Writing a book:
Expectations vs. Reality
Many aspiring authors have dreams of becoming rich and famous. They have this idea in their heads that their book will launch their lives into the stratosphere of success. Super successful writers such as Stephen King, J.K Rowling, and Robert Ludlum act as fuel for their dreams. They believe that their success will mirror that of their predecessors. What they fail to realize is that those writers were one in a million shots. It’s nice to dream, but I’m a firm believer in being real with one’s self.
High expectations are setups for disappointment.
Instead of hoping and dreaming, writers should do more researching and planning. When you do this, opposed to doing the former, you begin to gain a better understanding of what to expect and what your expectations should be.
With that being said, here are my top 5 outlandish expectations that writers have.
Expectation: The book will sell millions of copies
Dude, seriously? The average self-published book sells about 250 copies in a year and only two-thousand in a lifetime. The average traditionally published books sell about 3,000 in its lifetime and about 250- 300 copies in its first year. So, unless you’re immortal you won’t be alive to see your book sell millions of copies.
Reality: Your book may only sell a few hundred copies
Let’s face the harsh reality. If you aren’t internationally known and have a ton of cash to spend on marketing, you aren’t going to sell millions of copies of your book. It’s a nice dream, but it’s just that; a dream.
Expectation: Your book is for everyone
Simply put… no, it’s not. To believe that your book is for ‘everyone’ is naïve and borderline asinine. People have different tastes. It’s simply impossible to please everyone with your book. Writing for everyone is an exercise in futility.
Reality: Not everyone is going to read your book
Instead of trying to write a book that caters to everyone, what writers should do is focus on a particular group of readers. It’s nice to think that you’re going to write a book that’s going to appeal to everyone, but the reality is that your book will only appeal to a certain group of readers. These people are called your target audience. They are your life. Everything you do should revolve around them.
Expectation: Publishers will come flocking to you
This expectation is laughable. Firstly, the odds of getting published are a thousand to one. Secondly, if you’re not a celebrity, publishers aren’t going to take time out of their day to hunt you down.
Reality: You need a following to get a book deal and you have to pitch your book to publishers
Stop thinking that the book is going to attract publishers from far and long. If an author is really serious about getting their book published they should pitch their book to an agent first. They are the gatekeepers when it comes to getting published, and even then, there is no guarantee that their book will get published. In order to impress publishers and give their book the best shot at getting published, writers should build a massive audience first. No publisher on this planet will turn down an author with a social media following of one-hundred-thousand people. Needless to say, the authors’ audience is their leverage.
Expectation: The book will be perfect
What is this perfect book you speak of? What makes it so perfect? A lot of writers get this fantasy stuck in their heads that their book will be a flawless gem. Well, I’m sorry to break it to them, but it won’t. I can almost guarantee that someone will point out at least three imperfections about their ‘perfect’ book.
Reality: Nothing is perfect
Perfection is a pinnacle in which God never intended for mankind to reach. Nothing is perfect and there has never been anything that was perfect. This mindset of having to have everything perfect leads to perfection paralysis.
Expectations: They will become a New York Times bestseller
So, what exactly does it take to make it on the NY Times Bestseller list? Well, to make the bestsellers list an author would have to sell at 5,000 – 10,000 copies of their book in one week. Not to mention, those sales have to be diverse, meaning that they have to be from different sources. They’d have to sell thousands of books across multiple platforms.
Reality: You may never reach the NY Times Bestseller list
This is a harsh reality that many aspiring authors don’t want to face. Sure, you may have a great book, but if you don’t meet the criteria above, then you’re not going to reach that goal. To believe that this is a goal that you can achieve right out of the gate as a fresh, relatively unknown author is completely delusional.
For new authors, it’s good to keep believable goals in mind. When one sets extreme goals such as this, you’re setting yourself up for failure. This leads to disappointment and self-doubt follows as winter does fall. Set goals that are practical.
In conclusion, as writers, we must not make things harder for ourselves. Writing itself is hard already. We should look to make the process of writing, promoting and selling our works as easy as possible by setting attainable goals.
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