The biggest barrier to your publishing success is you.
The above statement is true in many different ways, but at the end of the day, you don’t need a massive budget or discovery by the right agent to publish a successful book. With so much information available, self-publishing authors today have no excuse not to publish quality books.
So why do so many people fail, and why do so many promising books remain listed without any sales or reviews to back them up?
There are many reasons for this failure, and fear is a common one. Specifically fear of failure and fear of success. Fear of failure is more common and understandable. You don’t want to throw your efforts on the line and realize later that you wrote a terrible book.
But what about fear of success?
Why would someone be afraid of success?
Fear of success can stem from a number of causes. You might not feel ready for the financial and personal commitment of publishing more books, or able to repeat the success of the first. You might feel intimidated about meeting higher expectations and having a fan base to appease. Or perhaps it’s your book that gets to you, and you don’t want to lock yourself into a single style or genre for long.
Once one of your books succeeds, the game changes dramatically. If you don’t feel prepared to move into the next level of publishing success, you could start inadvertently sabotaging yourself to hold yourself back.
This sabotage could affect every aspect of your process and books. An author who is afraid of success could put less effort into writing and publishing, skimp on advertising, and not plan ahead for future books.
That being said, it’s almost impossible to succeed if you don’t want to.
Tips to Overcome Fear of Success
Like with any problem, the first step to fixing fear of success is to acknowledge it. Pinpoint as specifically as possible what frightens you about having a successful book and take some time to figure out why you feel that way. Then work out a plan. Knowing what you’ll do if your book succeeds (even if it’s a simple plan) can give you the confidence to move forward.
Something else to keep in mind is the reason for your writing. Everyone has a different reason for writing a book and for seeking self-publishing. Keeping your goals in mind is an effective way to move in the right direction and keep from falling off-track.
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