Every author is different. We all measure success differently so how do you determine your Author’s Purpose?
An Author’s Purpose and Measuring Success
Being asked how you measure success is a difficult question to answer. Honestly, it’s a question I sometimes dread because it is so abstract and variable. As our author businesses continue to grow, our measurement of success changes. But to indicate our goalposts for these measurements, we need to know what our author’s purpose is. Why are we writing?
Determining Our Goals Based Off Our Personal Situation
Every author begins their business at a different point in their life and for different reasons. There’s the retiree who is writing to fulfill a bucket list dream, and they will have a different goal than the person trying to make a living from their writing. But, it’s important to remember that no goal is worth more than another. All goals are meaningful and fulfill individual needs for success. However, they do need to be treated differently with different expectations and different approaches to our marketing and businesses.
Setting our Author’s Purpose Benchmarks for Success
Often times when people are asking about success, they’re asking about financial success. That might be valid for the author trying to make a living, but is that necessarily the best measurement for the retiree fulfilling a dream? This is important to consider because these two different authors might have different outlooks. And those should not be measured the same way. Remaining true to your authentic author’s purpose will help you set individualized goals that work for you.
We must also remember that success can be measured in many ways, aside from just financially. For that retiree, they might want to measure it as just getting the book published and out there. Or in the hands of readers outside of their family. That reader trying to make a living might look at trying to hit a certain monetary number or some other marker for financial independence.
Creating Realistic Benchmarks for Success
One thing that is important to note, is just like in any goal setting, you want to make sure you are setting attainable, actionable goals rather than abstract BIG goals right off the bat. For instance, I want to be financially independent and living off my writing is not a good starter benchmark for success. One, it’s setting you up for frustration and “failure” because that won’t happen overnight from one book launch. And two, it’s very difficult to measure.So, make sure you’re coming up with specific examples and measurable goals when creating your benchmarks.
Another important thing we need to remember is to include benchmarks that measure our success along the way.It’s good for all of our mental health to measure how far we’ve come rather than just focusing on where we want to end up. And this should also not be solely focused on financials. Perhaps you could measure success by the amount of reviews posted. Or making your return of initial investment. These are HUGE accomplishments to celebrate as well. Basically, make sure you enjoy the ride along the journey. And keep patting yourself on the back often. Writing is not easy, and remember just by completing a book you’re already ahead of many.
What are some benchmarks YOU’VE used to measure success?
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You’re right. We all measure our success differently. I hope you find yours. Or maybe you already have.
Aw, thanks Olga. I think I agree with Loni on this one. I do consider myself a success for achieving what I set out to do. But I still have more to achieve as well. I hope the same for you also.
It is very important to realize that success is different for everyone. I talk to many authors who do events and say they ‘did great’ for sales. That means a lot of things. They had fun. They talked to readers. They made enough to cover their table fee. They sold 2 or 50 books. It very much depends on what they’re there for.
I definitely agree that people have different goals when they attend events and that’s fantastic. But in terms of talking about it with other authors, I think some of that comes down to semantics. Covering your table should always hopefully be a goal. And then talking to readers would be covered under networking and building connections for me- not necessarily sales. But goals for sales however could be broad and different depending on the author. And yes, I always hope to have fun. Hard sometimes when weather is at play though. 😉
I’ve always thought of success as accomplishing what you set out to do. For me, I’ve been very successful in that I’ve written books, short stories, and hey, some people even like my stuff. However, I still have a long ways to go because I want to rewrite my book 1, and then finish books 3, 3.5, 4, and 5. If I get them done within my lifetime, that will be success for me.
I like that definition. And I agree that the benchmark moves as you continue to set goals for yourself. Congrats on achieving many of them already and good luck on hitting the rest as well!
Hi, Joyana! I enjoyed both of your posts, the IWSG one and the one on journaling. I primarily write nonfiction, and one of my genres is journaling. It really does calm me, and I write in my journal almost every day. I’m working on a memoir, but it’s taking a long time. So blogging has been very important for me. It’s helped me with my writing, and it gives me a place to express myself regularly. Having a voice, as a former union leader and teacher, is really fulfilling for me. Have a happy and fulfilling June!
I love that you’ve found journaling helpful! Memoirs are tough, so much to try and get in and in a way that flows as a story. I applaud you for taking that on! It sounds like you have interesting topics to pull from. Good luck and I hope to see your efforts come to fruition in the future. Happy June!
Realistic goals and benchmarks are so important! I tend to be very big picture, and it always helps to reel it back in and set the smaller goals instead that lead to the big one, ultimately.
Shannon @thewarriomuse.com
So true! This is definitely a problem for me as well. Us big thinkers definitely benefit from breaking things down into smaller chunks so we don’t get overwhelmed. But I do enjoy celebrating those smaller successes along the way as well.
I agree we all have different goals planned for our writing careers and that’s a good thing. And goals change as we get into this writing. Even the genres change!! Thanks for this thoughtful, encouraging blog post.