Tag: success

The Measure of Success

What does success look like for an author? Is it literary acclaim, millions of books sold, awards won, name recognition? If you have some or all of that going for you, how much does it matter that people like your writing?

I wonder if it still would feel like success if people bought but did not read your book. Do you care if readers give up on it partway through? According to Goodreads, the most frequently abandoned classics of literature are:

1. Catch 22, by Joseph Heller

2. Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien

3. Ulysses, by James Joyce

4. Moby Dick, by Hermann Melville

5. Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand

I am not too proud to admit I have personally given up on each and every one of these classics. I am not a fan of literary fiction on the whole. I find it pretentious, angst-ridden, and unnecessarily prosy. I don’t really consider Catch 22 to be literary fiction. I did think it was boring though. I felt the same way about Cujo. There is a long list of books I wanted to like and tried to read, but ultimately quit, never returning to them. Continue reading “The Measure of Success”

How Do You Write the Chapters of Your Life?

photo property of Jim DevittAre you happy with your life? Do you ever wish that your life were different? Are you where you want to be with your writing, business, love life, or just about anything else?

Most of the people who visit this blog are writers or readers. That pretty much sums up the entire population because if you are not doing one or the other or both, you are probably dead. As readers and writers, we are very familiar with novel structure. It’s a series of chapters. You start with the introduction of a main character who experiences a transformation through a growth process that may involve mystery, romance, action, heartbreak, death, illness or exploration. The concepts are limitless. Continue reading “How Do You Write the Chapters of Your Life?”

All Through The Night (The myth of the overnight success)

Guest post
by Jo at Inknbeans Press

There has been much alarm, many blogs, news items, blustering and tears recently about bigger fish in the publishing pool, and how the pond has been tainted by sock puppet reviewers, gaming sales, defining ranks, Amazon’s latest shenanigans, and flash mob vote ups (or downs.) Here’s the truth: Amazon has nothing to do with it. An author’s auntie getting her entire bingo club on a bully run to vote down negative reviews has nothing to do with it. Big six publishers arranging thousands of pre-order and release day sales to make a new title’s ranking soar has nothing to do with it. What matters, in the long run, is the quality of the story. Continue reading “All Through The Night (The myth of the overnight success)”

How’s Your Fashion Sense?

When I was kid I didn’t give two hoots about fashion. To be honest, as an adult, I don’t really care. Give me a pair of jeans, my Doc Martin boots and a t-shirt, and I’m a happy lady. As long as I’m comfy and the mirror doesn’t crack when I look into it, I can walk out the door feeling confident.

I don’t read magazines, I don’t follow any particular fashion trends and it’s always stood me in good stead. But is not caring about fashion really a good thing?

Let’s talk writing fashion for a moment…

I’ve noticed recently on a few comment threads, within one of my Facebook groups, that the authors who have just released books in the New Adult Contemporary Romance genre seem to be taking off. It hasn’t taken long to work out that New Adult Contemporary is one hot genre in my circles at the moment. Continue reading “How’s Your Fashion Sense?”