How To Succeed In Publishing

Okay, so today I'm going to give you the secret to succeeding in publishing. Your definition of success matters not (whether you're considering self-publishing, POD publishing, traditional publishing, etc.).

Today, you get the golden secret of how to succeed in publishing. Many of us thinks this means releasing a book. If that's what you call successful, so be it. I think there are different levels of success, and those are constantly changing for each author based on where they are.

So. Set in your mind what you would consider a success for you and your book.

This is how you achieve it.

Are you ready?

Step One: Write a really good book.

That's it. There is no magic formula--or even a step two! It doesn't matter how many blog followers you have, or how many people like your Facebook fanpage. It doesn't matter if you have 10 critique partners or just one, and it doesn't matter if you tweet your brains out. (I'm not saying these things aren't good to do. They are.)

What matters is that you craft, write, perfect a really spectacular book. After that, the followers and likers and fans (and sales!) will come.

So get out there and write that book. Write the heck out of it.

What defines success for you? What do you think the secret to success in publishing is?

A Good Day!

For the first time in a long time, I had a good Monday!

First, my entry on Miss Snark's First Victim was chosen by the Secret Agent! I won third place, which isn't too bad out of 51 entries. I get to send my first chapter to Sarah Davies. Very exciting.

Second, Archetype published my articles on How to Write a Query Letter on her website. She blogs about them here, and you can go directly to them by clicking here. That's exciting for me too. Someone actually thinks what I have to say is important? Very cool. Oh, and by the way, I posted a comment thanking Archetype, and my verification word was punwar. No, I am not kidding. Just, yanno, getting ready for tomorrow's contest...

Perks for Today

I think some of you will think I'm making these stories up. I swear I'm not, but I do think I'm cursing myself. Every night I lay in bed and think, "I wonder what will happen tomorrow." I need to stop doing that.

So I present some perks of my day:

1. The road I take to work was closed. I think I've mentioned my need for order and routine. I turned right, found a different street, made it back to the main road. Construction. Again. I turned left, completely ignoring the barriers for some reason, right out into the marked off lanes you weren't supposed to drive in. Luckily, they hadn't made it to that section of road (why it was blocked off, I don't know, grumble.) and I was okay. But I felt stupid. See what happens when you close the road I normally take? I can't even function!

2. The computer lab is currently 91 degrees at the writing of this blog post. Ninety-one. I'm so boiling hot, I can't even think. And the kids keep asking me, "Why is it so hot?" I don't control the temperature of my own room. It's a district thang. "Can I take off my coat?" Um, yes. "Will it be hot tomorrow?" Let me look into the future. Magic 8 ball…signs point to yes. I mean, those district guys can't do anything fast. Or easy. I'm sure a committee will be formed to discuss the hotness of my lab. No, really.

3. Pack meeting. Lots of face painting, and one of the boys got his bear. The paint is all brown and the parent basically paints a face around your existing face. By the way, if you haven't experienced a pack meeting, you should be extremely thankful right now. If you have, please accept my condolences. Back to the face painting. So the boy's mom paints on a face on the boy's chin. She accidentally got some on his lip. He laughed and was all grossed out. The cubmaster said, "Oh, is that messing with your lipstick?" I lost it. I laughed and laughed and laughed some more. This is sooo something both my husband and I would say to our students at school. Every few seconds, I busted into more silent laughter. I'm still laughing!

Ahhh, the ups and downs of life.

Reading: ENNA BURNING by Shannon Hale