Becoming an Author* Is Easy.
Writing a Book Is Hard.
Becoming a High-Impact Individual and Author of a Commercially Viable Book is Much Harder.
Do You Know…
- that 4 million new titles were published in 2024 (that’s ~457/hour or 8/minute) and most were self-published?1,2
- that the average [print] book published today sells fewer than 300 copies and much fewer than 1,000 over its lifetime in all formats and markets?3
- that more than 70% of nonfiction books are ghostwritten by professional writers?4
- that less than 4% of authors will land a literary agent and many of those that do will still not go on to secure a traditional publishing deal?4
- that many respected traditional publishers accept submissions directly from aspiring authors, no literary agent required?
- why these (and many more) data points and questions matter, to whom, and under what circumstances?
If you answered no to any of the questions above, you’re not alone.
But your success as an author depends on being both aware and proactive. You’re not alone in that either. As every filmmaker knows, creating and distributing a high-impact work of education and/or art is a team sport.
Why Most Authors Fail
A decade of work with more than 200 authors has taught me that even ambitious aspiring and published authors, editors, and other passionate people flounder and fail at predictable stages and for predictable reasons:
- We haven’t identified and clearly articulated our highest values and the beliefs that fuel our action.
- We don’t know what we need to know to effectively pursue our meaningful goals.
- We don’t have the necessary skills to convert head knowledge into a high-value, marketable product (or service).
And compounding our lack of knowledge and skill is the reality that most of us do not have the time, energy, cognitive and emotional bandwidth, and/or money to find and hire support staff and strategic partners to compensate for all we lack.
How to Succeed as an Author in the Highly Competitive Book Publishing Industry
To win the war of attrition—to stay in game and be effective—requires two things: awareness and competence.
- awareness—“knowledge that something exists, or understanding of a situation or subject at the present time based on information or experience”5
- competence—the least we owe ourselves, our strategic partners, and our readers, which is being “properly or sufficiently qualified; capable, adequate for the purpose”6
Because I’ve experienced and witnessed the challenges above so many times and am a realistic, optimistic, and persistent little critter, I’ve been compelled to develop processes and tools to help myself and my clients avoid unforced errors and maximize opportunities. This allows us to learn, grow, and contribute at our highest level without sacrificing our mental, physical, and financial wellbeing.
The Aware Author Approach
The 5 Author Awarenesses
1. Hero’s Journey Aware
2. Self (My Zone of Competence) Aware
The goal of this exercise is to assess your current level of skill in critical areas and help you identify and cooperate with supporters and strategic partners who can help you successfully navigate your author journey. Here are the critical questions associated with this exercise:
- What is your level of learning/skill acquisition (novice, advanced beginner, competent, proficient, or expert) related to each of your most important personal and professional goals, including your current book project?
- Do you understand the critical difference between your zone(s) of genius and your zone of competence?
- Do you understand the difference between an individual zone of competence and a collective zone of competence and why it matters?
- How well do you understand the 4 relationship domains: the domain of self, the intimate domain, the work domain, and the community domain?
- How good are you at quantifying your current balance of internal and external resources and projecting future availability? And how skilled are you at shifting priorities and reallocating resources to adjust to changes that are beyond your control?
3. Customer and Competition Aware
How aware are you of your ideal/target readers’ motivations, preferences, and access to books? And how aware are you of other experts and creative writers whose work yours must compete against?
4. Industry, Sectors, and Systems Aware
How aware are you of the breadth and depth of the publishing industry and the internal and external forces that influence it?
5. Resource Aware
How aware are you of where to go to fill information, skill, and opportunity gaps related to: information, technology, and human resources (support/strategic partners)?
The 5 Aware Author Core Competencies
1. Systems Thinking
The skills required to organize and purposefully act upon what you are aware and capable of while avoiding legal, reputational, financial, and other specific and potential threats
2. Book-Writing Craft
The genre- and audience-specific written communication skills required to educate, inspire, and empower your readers
3. Focused Execution
The skills required to establish individual and collective processes, set realistic timelines, and maintain dynamic equilibrium while simultaneously working toward one or more personal and professional goals
4. Platform Building
The skills required to independently build your brand and promote your work (sales & marketing)
5. Self-Advocacy & Cooperation
The skills required to communicate your goals, needs, and preferences and find the supporters and strategic partners who can help you use your book to positively impact the lives of others
The Promise in the Process
Is there a lot to know and be able to do to write, pitch, publish, and promote a high-impact, commercially viable book? Absolutely.
Are you expected to know everything and be able to do it all at once or on your own? No. Life is a team sport, and learning is a life-long endeavor.
I hope that my stated values, my experience and perspective, and any direct personal and professional interaction we may have serve to help you find and expand your zone of competence and embody The Aware Author identity: insightful. competent. impactful.
Want to learn more?
Sources
1 Zippia. "23 Gripping Book Industry Statistics [2023]: How Many Books Were Published in 2022"
2 Dean Talbot “Number Of Books Published Per Year”
3 Berrett-Koehler Publishers. “10 Awful Truths About Publishing”
4 “Why Agents Reject 96% of Author Submissions” (the situation has only gotten more competitive since this post was published)
5 Cambridge Dictionary online. https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/awareness (accessed 10 January 2025)
6 Wordnik.com. https://www.wordnik.com/words/competent (accessed 10 January 2025)
7 Peña, Adolfo. Medical Education Online. “The Dreyfus model of clinical problem-solving skills acquisition: a critical perspective” 2010, 15: 4846 - DOI: 10.3402/meo.v15i0.4846 https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2887319/#S0001
