What is Success to You?

The Underground Authors, of which I am one, just finished a promotional campaign and sale.

Twelve authors and 27 books, plus I tossed my Justinia Wright mystery series of 9 books into the mix, and that was a heck of a lot of books to be had for a buck during the 3 days of the promo.

But the question came up when it was over — was the campaign a success? Some said yes, and some said no.

However to actually determine if the promo was a success or not, we must first define success.

According to my old paper Webster’s New World Dictionary, Second College Edition, success means:

1. orig., result; outcome

2. a) a favorable or satisfactory outcome or result. b) something having such an outcome

3. the gaining of wealth, fame, rank, etc.

4. a successful person

Definition 4 begs the question, what does successful mean? The dictionary says:

1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. coming about, taking place, or turning out to be as was hoped for [a successful mission]
               2. Having achieved success; specify., having gained wealth, fame, etc.

It is easy to see successful definition 1 relates to success definition 2a. Successful definition 2 relates to success definition 3.

So I ask, was the campaign a success for me?

If I use the combo success 3 and successful 2, the answer is no. I gained no wealth, fame, glory, rank, prestige, recognition, power, what have you. Which means the campaign was a failure and I was unsuccessful.

However, if I use success definition 2a and successful definition 1, then the answer could be yes. The campaign was successful and I was a success. Because it all depends on how you define “a favorable or satisfactory outcome.”

The first 19 days of August were miserable. I struggled to sell books and get page reads. And then came the campaign and suddenly, in 3 days, I tripled what I’d earned in the previous 19.

The outcome was favorable vis-à-vis the previous 19 days of the month.

But I can also say the promo was a failure. Why? Because I tied my Justinia Wright mystery series to the campaign in order to get sales and KU page reads and I got not a single one.

You see, success depends on how you define it. For me, the promotional sale was a success on the one hand, because of its positive outcome. On the other hand, it was a failure because of its negative outcome.

So when you ask yourself, am I a successful writer — you need to define as specifically as you can what is success for you in this venture.

Ask yourself what do you want to achieve?

• • • • • • Lots of money?
          • Fame and glory?
          • Power?
          • Recognition?
          • Lots of readers?

Once you’ve decided what it is you specifically want to achieve, then make a plan on how to get there.

If you achieve your goal on the first try, fabulous. If you don’t, revise the plan and try again. Keep trying and revising until you succeed. 

And don’t forget to check your goal. Perhaps you’ve set it too high. Perhaps your definition of success needs revision.

If you define success as selling a million copies of your book every year, that might be a bit lofty. And no plan is going to reach that goal.

Most books don’t even sell 500 copies in their first year, and then virtually nothing after that.

So a more realistic definition of success would be to sell 100 copies of your book in its first year and then repeat the performance in the second year and then for year 3 set a higher goal.

The keys to success are simple:

• • • • • • • Define success for you as specifically as you can so you can measure progress.
            • Create a plan to enable you to be successful. Dreaming and wishing and hoping don’t work. Only work works.

Hope this is of help.

Comments are always welcome! And until next time, happy reading!

 

 

CW Hawes is a playwright; award-winning poet; and a fictioneer, with three bestselling novels. He’s also an armchair philosopher, political theorist, social commentator, and traveler. He loves a good cup of tea and agrees that everything’s better with pizza.

 

If you enjoyed this post, please consider buying me a cup of tea. Thanks! PayPal.me/CWHawes 

 

 

And don’t forget to catch the latest book in the Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles series: The Ransom Enigma.

And it’s still only 99¢ on Amazon.

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