The Difference between Success and Failure is often Huge

Often you will hear people say things such as

1. It’s just that this author has better marketing, my writing is much better
2. I narrowly missed out. A little bit of luck and I would have been very successful
3. Not sure what slight edge they have which makes them win
4. That author does not write better than me, why does he sell so much more
5. That company is just slightly better, why do they have 90% market share
6. That Publishing House isn’t special in any way, how could they produce a #1 New York Times Bestseller
7. My work is just as good as the books produced by the Big Publishing Houses. Why don’t bookstores stock me?
8. It’s all luck. That successful author got lucky and I was unlucky

The common theme is that people who miss out on success like to believe

1. The difference between Success and Failure is tiny – one lucky break, one contact, the right timing, a little better writing
2. People who failed were just a step behind people who succeeded
3. That they are just a step away from Success

We are here to tell you – Sorry, that is just BS. Success is easy, or just a step away, is something people who do not win tell themselves. You have to decide whether you will tell yourself this lie, to be happier about missing out on Success, or whether you will tell yourself the truth

If you want to be successful, you have to accept the truth

The Difference between Success and Failure is HUGE

Authors that win and companies that win, beat out others across the board, and in massive ways

Once you accept this Fundamental Truth. You will then be on your way to success

Let’s look at all the differences between an author that is successful, and an author that is failing,

1. The successful author took their time to do market research and confirm they are writing for a market that is large, a market which they are suited for, and a market that is not too competitive
2. The successful author Listened to the Market, while the unsuccessful author made guesses
3. The successful author rewrote his book 3 to 7 times. The unsuccessful author thinks rewriting is for losers
4. The successful author got one of the best book cover designers he could afford. The unsuccessful one got his cover from Fiverr or made it himself
5. The successful author got one of the best book editors he could afford. The unsuccessful one had her husband do the editing (hey, he has a lot of experience writing TPS reports)
6. The successful author got a good proof reader. The unsuccessful one used Microsoft Word Spell Check
7. The successful author has a street team. The unsuccessful one doesn’t know what a Street Team is
8. The successful author made sure her most loyal readers were writing reviews in the first week. The unsuccessful one doesn’t even know if she has loyal readers
9. The successful author made sure her book has a Call to Action asking people who have read the book to leave a review. Unsuccessful authors don’t know you have to actually ASK for reviews. They think readers have telepathic powers and magically can figure out that the author would really, really like a review
10. The successful author builds up their mailing list and has at least some basic social media presence. The unsuccessful author thinks they can depend on Amazon and Barnes and Noble
11. The successful author takes 100% responsibility for success and failure. The unsuccessful author takes 100% credit for success and 0% responsibility for failure

The list is a very long list. These 11 points are just a few of the ways in which successful authors out-work, out-think, and out-hustle everyone else

If you see a successful author and are tempted to think – I am better than the author in one particular aspect, and so it is just bad luck that I am not successful

You are lying to yourself, and, what is worse, you are walking away from the Truth which would have led you to success

Please go over every aspect of Product Quality and Market Selection and Marketing. You will find that the successful author does a lot of things right and that the gap between Success and Failure is Huge

How can we Bridge the Huge Gap from Failure to Success?

This is a topic for another post. The most important First Step is to recognize there is a Huge Gap and resolve to Bridge the Gap