book a month. We know that many of these readers are probably only reading books from their favorite authors or that are on a bestseller list. The actual percentage of the reading public that would be willing to take a chance on an unknown self-published author is very small.

If you are an indie author, chances are your book is only available through online retailers or in e-version, which according to some studies only about 33% of readers own. The competition is stiff. Forget about selling 100 -250 books. If you are selling any copies to complete strangers then you are a success and should be elated with that accomplishment. Ahem – don’t leave to check those numbers (you can do that in a minute if you really need to).

Your book has earned accolades

We all know that book reviews are a great way to attract new readers and sell more copies. Getting people to write reviews about your book is almost as hard as it was to write the dang thing. Our friends and family are intimidated or just don’t have the time to whip out 300 words of awesomeness describing your book.

So, if you have earned positive reviews (anything with 4 stars or higher is excellent) then you are not failing at self-publishing. Earning an endorsement from Compulsion Reads, a great review from Kirkus Indie, a nod from the Discovery Awards by IndieReader or any other third party is another source of great praise. These organizations can give you unbiased insight into your writing that you can hopefully be proud of.

It’s time for writers to stop beating themselves up.

We need to embrace our success and stop watching those sales reports (for the last time, your boyfriend is not cheating on you).

Don’t give up or allow yourself to be pushed down by negative babble or thoughts.

If you have written a book, then you are wonderful. Selling just one of those is a huge feat that deserves to be celebrated. If you started writing because you love it then keep at it. You never know which one of your books could be the next bestseller that launches you into the headlines and lets you quit your day job.

How do you feel about the definition of success as an indie author? Please do add your comments below as this is an important conversation.

Compulsion Reads, created by Jessica Bennett and Leslie Ramey, seeks to shine the spotlight on quality indie books by endorsing those books that meet CR’s strict quality standards.

Learn more about Compulsion Reads by visiting www.Compulsionreads.com. Enjoy our kooky video, read about our endorsement criteria and visit our growing library of endorsed indie books. You can also find us on Facebook and Twitter.

Top image: Flickr Creative Commons roller-coaster by hounddiggity