How to do All the Things and Succeed as a Writer
Ah, I bet you clicked on this one, didn’t you? Because who doesn’t want to know the secret of success and how to handle the ever changing, ever expanding amount of tasks it takes to be or stay relevant in this industry.
Lucky for you, I have all the answers in this post!
It’s quite messy out in publishing land lately. I’ve been in this business for over a decade—even longer—and I believe there is so many good changes. We have more power as writers than we ever had. We have more choices than we ever had.
Unfortunately, this can sometimes lead to chaos. Think of how it was when we had Blockbuster. We had this giant store to pick out DVD’s and it was an exciting Friday night, choosing what you felt like watching for the weekend.
Now? I have Netflix, Hulu, Disney, Prime, Peacock and Max. Probably, I have others that I’ve forgotten to cancel after my free trial. There are literally nights when I want to indulge with a movie and I spend ONE HOUR scrolling through endless choices, considering, discarding, until I look at the clock and decide it’s now too late to watch a movie so I grab a book instead.
Same thing with books. Endless choices and opportunities at a click. Authors are savvy though, so we’ve learned everything in order to compete.
There’s Facebook and Amazon ads to boost exposure. There’s giveaways and list builders. There’s influencers and social media. There are subscriptions like Substack and Ream and Patreon. There’s Kickstarter for special editions and new projects. There’s Shopify and direct sales. There are podcasts. There’s blogging. There’s YouTube and videos. There are courses galore and we can learn anything we want, whenever we want.
The world is our oyster, forgive the cliché.
So…why are authors burning out by the bucketload? Why are we more miserable and stressed out than ever? Why, when we have endless directions to go?
Because there’s too many things to choose from. Many have FOMO. Many have lost our instinct—that guiding light that drives us and speaks to us in the middle of the night – some call it our Muse. It says:
Write this. Do this. Choose this.
Why don’t we just listen and stay on our own individual path?
Because we’ve lost our confidence. The world is too big for us and inside? We’re all nerdy, shy, reclusive hermit creatives who are more comfortable with imaginary people. But we’re supposed to go out there and pitch and be on camera and sell and interact. We need to go to conferences and be on podcasts and do signings.
The real problem is, my lovelies, we want to do it ALL because then it will finally guarantee success – won’t it?
Yeah, I think it will. Because let’s be honest. If we were able to run successful ads, meet our readers, network at conferences, be funny and relevant on social media, write fabulous books, make sure they hit all the tropes or are FRESH and NEW as our publishers want, plus put out some special editions with beautiful covers, sell direct and in all the stores plus a few KU’s and throw in a serial for Vella and Radish – we are DEFINITELY GOING TO BE SUCCESSFUL.
Because we’ve covered all our bases.
But, alas, we are not superhuman. We want lives. We are a bunch of whiney babies that say – but what about my family, or spiritual side, or vacations or kids, or keeping house? What about everything else outside of my career?
Yeah – you better give that up if you want guaranteed success.
Have I made everyone angry yet? Did I break the promise of my post?
No. I told you the secret. Do everything and you will be successful.
Oh – you can’t? Well, now that’s another post. Let’s pivot.
I followed the secondary road. I realized I’d like to do it all, because I am a workaholic achiever. But the other parts of me don’t mesh well. I have high intellection and relator and empathy and that damn maximizer/developer/input crap. I like to think and ponder. I like to learn things and take my time. I like to do my very best to keep myself connected and happy to my friends and family.
Oh, and I like to do it with a smile – that damn positivity.
So, I began to learn my lessons this year, and finally after all this time of searching I discovered the answer to success without having to sacrifice the rest of it.
I choose to do SOME things. I choose to START without waiting for perfection.
Writing comes first. Quality comes first. That’s the foundation that everything else hinges on, so if you are a writer reading this with only one book or behind on the writing and a servant to the almighty ADMIN. Stop and go write more. Just…write. More content equals more possibilities of success.
Okay – you’re writing and you have plenty of content. Now you need to pick 2 things. Just 2.
ONLY 2.
Write them down. What do you want most? Dial in to what doesn’t make you sick to your stomach but does make you nervous. You need growth which is painful. But you shouldn’t be throwing up with nerves. We are looking for that delicious butterfly nervousness in your stomach when you have a first date. It looks tempting. You think you can have it, but you’re not sure.
Is it running ads and learning everything you can?
Now write down the second thing. I know choosing two is the hardest part of this exercise. You need to commit though or you will spend the next year spinning out. Believe me, I know. I did this. I lived it. Trust me.
You have two things. Now, you are going to make a plan. You are going to learn everything about it if you are a learner, or you are going to just push through and leap if you’re that type of personality and learn along the way– it doesn’t matter how you go about doing these 2 things. There’s not even a timeline on it. You just need to be moving TOWARD the goalpost of launching those 2 things.
Kickstarter? Learn, then launch.
Ads? Learn, then create ads and launch.
Shopify? Learn, or hire, then launch.
Social Media Success? Learn what videos work, train the algorithm, then launch. OR launch and learn by what’s working and what’s not.
Subscription? Figure out what levels you want, what you want to offer, and launch.
The key to all of this is to LAUNCH. Because you’ll figure it out. But if you don’t try something, too much time will go by doing nothing except thinking and worrying and planning and feeling frustration.
What if it tanks spectacularly? What if you’re humiliated that your Kickstarter didn’t fund while every author you know did? What if you have no members showing up at your subscription you spent months working on? What if no one comes to your table at the signing and you’re left with a bunch of books to take home in humiliation?
Good for you!
It means you are successful! Because you are doing new things. This means, you are lowering your odds to hit huge heights. And you’re learning! So you get to tweak and do better next time!
Isn’t that fantastic news?
One of the most important things in life we forget about is growth. If we’re not growing, WE ARE DYING.
You are a leader, not a follower. And you lead by your own heart, choosing two things out of hundreds of actions, and you got to learn it, and try it, and figure out if you liked it or if it can really help you in your career like you believed.
Here’s the real secret. Lean in.
Just because someone dies by the sword and says Facebook Ads is the best way to gain success, doesn’t mean it’s true for you.
Same goes for every single item on the list. You don’t know what works for you. But you can try and find out.
But you need to start with 2 things, because this is how you figure out if it’s right for you. Now, the second sucky thing about this trying out stuff is it may take TIME to work. It’s not an overnight job.
If you want to invest in a serial story on reader apps, it may take over a hundred chapters before you can really figure out if it can be a success. And yeah. It’s an investment in time. But what if you begin writing it, and not many readers come, and you’re not making BIG money like you hoped? But you kind of like doing it. And you think about stopping to save time and effort but writing it doesn’t suck, and then you can always publish it as a book later so it’s not lost content, and you keep going. For you. Because you’re learning and doing something new.
What if an entire year goes by and suddenly—you’re breaking into the top tiers and your monthly income starts to increase?
What if it’s not the type of money you dreamed of or was promised by others? BUT what if it’s still solid money, and now you have 2 books that you can create out of it, and now you find you really like this type of writing, so you start another serial story and then it grows faster than the first one and suddenly – you have a whole new segment of success.
Wouldn’t that be the bomb?
And if it tanks after a year and you feel kind of sucky about it –so what? When you start college, you’re immediately forced to take a bunch of pre reqs that piss everyone off. You’re paying to learn crap like astronomy or medieval history or how to write a persuasive essay. It’s irritating. Feels like a waste of time.
But secretly? It’s pretty damn cool to know about the stars and the cosmos. Or be able to write a kick ass letter to someone to get an extra discount because they pissed you off. Or find out some weird story about a past knight that makes its way into your brain and allows you to think in a different way.
Was that really a waste? Is learning anything new ever a waste?
No.
And neither is failing.
Pick two things. Learn. Fail. Repeat. And feel damn proud of yourself for NOT playing things safe. For being a leader in your career and stepping up. For stepping out. For trying.
Aren’t we lucky to be writers?