There are many ways to define success. Lately, I’ve been focusing on emphasizing my wins, big and small. It’s a good way to stay motivated, and to not also succumb to the endless to-dos and feeling like nothing gets accomplished.
With that in mind, here are some recent wins related to digital publishing:
- More than 1 million books were self-published in 2017, according to Bowker and Publisher’s Weekly. That’s a win for writers everywhere. If you’re thinking of writing your first book this year, know you’re not alone.
- Glory Edim turned her book Well-Read Black Girl into a community, according to WYNC. In addition to her book, which celebrates “the voices of black women in literature,” she went on a book tour and made a book festival.
- A group of women, all part of a Facebook group, are helping solve a murder mystery in Australia, according to NiemanLab. There’s a documentary, somewhat similar to the first season of the podcast Serial, and many people have been engaging in the Facebook group, including “legal experts, former journalists, former policemen” who have offered to help.
- Gemma Hartley had her article on emotional labor go viral and turn into a book, according to Forbes. She had prepared ahead of time in case she got a book deal, by having an outline (she only had 6 months to write the full book).
- Author Danielle Steele talks about her career on Refinery29. She’s written 174 books and raised 9 kids.
- Before William Faulkner won a Nobel Prize, he wrote screenplays for Warner Brothers for $300 per work (in 1942), according to JSTOR. This isn’t quite the same as the other success stories, but it’s interesting that Faulkner wrote a screenplay about Charles De Gaulle, and that his work made it into a few other films.
- Joanne Fluke has a bestselling series, Hannah Swensen, about baked goods and murder, according to Eater. Enough said.
- Author Lloyd Alexander wrote a five-volume children’s fantasy series called The Chronicles of Prydain, between 1964 and 1968, that “secretly brought existentialist philosophy into American homes,” according to Full Stop. The books had a lot of influence, including on Star Wars.
- A new study from 31 countries found that people who grew up in homes full of books had many benefits, including “higher reading, math, and technological skills,” according to Pacific Standard.
- Booksellers have been successfully crowdfunding on platforms like Kickstarter and Indiegogo, according to Publisher’s Weekly. In addition to getting funding, they get community support.
Last, if you’re looking to get more comfortable with public speaking this year (a big win!), The Creative Penn offers tips for how to overcome your fears, including going to Toastmasters, joining writing groups, and networking.
