Do Sales Equal Success?
What does success look like? Sometimes, I think as authors, one of the main ways we calculate our success is based on the sales of our books. It’s instant validation. Who doesn’t want that? But is that the best way to define what success is as an author? I don’t think so.
See the problem with using sales as our primary measurement of success (this is what I did) is it makes us short-sighted. We forget about the journey to get to that moment just before we hit the publish button. Isn’t that in itself, a success story?
I used to check my sales daily. I would see that they weren’t what I had expected or hoped. Then my self-doubt would kick in, and I would question my writing. Telling myself, I should never have written the book in the first place. I then began to think, I must suck as a writer. Then I contemplated throwing in the towel and walking away. Why? Because I didn’t deposit a big fat check in my account? Or I didn’t sell 100 books that day? I became so narrowly focused on my sales that I completely forgot about the big picture.
And because of that way of thinking, when someone would ask me what I did for a living, I froze. My eyes glossed over, and I rattled off the job title I have had for the last 15+ years, “I’m a stay at home mom….oh and I write.”
Ugh…why? Why didn’t I just say, I’m an author? Leave those demanding creatures, I mean lovely teenagers, out of it. After all, I am an author. Right?
That’s been my problem. I didn’t think of myself as an author/writer/blogger. Why is that? I have several books published, and I have sold books. So technically, that even makes me a professional author. But I didn’t feel like an author. I felt like a fraud, and all because of sales.
Again, I overlooked the big picture. In just over 18 months, I published four books, two short stories, and I also finished a new book, currently being torn to shreds by my editor. If I go out further, say over the last two years, I created an imprint, Dark Force Press, created my author platform, created a blog, and an empire (one day it will be an empire) around my two favorite things, whiskey and writing.
I should be measuring my success by those accomplishments and my ongoing commitment to my craft. I should be measuring my success by the help that I give others and see them through struggles that I have gone through myself. But I forget about all that. Instead, because I’m not on any best seller’s list, I tell myself that I’m not a successful writer. It’s like all the hard work I have put into my craft doesn’t mean a thing all because I am not selling 100 books a day.
I shouldn’t do that, and neither should you.
The work you and I have put into just publishing one book, poem, short story, novella, or your first blog post…that means more than the sales and the accolades. That means you set out to do something and you accomplished it. You didn’t give up when the times were hard or when you couldn’t figure out what the hell your character was going to do next. You didn’t give up when you were taking care of a new baby, and you hadn’t slept in days, but on the first free moment you had, you sat down and wrote 2000 words. All of that is part of the journey, and all of that makes you successful.
Here’s the deal. If you insist on using sales to measure your success, then consider this. The more extensive your catalog of books are, the more you sell. So…keep writing. Focus on your craft and putting out the best work you can. Learn how to market your books and find the best way to do that.
Listen, I got a better idea. How about we throw away the measuring stick all together?
How about we change our thinking. Instead of viewing book sales as a direct measurement of our success as an author, what if we look at the sales of our books as the fruits of our success as an author?
So the next time someone asks you what do you do for a living, square your shoulders, look them right in their eyes and say I’M AN AUTHOR.
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Victoria M. Patton is forced to share her home with a husband, two teenagers, three dogs, and a cat. If she isn’t plotting her escape, she uses her Search and Rescue/Law Enforcement skills from the Coast Guard and her BS in Forensic Chemistry to figure out the best way to hide all the bodies and write amazing stories about the murders. If she has any free time she drinks copious amounts of whiskey and binge watches Netflix. Check out her blog Whiskey and Writing where she tries to help new authors navigate the indie publishing world.
She is on most social media outlets, type in her name, you’ll find her.
https://twitter.com/victoriampatton
Category: Contemporary Women Writers, How To and Tips
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Hi Victoria M Patton Lovely post. Sales numbers on Amazon or Nielson’s are great but they don’t tell the whole story. Every positive word, encouragement given, email of praise written, book at an event sold, Facebook comment or tweet needs to be treasured, acknowledged and thanks given to the universe.
I’ll always remember a good friend who used to smile as I stood by the printer at work, waiting, ‘Your prints will come!’ he’d say ~ and they did!
It’s the same with writing. Don’t allow self doubt to linger and continue to believe in yourself.
Diana, you’re so right. I think it’s very easy to get caught up in the numbers and forget about everything else. Then when those numbers aren’t what we want or expect, we’re so hard on ourselves. Self doubt is destructive, always be your best cheerleader.