Regardless of Results, Don’t Lose Your Focus
At Bouchercon this weekend, I had the opportunity to connect with several writers who, like many of us, have encountered some bumps in the road. These setbacks, whether it's a timing issue with the release, distribution hiccups, or a lack of expected coverage, are all part of the unpredictable journey we call writing. While these factors can impact sales, it's important to remember that a single book's performance does not define your worth as a writer.
When writers write a bestseller, everyone in their circle cheers. When a writer’s work doesn’t perform well, even though they’ve had a string of hits, many in their circle walk away or, at the very minimum, think the writer has had their run and is now losing their chops. If they are winning, everyone is on their side. One mistake, though, and the negativity starts to trickle in. We can sum this up as fair-weather friends, but it is also business. As writers, we need to perform and make money, not only for ourselves but for all the people whose livelihoods also depend upon our success.
Still unfair as it may seem, because so many factors go into the success of a book, we, as writers, take the glory. Or we take the heat. Heat happens in any career, many times several times. What we, as writers, need to do is to keep going. There is always a 50/50 proposition, and it is not win/lose. It is predictions/outcomes. Part of what we do, we can control. The other part, we cannot. We can write a great book, but if other big-name authors release books the same week, they get the attention we do not get. Those are the things over which we have no control but, at the same time, get blamed because our titles do not move. It comes with the job.
We will never (though ‘never’ is a strong word) be able to teach those around us to distinguish between skill and luck. This proposition plagues our lives and careers. Others may or may not cut us some slack, but as creative people and writing entrepreneurs, we need to be aware of this.
There is a distinct difference between the best and worst results and the best and worst choices. We tend to think of them as the same. What topic should be written about, when should the book be released, and what promotion needs to be done? We can all look back at those and think we made a wrong choice if it didn’t work out. That’s not necessarily the case. The result didn’t work out, but the choice may have been right on the money.
I’m going to go into this in later blog posts, but right now, I’d like you to distinguish between the choice and the result and think back on your own life. For every lousy result, look at the choice that preceded it. When you examine it, you will probably see that the choices made were logical at the time, but that chance gave you a poor result. Had the result been different, you would be the hero. It is not the wrong strategy; it is the timing and other conditions you have no control over. For this post, think of something that seemed like a great idea you had and implemented that produced poor results. Then look at it again. Was the idea that bad? Probably not. It was the context in which it was implemented. I write this to say don’t throw away your excellent writing and publicity ideas. Instead, look at how you can make them 'chance-proof' by considering potential external factors and adjusting your plan accordingly so they can perform as you intended. And, for Heaven’s sake, please don’t take results from chance as a reflection on you. If something you implemented does not perform well, it may not be what you implemented, and it certainly is not you. It was the timing and other conditions. Always, always, keep in mind that there is a difference between predictions and outcomes.
Many writers, filmmakers, and other creative people I know look back on their lives and blame themselves for their choices. Think about your own life. Are you carrying some of that around? Let’s try to put that in perspective and get you back to writing and marketing where you belong. The result does not necessarily reflect the choice made if that choice was made with proper thought. And it may be, if you look at things honestly, that the right choice is still the choice that chance suggested was wrong and that choice, regardless of the outcome because of things you had no control over, is still the best choice to try again. There are simply things we cannot control. Whether we get the blame or the understanding for that, it shouldn’t matter. As writers, we know that is part of the process. We control what we can, and what we can do is simple: write a good book by focusing on your unique voice and storytelling skills, and market it well by leveraging social media, book signings, and other promotional opportunities. Do what you can control (writing and marketing) and let the other stuff go. Predict as best you can, but realize that the result may be more a reflection of unseen variables rather than the work or the marketing plan itself.
My advice to those at Bouchercon and you: the past is the past. Write your next great book. You'll have all your friends again when you publish your next big book. It’s how people work and think.
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