While so often writers want to believe otherwise, most of what makes someone a bestseller is marketing. But while marketing is a hugely important part of the bestseller process, it’s not the whole thing.
Because you have to also consider what got the writer to the point where they were able to do the marketing to become a bestseller—the mindset, the habits, the consistency, the visibility, the follow through.
You may not be able to replicate the exact results of a bestselling author’s marketing campaign, but you can replicate the thoughts, beliefs, behaviors and actions that made the result possible.
Here’s how:
1. Develop A Pro Writer Mindset
Bestselling authors are pros. They think like pros and that’s what allows them to have pro results in their writing careers.
And they also believe in themselves.
That combination of pro-thinking and confidence is a key in becoming a bestselling author. You have to not only believe it’s possible, but you have to believe it’s possible for you.
Action Step: start a daily mindset practice that gets your thinking aligned with the bestselling author you dream of being
2. Create Aligned Habits
If you want something, like to be a bestselling author, you have to take a look at your habits and daily activities to see whether or not they’re aligned with the goal that you have. This is huge, because you can’t get where you want to go without being in alignment with it.
Alignment simply means, is what you’re currently doing on a daily basis gonna get you the results you want? If you walked on a straight line, would you eventually end up at your goal? Or you on a totally different path?
For example, if you want to be a bestselling author, but you’ve never finished or published anything, that’s not in alignment. You need to finish and publish something before being a bestselling author is even a possibility for you. If you haven’t finished or published yet, you’re not even in the game.
Action Step: take a look at what you currently do every day (your habits) and determine if they’re in alignment with your writing goals or not. If they are, great! And if they’re not, time to make some changes so they are.
3. Be Consistent (No Matter What!)
This is probably one of the hardest parts of being a bestselling author. Consistency is tough. There’s so much going on in life, and chaos happens at seemingly random times. It’s hard to know what things will look like day-to-day, so committing to doing something daily is scary.
You know what I call that? Excuses.
Because consistency is only tough when you’re allowing yourself to make excuses. (I do it at times too.)
But when you’re focused on the results and outcomes that you’re after, and you’re all in and unwilling to let anything stop you or get in your way, consistency is easy. You just show up every day and do the work, and then repeat it the next day and the next day and the next day…
You either have excuses or you have results. Which do you have?
Action Step: pick one thing that if you did it every day for a whole year would totally change your life. Commit to doing that one thing consistently every single day from here on out.
4. Get Visible
This is another very tough one for writers. Because writers are mostly introverts who like hiding out behind the scenes.
But in the digital age, hiding out spells death to your success as an author. Visibility—especially online—is a must. It’s a nonnegotiable.
Bestselling authors become so because they’re visible. People know who they are, they like them and they trust them.
With a big enough following that spells instant bestseller status.
Action Step: how can you start to be more visible as an author? Again think of one thing you could do daily to be more visible online and then commit to doing it every day from here on out.
5. Finish What You Start. Repeat.
Ah, follow through. Probably the toughest out of all the things I’ve listed here.
Starting a writing project is easy. You’ve likely done that dozens of times. Maybe more.
But finishing? Finishing is a whole other thing.
Finishing means following through with the project until it’s done.
And done doesn’t just mean completed first draft or even revision. It means published. It means the book is out in the world, ready to be read.
You have to train yourself to become a finisher. It’s a skill that takes practice.
I’ve trained myself over the last decade+ of my life to be a finisher. It’s not always the easiest thing, but I always find a way to just do it anyhow. That’s how I became a finisher.
Action Step: don’t give yourself a hard time if you’ve not finished up ’till now. Just choose a writing project right now, commit to finishing it and then do the work to actually follow through on that commitment.
When you get your mindset and habits aligned, and then create consistency, visibility and follow through in your writing life, you’ll be on track to eventually hit bestseller status. You just have to commit to it, keep going and never look back.
Write with a purpose, live with intention,
#DailyThinkDifferent #DreamLifeOrBust
