Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.--Winston Churchill
We've become a society of instant gratification. We want it (whatever "it" is) and we want it now. As an author, I see this all the time in my fellow writers and authors. "There's not time for failure," I've heard one friend say. Another said, "My book has to launch big or else I'll be forced to quit doing what I love. This week is do or die for me." That's sad, really. Especially in a business where it's all about the long haul, hanging in there, pressing forward. If we based our successes on those few authors who sold millions of books within a short period of time (perhaps less than 1% of all authors out there), then good heavens, we should all give up now, because that's an ideal, not a reality.
We're not launching movies here, where the first week in a box office either makes or breaks the movie and determines how many screens it will have the following week. This is novel writing. We no longer have to fight over shelf space. With online retailers the shelf space is unlimited. Our books can live forever. You know that quote, "This isn't a sprint, it's a marathon?" It's true! Success is a marathon. We don't have to define our success in days or weeks. An author's success is measured in years and decades, over a lifetime. Ups and downs in this business are temporary. We need to strive for lasting success, over a great course of time. If we treat our success as a sprint instead of the marathon that it is, we will fall short, guaranteed. I heard one author say (and boy, do I agree), "If you want instant validation, play the lottery."
We have to continue writing no matter what. THAT is what a good author makes (Yoda talk). Despite rejections, despite first week book launch failures, despite marketing ideas that didn't work out as we'd hoped. That's okay. We have a lifetime to try other things. Perserverance is the key to all success. It's all about pacing.
A novel's success isn't made in a day.
We're not launching movies here, where the first week in a box office either makes or breaks the movie and determines how many screens it will have the following week. This is novel writing. We no longer have to fight over shelf space. With online retailers the shelf space is unlimited. Our books can live forever. You know that quote, "This isn't a sprint, it's a marathon?" It's true! Success is a marathon. We don't have to define our success in days or weeks. An author's success is measured in years and decades, over a lifetime. Ups and downs in this business are temporary. We need to strive for lasting success, over a great course of time. If we treat our success as a sprint instead of the marathon that it is, we will fall short, guaranteed. I heard one author say (and boy, do I agree), "If you want instant validation, play the lottery."
We have to continue writing no matter what. THAT is what a good author makes (Yoda talk). Despite rejections, despite first week book launch failures, despite marketing ideas that didn't work out as we'd hoped. That's okay. We have a lifetime to try other things. Perserverance is the key to all success. It's all about pacing.
A novel's success isn't made in a day.
A lot of people run a race to see who is fastest. I run to see who has the most guts. --Steve Prefontaine
