What if my book doesn't sell?

This is utterly stolen from Neil Gaiman’s commencement speech earlier this year, but at least if your book doesn’t sell, you will have written a book that mattered to you and that you are proud of.

Or you could write a book you think will sell, that you don’t really care about. You might possibly get paid, but may be embarrassed that you wrote the book and years later, you will wonder why you wasted your time on that book.

The older I get, the more conscious I am of the fact that there are only so many books that I am going to be able to write. Almost all the writers I know have long lists of books they want to eventually get to, but the reality is a book a year or two books a year, or however many you can write—there’s a limit. You can’t write good books while you’re so young that you’re learning. And you may not be able to write books past a certain age. You’ve got this window of maybe twenty or thirty years if you are lucky where you can write well the books that truly matter to you. Use those years wisely. Pick your books wisely.

And two quotes:

“There is no more hollow feeling than to stand with your honor shattered at your feet while soaring public reputation wraps you in rewards.”

“Reputation is what other people know about you. Honor is what you know about yourself.” Aral Vorkosigan in A Civil Campaign.