success (noun): 1. the favorable or prosperous termination of attempts or endeavors. 2. the attainment of wealth, position, honors, or the like.
Fact #1: We all have a speech prepared in the event that Oprah selects us for her book club.
Fact #2: Oprah will probably never call.
Fact #3: We will go on writing anyway.
photo by rubendn
Every one of us has an ultimate, higher-than-the-summit-of-Everest dream for our writing career. Something that would mark us as eternally successful in the eyes of all our believers and doubters alike. There’s nothing wrong with that — it just shows how much we believe in ourselves and our talents — as long as we don’t base our entire definition of success around that one lifetime achievement.
Don’t take my word for it, ask Dan Marino. For all the non-sports fans, Marino is considered one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time (that’s the guy who throws the ball to the other guys). In his 17 NFL seasons, he set a lot of records, was named NFL MVP & NFL Offensive Player of the Year, got selected to the Pro-Bowl nine times and took his team to the post season 10 times.
But he never won a Super Bowl.
Yet, when considering the scope of his career including all 31 of the Dolphins’ franchise records he set that still stand today, no one would consider Dan Marino a failure. He’s a sports commentator, multi-millionaire, NASCAR owner and he gets to make appearances in movies like Ace Ventura and Bad Boys. Dan Marino has had an amazing life and career, even if he didn’t reach the pinnacle achievement of the NFL.
That’s because the best and worst thing about success is its total subjectivity. What you count as a success might be considered a failure to me. It’s all about the criteria by which we judge ourselves and the goals we aim to reach, which is why we have to be so careful when sculpting our definition of success. We don’t want to set the bar so low as to give ourselves a fall sense of ego, but we don’t want to set it so high that we get depressed and have to eat a lot of Oreos to feel good about ourselves again.
So how do you set your expectations at a level that will allow you to feel super accomplished at the high points, but not overly discouraged at the low points? We have a few tips that can help you carve out the perfect definition of success for your unique talents, skills and dreams as a writer.
3 Tips to Defining Your Success
1. It’s not all about the benjamins.
Everybody wants to make money doing what they love. But defining your success by dollar signs is a quick way to lose faith in yourself. There are other, bigger dreams out there that will probably make you feel better than earning an income from your book. The pride that comes from sharing your work with others is incredible, especially when they respond positively to what you’ve worked so hard to do. Making your family proud is even better (and sometimes easier) than pleasing yourself. Set your focus on the intangibles, the good feelings that come from doing something you love, and you might find that it brings financial gains along with it anyway.
2. Do your research.
Find out what other self-published authors in your genre have achieved in terms of sales, fan following, reviews, etc. This will help you set realistic expectations for what you can do, but also to push yourself to take things one step beyond what other authors have been able to achieve.
3. Keep making adjustments.
As several of you mentioned in the comments of our discussion post on Monday, the key to defining success is to write your definition in pencil. With every achievement you reach, add something new to your definition. Start with finishing your manuscript and then update it to cover the publishing of your book and then update it again to reflect a new sales goal. Keep growing as you go and your definition of success will grow along with you.
Any other advice for your fellow authors?
What other ways do you define success in self-publishing? What helps you stay motivated and keep pushing even when things aren’t going your way? Share your thoughts in the comments!
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