Success: How I Found It

 Success: How I Found It 

 

(A word on success: of course, success means different things to different people. This is just my take on it. For me, now, success in writing is connecting with readers and writing exactly what I want and making a living as a writer because I am connecting with readers.)

 

I published five books traditionally and they won some awards and they sold some copies. I’ll be honest. Not a lot of copies. Not enough. But I was somewhat successful. Had an agent, had a publisher, was in bookstores and libraries.

 

My success come in a commercial way, in a way that could pay the bills without a day job and one that got me loyal fans and lots of attention—until I started self-publishing. And not right away then. It took me two years and six novels to get to my Strangely Scary Funny series. Even then the novels didn’t really take off until book three; and then they really took off. 

 

What did I do differently? I’ve always written odd, quirky, unusual fiction. But in that series I just went for it, swinging big every time. I just pushed myself a little bit more and a little bit more and I realized that what I was best at was humor. So I focused on that more than I ever had (my own brand of humor) and I pushed it as far as I could. Just that little shift in focus allowed me to find a specific kind of exaggeration in my writing, a particular way of storytelling, that felt natural to me. And that many readers responded to. 

 

Just that little push seemed to do it. I found a lot of readers. I’ve written a lot of books in that series and it’s been about three years and they’re still selling very well. Some people love it. (Not everyone, of course; I’ve got some haters). They write me kind emails and sometimes texts to tell me how much they love the stories. Reaching that many reader and having them be passionate about reading the novels is, to me, success. It’s been the most satisfying connection with readers of my writing career so far. 

 

 

Here’s what you need to do: be fascinated by humans and their stories and the human condition. Communicate that fascination to your reader on the pages you write. Keep trying to do this in your particular way. That’s what you have. Especially now with AI the many books that get published practically every day. It’s hard to stand out.

 

 But only you can be you. Be you. 

 

You’ll write your best writing if you allow yourself to be yourself when you write. It’s not just your voice. It’s how you see the world. It’s how you live in it and express how you see and live in the world. Do that. If it’s realistic or horrific or futuristic, do that. Don’t handcuff yourself. Write what keeps you excited.

 

Write you.

 

More personally: I have the first novel in a new series out today. It’s title is Billy’s and Johnny’s Interstellar Road Trip. I think it’s a pretty good read. Check it out here, if you’re so inclined. 

 

https://www.amazon.com/Billys-Johnnys-Interstellar-Road-Trip-ebook/dp/B0F66SVMCW/

 

 

Happy writing,

 

Brian