In its second weekend of release, The Avengers made over $100 million here in the US. Add that to its ridiculous total from last week, and the movie has made almost $400 million in two weeks. By any measure, I think we’d call that a success!

But, what about you as an indie author? How do you measure success, both for yourself and your book? While most of us don’t expect careers or sales along the lines of those richie-riches on top of the New York Times’ Bestseller List, we would like to feel as if the time, effort and money spent publishing our work were worthwhile.

We’ve talked a little about this before on the blog, that setting reasonable expectations and planning ahead can make that road to success easier. After all, if success is selling 100 copies of your book, that’s a heck of an easier goal to achieve than selling 10,000.

Success, however, isn’t always a sales goal (or even a number). So, we want to know:

• What has to happen for you to consider your book and/or writing career a success? Do you have more than one measure of success?
• What obstacles to success have you come across so far? Has anything made the path easier?
• How did you settle on your definition of success? Has it evolved over time?
• Does your definition of success differ from that of your author friends?
• What advice would you give to other authors struggling for that sweet moment of success?

We can’t wait to hear your responses! To join the discussion, please leave a comment below addressing any (or all) of the above questions. Also, mention the discussion to your indie author friends — we’d love to hear from everyone!

As authors, it’s nice to know that we can chalk up an obsessive reading habit to research, right?

I’m always involved in one book or another — often one or two on my kindle, two or three in paperback and then suddenly I’ll shove all five of those aside to indulge in something else. It’s not my fault! These books just seem to find me!

Between recommendations from you guys, my aunt (a volunteer librarian), my mom (from whom I get my insatiable reading habit) and those tempting covers sitting on the shelves at the grocery store, the library, the used bookstore, etc. I can’t help but dive in!

I’ve been on an Elmore Leonard kick since January (thanks to Justified), but as the weather has turned warm my interests changed and I became desperate for a great summer read (currently being satisfied by Elin Hilderbrand’s The Island). In the midst of that book, however, I started planning a trip to Yellowstone next month and became consumed by travel guides. I can’t keep anything straight!

So I want to know — am I alone here?

What are you guys currently reading and how did you find it) (Or did it find you?) More specifically, I’d like to hear your thoughts on any of these questions:

• Do you read more than one book at a time?
• Where do you go to seek out new things to read?
• What makes you decide to start reading a new book — especially if you’re already in the middle of something else?
• Do you read the same genre that you write in or something entirely different?
• Who gives you recommendations for new books to read?
• Have you read something lately that you loved and would recommend to someone else?

Shout out in the comments below so I’ll know I’m not the only crazy person who gets wrapped up in a million books at once!

Good news: the online writing community is, for the most part, extremely supportive of indie authors and self-publishing. Bad news: it can still seem like a very “every man for himself” world out there, even within that community.

When’s the last time you gave a fellow indie author a shoutout on Twitter? Left a comment on his blog? E-mailed her a note of support? As anyone who has been down the indie publishing path knows, it can seem ridiculously lonely and all help is appreciated. In the past we’ve discussed how you support your fellow indie authors, but today we want to be a little more specific and ask: do you read indie books?

We want to know:

• Do you read books by your fellow indie authors? What was the last indie book you read?
• How do you find indie books to read? 
• Have you been surprised by the quality of an indie book you’ve read? How about disappointed (no names necessary)?
• What would increase the likelihood of your reading more indie books?
• Do you read indie books in paperback or eBook format?
• Which indie book is the best one you’ve read? What did you enjoy most about it?

We can’t wait to hear your responses! To join the discussion, please leave a comment below addressing any (or all) of the above questions. Also, mention the discussion to your indie author friends — we’d love to hear from everyone!