Z. Allora
Identify your priorities as an author.
1) Writing your heart's song.
2) Money.
3) Fame.
4) Benefit others.
5) Best GoodReads rating ever.
6) Endless list of other options.
And yes it would be lovely to have it all but let's be honest that doesn't happen for everyone and usually not with your first book.
Once you have your priorities numbered you know how to judge your success. My priorities can shift from book to book. I'm usually good writing my heart song but there are other times I'd really like my publisher not to see me as a loser so I might write a contemporary. Most times I'm writing my yaoified version of love spiked with BDSM because I'm writing for me.
Extra Credit: Judge your success based on your priority. AKA if I'm writing for me my criteria is: Do I love the story I've written. Did I get everything on the page... I don't look at my royalty check and make a judgment about the book.
Other random pieces of advice:
*Be a beta/critique partner for someone else. (No one has time but it's a way you become a better writer > identifying what you read/correct and apply it to your own work.)
*Listen to feedback. If your betas/critique partners tell you something LISTEN.
*Be part of the genre community you write in.
*A no can be the best thing ever.
*Know your target audience. (No, it's not everyone). Knowing who you should be satisfying allows you to understand who you should be marketing to.
*Satisfy your target audience.
*Reviews can be helpful or crippling.
Many hugs, Z.
1) Writing your heart's song.
2) Money.
3) Fame.
4) Benefit others.
5) Best GoodReads rating ever.
6) Endless list of other options.
And yes it would be lovely to have it all but let's be honest that doesn't happen for everyone and usually not with your first book.
Once you have your priorities numbered you know how to judge your success. My priorities can shift from book to book. I'm usually good writing my heart song but there are other times I'd really like my publisher not to see me as a loser so I might write a contemporary. Most times I'm writing my yaoified version of love spiked with BDSM because I'm writing for me.
Extra Credit: Judge your success based on your priority. AKA if I'm writing for me my criteria is: Do I love the story I've written. Did I get everything on the page... I don't look at my royalty check and make a judgment about the book.
Other random pieces of advice:
*Be a beta/critique partner for someone else. (No one has time but it's a way you become a better writer > identifying what you read/correct and apply it to your own work.)
*Listen to feedback. If your betas/critique partners tell you something LISTEN.
*Be part of the genre community you write in.
*A no can be the best thing ever.
*Know your target audience. (No, it's not everyone). Knowing who you should be satisfying allows you to understand who you should be marketing to.
*Satisfy your target audience.
*Reviews can be helpful or crippling.
Many hugs, Z.
More Answered Questions
About Goodreads Q&A
Ask and answer questions about books!
You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.
See Featured Authors Answering Questions
Learn more