Pay Attention, Work Hard, Experiment a Lot, and Keep at it Until You Get Lucky
Do you ever wonder why some people are successful while you struggle? Do you ever get pissed, jealous, or downright confused by the situation?
If so, then this post by J.A. Konrath on his self-publishing blog may interest you. He recently posted a story of how he made over $100,000 from three weeks of sales of his Kindle books. The post garnered a variety of responses, so he posted a follow up, titled “Reality Check.”
I encourage you to check it out, even if you have no interest in writing novels or self-publishing. He dispels myths about how he achieved his “overnight” success, and shares his story of what it took to get him there.
Here’s an excerpt:
I wrote 9 novels and collected over 500 rejections during a 10 year period before I made a dime in this business. I sold my tenth novel in a three book deal for $110,000 back in 2002.
My publisher refused to tour me for my first book. They also refused to let me do any official book signings because they would have had to pay coop. So I began doing bookstore drop-ins and handselling my books. I’d stay anywhere from four to eight hours in bookstores. Have you ever sold one hundred $25 hardcovers in one place? I have. It’s hell.
For the next book, my publisher toured me. In between official signings, I dropped in another 100 bookstores.
The next year, I spent the summer on the road and signed at more than 500 bookstores. It almost broke me.
I also visited dozens and dozens conferences, book fairs, and libraries. I’ve been to 42 states, doing this promo thing.
I sent out 7000 letters to libraries and bookstores, each with a signed drink coaster in them, to promote my books.
I edited an anthology, and wrote dozens of short stories that sold (for pennies) to top markets.
My publisher dropped their mystery line, me included, and my second three books with them ($125,000 advance for the trio) were given very little attention. I didn’t tour for these. Couldn’t afford it.
Then I wrote a horror novel. Got a $20k advance, and a two book deal. The first book quickly earned out, but they didn’t like the second one. I rewrote it and they still refused it. I wrote a third for them and they wanted changes. I said no. I’d had enough.
I was never a successful legacy author. I was midlist, eking out a living, struggling from check to check, never making more than $50k in a year and spending a lot of that on travel.
To me, the most important bit comes at the end:
Can you be a successful self-pubbed author?
It depends. How hard are you willing to work, and how long are you willing to wait, before success happens?
I got my first rejection letter in 1988. I’ve worked hard for 24 years, waiting for this kind of success.
Click here to read the full post…
24 years of hard, barely rewarded work, doing what he loved and dreamed, until finally he found the right system and, in his own words, “got lucky.”
What does this mean to you?
I am not going to sit here and tell you to suck it up for 24 years. There’s a time to evaluate your progress, dreams, life, and goals. Sometimes the result of that evaluation is that you decide to move on.
However, I am posting this because I want you to take 3 things away:
1) Set Proper Expectations.
Can you succeed at anything you want? I believe that in 99% of the cases the answer is “yes.” (Whenever I say something like that some yahoo likes to pipe up with, “oh yeah? I’m 52 years old, out of shape, and only 5’3″ tall. Can I play professional basketball???” Hence the “99 %”). The question, in Konrath’s own words, is “How hard are you willing to work, and how long are you willing to wait, before success happens?” Work hard for a short period or work lazy for a long period, and your chances of success go down. Work hard, and be willing to work hard for a long time, and your chances of success go up. Don’t expect to half-ass it and achieve your dreams in just a few months…
2) Try Different Approaches.
One of my favorite lines from the post is, “Right now I’m making a lot of money because I’m paying close attention to what Amazon is doing, experimenting a lot, and getting lucky.” He experimented a lot. He tried many different approaches to reach publishing success, until he came upon the one that worked for him. Don’t assume that the first approach you try is the only one; if it’s not working, experiment a lot until you find the one that works for you.
3) Stop Shooting for a “One-Shot Homerun.”
I know too many people who are waiting for that “one-big thing” to catapult them to success. It might happen, but the more hope you put into that, the more depressed you’ll be. Build up a monstrous body of work, a huge network of contacts, a giant stack of testimonials, and a wealth of experience. Your “one-shot homerun” may happen when you least expect, but only if you keep at it.
I hope you feel inspired and not depressed by Konrath’s post. Yes, it took him two-and-a-half decades to reach “success.” But it inspires me to think that if you just keep at it, and keep trying new things, and keep working hard, you can achieve whatever level of success you aspire to as well.
To summarize Konrath’s approach, the formula for success is simple, but not at all easy:
- Pay Attention
- Work Hard
- Experiment a Lot,
- Keep at it Until You Get Lucky
How are you at dong all four of those things…?
P.S. Hey, if you like this post, why don’t you share the love and click the Facebook “Like” button at the top of this page…?
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By Avish Parashar. As the world's only Motivational Improviser, Avish uses techniques from the world of improv comedy to engage, entertain, and educate audiences on ideas around change, creativity, and motivation. Connect with Avish on Google+
4 Responses to “Pay Attention, Work Hard, Experiment a Lot, and Keep at it Until You Get Lucky”
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Should you and Mr. Van Carter ever make it to Whitby you’ll probably need a local guide or you could find yourselves taking an involuntary dip in the harbour without benefit of liefejack-t.I hereby volunteer for that onerous task.I promise ale (The Tap and Spile), Fish and Chips (The Magpie Cafe) and plenty of banana bread.Thanks for a great blog.
He calls it the “Slow Carb Diet”. The “4 Hour Body” part is the whole book, including non weight loss parts. Things like fixing a sort back and running or swimming faster.
June 1, 2009 at 5:50 PM · Ha, fun spot, always great work and I have been really enjoying getting to see the process and life of turning sketchbot in to a toy.Thanks for posting it.Brad
is translated anyways but even besides that, I think he was merely referring to the specific old fans who… you know… actually ARE hard to please. xD It’s like how we say Sonic fans are crazy. We don’t mean every single one just there’s a lot of crazy Sonic fans around us. =p