Is there anything more exciting than finishing your first manuscript? You’ve poured hundreds of hours of work into your book, and you think to yourself, “This is it. I’m finally a real author.” You’ve gotten good feedback from your beta readers – great feedback, even! Surely this manuscript will have agents and publishers dying to work with you, or if you’re an indie, surely you have the golden ticket to viral success.
I’m not telling you that you shouldn’t be excited. You should be! And you should be proud of everything you’ve accomplished. But most authors don’t strike gold with their first book.
If you go into the publishing business (or any business) with unrealistic expectations, you’re setting yourself up for disappointment and despair. Why isn’t it working? Are you not really as good as you thought you were? But if you go in with your eyes wide open, knowing you’ve only just begun your journey, you’re more likely to achieve everything you’ve always wanted.
Here are three things you can do to set yourself up for achieving your dreams:
Switch your thinking from short term to long term
Building a sustainable author career is an endurance sport. If you were running an ultra marathon and you decided to run at your top speed right out of the gate, you’d likely never finish the race. You have to pace yourself, knowing that the finish line is miles ahead of you.
Instead of focusing only on immediate results, cast a vision out to the future. Where would you like to be in your career in ten years? And based on that vision, where do you need to be in the next five?
Develop the skills you need for real success
The most successful writers aren’t just relying on their raw talents. They’re continually improving their skills in both writing and business.
If you’re still querying agents (or looking for a new one), you can always learn to improve your query letter writing. If you’re an indie, it might be time to do more market research to make sure your book covers and copy still match what readers are looking for. And we can all always improve our marketing strategies and our craft.
Get comfortable with change
If TikTok ends up being banned in the United States, a large segment of the English reading market could be cut off from the world’s fastest growing book community. Even without socio-political change in the mix, creative industries are constantly in flux. With indie authors continuing to rise, how will traditional publishing respond?
In 2011, Harvard Business Review declared that adaptability was the most important factor in whether a business would thrive or fail. For most of us as writers, we are the business. We need to be able to deal with change and uncertainty in order to see long-term success.
ACTION STEPS:
Which of these three things will you commit to doing in order to succeed? How can you change your mindset to drive your long-term success?