Is your book a success?
How do you measure success?
What’s the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear the word “successful”?
A massive pile of gold? A white beach where people spend their time without any need of working? People doing what they love for a living? Beyonce? J K Rowling?
But especially, what comes to your mind when you think about your success?
You may think it’s a simple question, but have you ever thought seriously about the answer?
Success is different for all of us. If you are struggling to put bread on the table, maybe success is getting that job you applied for so that you have a stable income. If you have a good job, but you don’t like it anymore, maybe success comes in the form of resigning and finally do something you are really passionate about.
And if you are a writer? What would make you feel a successful one?
Your idea of success
This is a trickier question than you may think. But you need to know the answer or you won’t know when to feel satisfied. You have to adjust your expectations and plan the necessary work to get there.
If you think about yourself as a successful author, what do you picture? 100 copies sold? 1000? 15000? A publishing contract? A line of enthusiastic fans waiting for your autographed copy outside a huge bookstore?
When I published Secrets of a Handbag, I wasn’t really sure about my expectations but what I knew was they weren’t high. I wasn’t deluding myself thinking the sales would start falling from the sky, making me rich and famous overnight. And I wasn’t deluding myself even hoping for mid-range sales, not with my very first book.
My aim was publishing a good story, the best story possible with my limited means for editing and cover design. I was lucky to find people willing to work with me on the book for reasonable fees and doing an excellent job nonetheless. However, when I hit publish on my very first self-published novel, I was sure my book would be ignored by most.
My aim was publishing a good story with the hope that someone would have a good time while reading it.
My idea of success (for now)
Writing and reading are deeply intertwined. With my writing, I’d like to give people the same emotions I feel when I read a good book—the feeling that you simply have to know what’s next, the ability to escape reality for half an hour, the hope coming from a positive and happy ending, even when your real life isn’t really going well.
That was my idea of success for this book.
And even then, I never thought the response I’d get would be so good.
In the past weeks, people started calling me to tell how much they enjoyed reading my book, how surprised they are at how good I am, and expressing the hope I’ll publish another story soon.
Most of my readers comment that they had a good time reading Secrets of a Handbag, that it was a fast and compelling read, and that they couldn’t put it down until the end. For me, these are very high compliments because, as a reader, I’m always searching for those books keeping my eyes glued to the pages.
But the comments that really made my days were from a couple of people, who told me they were going through a difficult time in their lives and found a speck of peace and positivity while reading Secrets of a Handbag.
That truly made me feel my book was a success.
So thank you for reading. I hope to manage to create the same feelings with my next books.
Before you go… my novel Secrets of a Handbag is available in all the major online stores!
You can get your copy in e-book format or paperback on Amazon and all the major retailers!
If you want to stay updated on new releases, subscribe to my mailing list!
And don’t forget to show some love in comment form!