As you can see from the picture below I’ve been writing for as long as I can remember. I’ve published nearly ten books in the past two decades. You know what? After a lot of hard work more than half of those books didn’t even sell enough copies to cover the cost of creating them. I wanted to quit more times that I can count but I couldn't because writing is a part of me.
Why Do Books Fail?
I've contemplated this question for a long time. There were many reasons for failure -- bad cover design, poor marketing, subpar writing, but it's mostly due to the author writing the book for the wrong reasons.
When I was younger I made two of the biggest mistakes a writer can make:
- Imitating the style of other authors; and
- Writing what I thought the reader wanted instead of writing from the heart.
Both are fatal flaws.
"Wanting to be someone else is a waste of the person you are." - Kurt Cobain
Despite all of the challenges involved in the publishing process, if you don’t quit or go crazy, you do keep learning. It eventually gets easier but it never gets less exciting. Each time you publish a book it feels like your own child is being born into the world. One of the reasons writing is so addictive is each book is a gigantic roll of the dice. Whether a book is a success or not each book you write changes your life in some way.
To be an author is to constantly surf the edge of chaos. Ushering a book from abstract concept to finished product is a lot like herding cats...lots of cats. It took me a long time to realize one thing, many hands make light work when it comes to self-publishing. To maximize your project’s success it’s best to hire professionals for editing, book cover design, and marketing.
Being able to work with a team of highly creative and talented people allows the author to focus on their core strengths. This is one reason I’m so excited about my next book, The Perfect Pause – Meditating Your Way to the Optimal You. Steemit has given me both the resources and the network to find and enlist the talent I need to maximize a book’s chance of success.
For the book cover and interior design I’ve hired the gifted artist and book designer, Lubosh Cech. Steemit’s very own @natureofbeing created a yantra that will grace the book’s cover. Also, I can't forget the many Steemit users who graciously volunteered their time to be beta readers and offered their editing feedback. Last but not least, Leon Logothetis, (best-selling author of The Kindness Diaries) wrote a beautiful endorsement of the book that will have a prominent place on the cover.
The Perfect Pause is a humble book but I hope it packs a meaningful and life-changing punch. My hope is that it helps as many people as possible. More than ever this world needs the peace and wisdom brought about by meditation. The book is meant to introduce meditation into the lives of each and every person who feels they might benefit physically, emotionally, and psychologically from a regular practice.
“If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.” ~Albert Einstein
What this project has taught me is it’s damned difficult to write a simple book on anything. In fact, it took me over twenty years of practice and three years of teaching to write this one. My wish is for the contents of this book to ripple out and expand into a lasting and positive legacy. I'll do everything within my power to make sure this happens. I spent the first half of my career having people preach to me about what I couldn't do as a self-published author. I intend on spending the second half of my career proving them wrong.
The Perfect Pause is in the design process now and I’ll be sharing updates with you periodically! I may even let Steemit users choose the final cover design.
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Eric Vance Walton - Media
