First published in Write On! magazine, December 2019
This is how the conversation goes:
"So, what do you do, Claire?"
"Oh, I'm a writer."
"Really? Anything I'd have seen?"
"Well… all my books are on Amazon so…"
"Who's your publisher?"
"Actually, I'm self-published."
"Oh, right. So when are you going back to work?"
Because of course, having a publishing deal with a well-known
publisher like Penguin Random House or Harper Collins is the definition of
success for a writer – isn't it?
What if it's not? What if, I am successful for typing in
'The End' at the close of a 60,000-word manuscript. Google tells me that 97% of
writers fail to finish their book therefore if I fall into that top 3% of
finishers, surely, I am now a success.
The traditional publishing route dictates that first, you
must secure yourself an agent as many publishing houses will not touch
unsolicited manuscripts. And so, us happy individuals in the elite 3% must
begin touting our stories to agents who receive thousands of submissions a year
and are only really interested in current market trends. If you are a BAME
author writing about diversity, disability or LGBTQ issues then
congratulations, you're a hot bet. You are the lucky 1 in 1000 who will land an
agent.
However, these things are never quite that straightforward.
I know of two superb Pen to Print authors who have successfully landed an
agent, congratulations again, but have yet to receive a publishing deal. So
maybe snagging a literary agent is not the full measure of writer success. In an
article about the odds of getting a publishing deal that I read recently on
Jericho Writers, an editor at one of the big-5 publishing houses in the UK buys
less than 1% of the work offered to him. 1%. That's not great odds.
As an independent or indie author, I have now published 14
titles, 2 audiobooks and had short stories published in 4 anthologies. Am I
successful simply because of the number of books I published in the last three
years? Am I successful because my work was deemed worthy of inclusion in other
people's anthologies? Perhaps that is not enough. I am also multi-award winning
and can list accolades on my website for which I am very proud but are they a
stamp of success? I didn't win the Booker Prize. Yet.
I have not yet managed to earn a significant wage as an
author in order to contribute significantly financially to my family yet, am I
successful simply because I do earn money from my writing – no matter the
amount? According to research carried out by CREATe, the average author
take-home wage in 2018 was in the region of £10,000 per annum so even if I were
financially successful, we are not talking multi-million-pound deals.
The Oxford English Dictionary states that success is the accomplishment of an aim or purpose.
For a writer who views their authorship as a business and is
committed to achieving goals and self-imposed deadlines with the help of
quarterly plans and a vast array of spreadsheets, it seems that I have met my
success. For me, it is always about what's next. I am constantly aiming to grow
and develop as a writer, improve my craft and continue to write and release
books that readers want to read.
I firmly believe that if I can just get my novels in front
of as many people as possible, I will start to see growth in sales and readers.
How can I achieve that goal? Well, that is indeed the magic question and once I
figure it out, I'll be sure to let you know.
It's not enough to be successful as a writer, you also need
to be successful as a human being. And a parent. And a representative of your
ethnic tick box. Perhaps if we just focus on our best in all that we do,
success will decode itself. For that in itself is another measure of success.
Passing on what you've learnt along your journey and sharing your pitfalls with
others, so they don't make the same mistakes. Join online writing groups and
share your experiences, ask questions so you can learn from others and pass on
the tips you have picked up. If something works for you, tell your writing
community and make sure others know they can come to you for help and support.
It's a lonely job being a writer but it's a wonderful community being an
author.
