Monday, November 26, 2012

Aiming for Pole Position

Today I want to know: What, in your opinion, really makes a winner in this industry?

Seriously.

We always hear "just keep writing" and "don't give up!", but there's got to be more to it than that.

If you have an agent or (hallelujah!) a publisher what's the key advice you took that got you there?

If you self-published and gained a solid readership, what do you think pulled your book out of the cyber-sea and into the sun?

However you define success, what is the key advice you're taking to get you from here to that elusive contract / publication date?

And just so you know, I'm actually listening - not just giving you the nod and smile. Today's a day for sharing your nugget. So, please do! (In the comments)

7 comments:

  1. I think the most important thing, and it's a thing most people don't do, is to decide what it is you really want. Is what you want to get rich? To be a star? To get the validation of being traditionally published? To just be able to share your work? It's an important question to know, but most people just get stuck in the "what your supposed to do" or the idea of being a best seller, but you have to go beyond those things and figure out what it is that is the base desire.

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    1. Hear, hear! I agree. These are really important questions to ask ourselves.

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  2. For me, my definition of "success" is already changing. Hopefully, that's a good thing; i.e. a sign of evolution. At first, it was all about getting an agent (check); getting published (check); getting reviewed (check); etc. But today I find myself dealing more with the creative aspects of writing success; focusing on my craft, listening to myself more, finding teh confidence to take risks and own my voice, etc. Looking at it objectively, you couls say i'm shifting from outside definitions of success i.e. sales rank, publisher name, number of reviews, etc., to more internally focused definitions, ie. am i writing a good story, are my characters believable, is my voice evolving, etc. I'm sorry if I rambled but this was a really GOOD question!!!

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    1. Wow, what a cool position to be in, Rusty! I hadn't thought about how our definitions of success will change over time. But of course, you're right. I checked the agent box a few months ago and I'm already changing my focus for writing. Great point!

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  3. I really dig getting fan mail. I've had some and each one makes me feel like I'm a real author.

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    1. That would be awesome. I look forward to the day.

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  4. I actually think success is measured in tiers...like a wedding cake. One layer (the big bottom one) represents writing your book, the next one up represents editing your book, then comes the closer-to-the-top agent tier, and finally the I-have-a-publisher! tier. Of course, as an example, this doesn't show all the layers you might go through to get to the top. But it gives you a general idea. I'm not there yet (since I've only recently acquired an agent), but I hope some day I'll be sitting on top of my own success, licking the icing from my fingers!

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