I measure success in two equally important ways: the faith a publisher has in me, and the readers' response. Before you can have the second you need to have the first. If a publisher believes that the stories I tell deserve to be known, that is what makes it possible for me to bring my books to the attention of readers. To put it facetiously, my first measure of success is the fact that my books didn't go into the slush pile. Without a good publisher who understands your needs and desires as a writer, all you have is manuscripts...
Measuring Success: With the Metric System
We asked our authors to share how they measure success when it comes to their writing and their books. We hope you enjoy them. How do I measure success? With the metric system. Seriously, success is difficult to describe, which in part is why we're writing about it here. My own personal measure of success is not by sales or publishing, though, those are great perks of the job. My measure of success is finishing. Yes, I want people to read my stories, enjoy them and even re-read them. But, to me, that's validation, not actual success. Success is starting...
Measuring Success: Telling Stories
We asked our authors to share how they measure success when it comes to their writing and their books. We hope you enjoy them. When I first started writing, I wrote primarily for myself. Success was getting the words out on paper, by pen or typewriter. Then I started posting stories with other people in forums and a blog. People liked my characters and their stories. People commented, which meant they read my stuff. Someone else actually liked what I was doing! My level of success changed. It was to get published. Because of my fear, I sent out four,...
How Do You Measure Success?
One of the more interesting lessons we've learned since starting Paper Angel Press is that every author is unique. (Okay, we knew that going in...) What we have also learned is that every author brings with them their own way of measuring their success when a book is published. We've asked our authors to share with you their thoughts and insights on how they measure their own success. We will be sharing those with you over the next few weeks, so watch this space!
Why Are We Doing This?
Why start a small press? The answer to that question, as you might guess, is neither a short nor a simple one. The reasons are chiefly personal, but they were also borne from the desire to do the right thing for other aspiring authors. Since I was seventeen, I have written stories with an eye toward eventual professional publication. Although I did get a technical non-fiction book published, I never managed to fully complete a novel. As time passed, and I continued to write . . . and not finish, I finally began to understand why. Revising and editing is...