How do they do it???

So many authors I know or come in contact with have somehow managed to skyrocket themselves to the bestseller lists of various publications or organizations. I think it's great to see traditionally published and independently published authors on the charts, but I can't help asking myself what they are doing to get there!

The only books I've published are Legacy of Secrets and that has hurt me, to a degree. As an independent author, I've heard that the more book we put out, the better off we're going to be with rankings, etc. The problem is, how am I supposed to put out quality work on a regular basis? And how regular is regular, anyway? Wouldn't it make more sense for me to release fewer works that are quality versus quantity? I just don't get it!!

I think we independent authors get so caught up in how to get ahead and stay there, we lose our spark. We didn't start writing to compete with algorithms, we started writing to tell our stories and live out our dream as published authors. How do we break the cycle?

Short answer: I haven't a clue! I wish I could say I wasn't one of the authors who've been rank-obsessed, but I'd be lying. It's hard not to watch your ranks at any given point throughout the day, week, month, etc. When we're responsible for our own marketing, we want to see if any of it is working and rankings are the fastest way. So how to we measure our success?

This one, I can answer. Your true success isn't measured by your rankings or sales, but rather by the act of publishing in the first place. By living your dream, you already are successful! Does it mean you're the most successful you'll ever be? No, but it means you have done something a lot of people haven't - made one of your dreams come true.

So, while I'd love to be in the bestsellers lists and top rankings, I am at least happy with the fact that I'm doing my best to fully realize my dream by continue the journey. There's no telling what I can achieve if I don't stick with it and push myself out of my comfort zone. It's all about the joy of telling the tale, and I do enjoy it!

Until next time!!

xoxoxoxo
-Lisa