The other day I met another children’s book author whose publisher suggested she talk with other successful children’s book authors to get an idea of what to do. She told me this because she wanted to talk to me.   I don’t know if she came to that decision after she saw my booth, or the way I communicated with others, or the number of books I had… either way, she decided that I was successful. Color me surprised.

Now granted I have 9 children’s books but how does that determine success?  Should I have stopped writing and publishing when the first book sold 350 instead of a million? I felt a second book would help propagate sales, all of the first sales and many new ones to buy both. Which worked. So I made a third book, now I was working on a series. That third book was more popular than the second, so I wrote a fourth because everyone kept asking when the next one was coming out. I’ve kept the series growing, watching the sales grow with each book, but I am still not at a million.

So if I have 8 books but not a million sales, the big publishing houses would consider me an utter failure. But I don’t feel like a failure. I don’t talk like a failure. I don’t go to a show every weekend promoting my series as a failure. I go because I want to succeed. I sell like a successful person because to be successful you have to feel successful. You grow, you smile, you push harder, you work longer and you keep at it, because if I didn’t, I would be a failure.

 

PS: I will be at the Texas Book Festival in Austin this Saturday. I am an award-winning author and will be at the Texas Association of Author’s table. Then, that evening I’ll be attending the celebration of authors dinner.  Maybe I am a success and didn’t even know it. 🙂

Success