The Divine Path to Bestsellerdom
Excuse me while I assume the lotus position and take on my wise, all-knowing-one expression...
When I was starting out on the publishing industry, I thought that if I just paid close enough attention to other writers' careers, I'd discover the secrets of success. Now, I'm far from a writing veteran, but after struggling for 5 years to sell my first book, then spending the past three years learning the ins and outs of being a beginner in the industry, I've changed my mind about a few things. Probably the hardest lesson is that there aren't any magic secrets or easy answers out there regarding how to have a successful career. One author acheives success by following the long and winding path, another does it by following the straight and narrow one, and the sad truth is, neither of these paths belongs to anyone else. We each have to create our own.
I'll bet many aspiring authors will have the urge to stop reading at this point. Create our own paths? I know. It sounds vague and frustrating and not even remotely helpful. But it's worth thinking hard about. There is no formula for success, other than writing the best damn books you can write.
And even then, we each have a different definition of success. The prevailing one is to become a New York Times Bestselling author and make enough money to be independently wealthy. That's a perfectly good definition of success, but each author's own particular version of it is unique, as are the books they write and the strategies they employ to achieve success.
If you're an aspiring author who wants to know the secrets of having a successful writing career, you're going to have to look within to find those secrets. It's as simple and complicated as that. Only you know the right career path for yourself. No one else's is going to lead you where you want to go.
And that marks the end of my lapse into vague, hoaky, not-exactly-helpful advice-giving.
posted by Jamie Sobrato @ 8:06 AM
<< Home