Those of you who follow me on Twitter or Facebook know that I attended Thrillerfest V over the weekend. In case you aren’t familiar with International Thriller Writers (ITW), it is an organization started by, you guessed it, thriller writers for thriller writers. If you have any aspirations for being a novelist in the genre you must must must join ITW. The support ITW members receive is unlike anything I’ve seen with other author organizations. Needless to say, I’m hooked. I’m already planning my trip for next year and will hopefully be speaking on some of the marketing panels.
As a writer myself and a manager/agent who helps others navigate the storm that is publishing, I walked away from the weekend with several thoughts that, I hope, will encourage you.
Why not me? Why not you?
I left NYC encouraged. Thrillerfest gave me the time to hang with authors that I’ve respected for a long time. Some of them were already friends, but most were new. Writers like Mark Bowden, Douglas Preston, Steve Berry, Sandra Brown, Ken Follett, and Harlan Coben. And every conversation reminded me that there is no secret pixie dust, no silver bullet, no shortcut to being a full-time writer. But there is always a way to those who will search it out. The level of success that they have achieved is accessible to anyone willing to pay the price. It is possible. In fact, if you put in the work and make smart decisions along the way, it’s a just a matter of time before you hit the tipping point and realize some success. Why shouldn’t it be you?
The success fairy works on her own schedule.
Jon Foreman has a lyric that says “The grave is lazy, he takes our bodies slow.” He must know the bestseller fairy because she works on the same way. Try buying her drinks or bribing her with chocolate, but it won’t work. Rumor has it she’s bi-polar and lactose intolerant, which actually explains that lingering odor that follows her. She does her own thing. This is something to come to grips with early on because it will help you survive the inevitable depression that will come when the success fairy disappears for long stretches of time. She does it to everyone. Take Ken Follett as an example. He has written for 37 years, penned 26 books, and has sold over 100 million books. But he worked two jobs and didn’t really find success in the market place until his 11th novel. His 11th!
People will keep you going.
We love relationships, human interaction, engagement. Even those of us who are more introverted like myself need it. Especially us. It’s why we write about people and put them in situations that challenge us and strip away our numbness so we can feel alive. And, actually, it’s through other people that we understand ourselves. You can never truly define who you are without the insight of others. It’s how I learned that I’m an artist; several of my friends help me see something about myself that I couldn’t. If you’re a writer, find a community to plug into. If you can’t find one, start one. If you don’t know how to do that, email me and I’ll tell you how. The most successful authors you can name rely on their other author friends to keep them sane and encouraged. That’s actually why James Rollins, Steve Berry, and crew created Thrillerfest originally. So they could have an excuse to be with each other. We’re meant for each other. It’s the only reason why writing is worth it. It’s the only thing that will keep you and me going.