Eleven Things Very Successful Authors Don't Do

They don't believe their bad reviews. 

So some troll left a nasty comment on your article. Big deal. It happens to everyone. Sometimes trolls give you good ideas for articles. If they don’t, successful writers leave them alone. Unsuccessful writers spend half their time moshing in the comment section. My good friend Jon Acuff coined the term Critic's Math, and is defined as this: 1000 compliments + 1 critical comment = 1 critical comment. On the face of it, this equation makes absolutely no sense! But as an author, great writers don't get hung up on the negative. Some people won't get you, but that shouldn't take away from your passion. Great writers don't let the negative steal their passion.

They don't let rejection ruin them. 

Good writers know how to cope with rejection because rejection is a part of every writer’s life. If you’re going to pitch your work to a publisher, literary agent, or media company, you’re going to get rejected—or even ignored. That’s just how life works. But it doesn’t matter how many times you get rejected. What matters is what you do after you get rejected. Will you give up—or will you keep writing? There are writers who have been rejected, and there are great writers, but there are no great writers who have never been rejected.

They don’t blame other people.

It’s hard to be rejected, have your queries bounced, get bad reviews, and have poor sales. What’s more, it’s tempting to put the fault on external forces. Your publisher didn’t market you enough, that agent doesn’t know good writing, blah blah blah. But here’s the deal: The person who takes the blame is the person who takes the credit–because that’s the person who has the power. Do you want to break into publishing (or a bestseller list), or do you want to be discovered? Do you want to be an active or passive participant in your career? Great authors take ownership of everything, and they know once they do, they now have the control to fix and improve things. 

They don't listen to the voice in their head that says they "aren't great" or "deserve success". 

Have the words 'I'm not a real writer' ever crossed your mind? Those struggling with impostor syndrome tend to attribute success to luck rather than merit and hard work and tend to minimize success. If you start to feel like this, chance or accident, stop. Take a moment to remind yourself of all the hard work that got you where you are today. 

They don't seek perfection and stop at "good enough." 

The quickest road to failure is trying to make something "perfect." Nobody has any idea how to make something free of flaws. A successful writer knows when to stop at "good enough," and cross their fingers.

They don't work themselves to death.

Successful writers don't stick to rules. Successful writers push themselves. They also know when to relax. They know when to punch out. Only you know when you're trying too hard, which means you have to pay attention to things like your mood. Writer's block is real, but so is writer's fatigue. Great writers know when to push and also when to rest. 

They don't try and do everything themselves. 

With so many different ways to different media platforms, products, coaching, training courses, email - so many opportunities - it gets overwhelming to know which options you should pick, how they can all work together, and how much time to devote to each. Great authors hire a team to help them grow their community, reach, and readers. Getting help is the fastest way to success for a thought leader. 

They don't forget to monetize everything. 

Let's face it, generally speaking, one published book won't make anyone rich. But great authors know that knowing what to offer to collect an email address, creating online courses, participating in webinars, creating circle groups, and so many other things leads to growth. Most experts agree that 10K emails should lead to $1M in sales. Great authors know how to leverage themselves and their content.

They don't ignore social media. 

Sure with tic tok, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, and new media seemingly starting up each week - it can be easy to gove up on what many writers feel is something for teenagers. Great authors think the opposite. They focus on one or two platforms, use hashtags to introduce themselves to new audiences, and work at building their base. Sure they wrote a successful book by understanding readers these days' need and want to connect with authors outside of the book. 

They don't get jealous. 

Successful writers see someone’s meteoric success and try to learn from it. Even if they disagree with another writer’s ideas or don’t like the style, they try to find something they can use. If they can’t, they leave it alone. Some of the best books and articles defy our preconceptions about what counts as “good writing.” You can learn from those books or wave them away. You don’t have to write like them, but you can still learn. Unsuccessful writers wallow in jealousy. Every second they spend, there is one they could be doing something to be great. 

They don't ignore change. They embrace it. 

This is huge. Unless you are prepared and understand the complexities of change and how it will affect you—as an individual AND as a professional on various levels—you are likely to go mad. So great authors embrace the change. They understand they can't control it. Nowadays, it's not enough to have a great title, book, or endorsement, you need followers or a community - ideally both. Great writers start building their community almost as soon as they start writing their book - you should too. This wasn't the way ten years ago, so practically every author had to adapt or see their book deal diminish.