Writers tell stories
to their readers (customers).
Some of these stories
are designed
to sell books (products).
“I write purely
for the love
of it.”
“I would write
even if I wasn’t
earning money from it.”
“Money isn’t important to me.
I care more about
the storytelling.”
That might be true
of the writing stage.
It isn’t usually true
of the publishing stage.
It costs money
and a great deal of effort
to deliver stories
to readers.
The true goal
of publishing a story
is to recover,
at least,
enough of the costs
to produce the next story.
The true goal is
to achieve healthy sales.
To be successive long term,
writers have to admit that
to themselves
and
to their business partners.
“It’s interesting
to note that organized sports,
one of the first places
that hyperbloviation caught on,
is still honest about
the point of today’s game.
“Our goal is to score
more points than they do.”
It’s really clear
what the team is trying to do.
Often, we’re so busy talking about
our ideals and motivations
that we forget
to let our colleagues know
precisely what we’re trying to do.”
What are YOU trying to do?