Six Tips for Success
By Mark Coker
(Note that this is an excerpt from a larger article/podcast called Art of Delusion, reprinted here with permission. Link to the full article is available at the end of this snippet).
1. Respect your readers. Write and publish super awesome books. Readers will determine your success, wow them. Anything less than wow is not good enough because good isn’t good enough anymore. Good will fail when readers demand excellence.
2. Write more. With every word you write, you'll become a better writer. Hone your craft.
3. Employ best practices for incremental advantage. There’s no single magic bullet to success. There are millions of readers out there who should be reading you but don’t yet know that. They don’t yet know that you exist. The secrets to professional publishing are yours for the taking. Do things that give you a competitive advantage. Adopt best practices as we’ve discussed in every episode of the smart author podcast series. There are the obvious things like professional editing, professional cover design and tools like e-book pre-orders. Then, there are the not so obvious things that you need to do. Constantly work to hone and evolve your best practices. Remember, you can always get better. The truth of the matter is that most writers don’t take advantage of best practices. This means that if you do take advantage of best practices, you will have an edge.
4. Think long term. You're running a marathon, not a sprint. Consider how every action you take today will impact your long term success.
5. Guard your independence. After decades of subservience to publishers, indie authors now have the freedom to break the yoke of subservience and make their own way. Yet, with the rise of self-publishing has come those who want to steal your independence by enticing you to go exclusive. The opposite of independence is dependence. Don’t become dependent upon any single retailer. Otherwise, your future is in their hands, not your own.
6. Connect with your community. Stay connected with your writing community, both online and offline. Join a local writers group or a critic group to meet with fellow writers, hone your craft, and learn from guest speakers. Attend a writers’ conference where you can further hone your craft and learn about the industry and network with industry professionals. In tip seven through 11, I’m going to share a few of my personal secrets to business success.
For the full podcast and transcript, click HERE.
Mark Coker is the founder of Smashwords, an author, and a mountain climber. Find out more at Smashwords.
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