In Romanceland,
as soon as a book is successful
or a marketing campaign works,
there are hundreds,
perhaps thousands
of copycats the next day.
The innovating writer
normally maintains her breakout sales lead.
The copycat sales are usually average.
If a writer wants to break out,
she has to do something different.
She can’t simply copy the success.
“The next Bill Gates
will not build an operating system.
The next Larry Page
or Sergey Brin
won’t make a search engine.
And the next Mark Zuckerberg
won’t create a social network.
If you are copying these guys,
you aren’t learning from them.”
Innovate.
Don’t copy.