Defining Success

What is success for an author? I haven’t a clue. And this stupid question, a moral quandary as well as a literary oxymoron, is driving me nuts. It’s rather like asking Alexa “What’s the meaning of life?” and expecting an answer. There is no answer. And, here’s the oxymoron part: I doubt “author” and “success” can really coexist in the same sentence. Could a typical writer, driven by the need to string words and be understood, have the blind audacity to self-proclaim himself/herself a