THE STORY SO FAR: PART 163.

THAT EVER ELUSIVE GOAL—SUCCESS.

A TRIBUTE TO A FASCINATING WEB SITE, BRAIN PICKINGS.

Once a week, each and every week, the web site Brain Pickings—run primarily by the redoubtable Maria Popova-- comes up with a fascinating mix of comments and quotes of the kind you feel you should know if you are to regard yourself as a reasonably civilized and sophisticated human being—which, of course, you know you are.

The Brain Pickings web site team of Maria Popova (see illustration—though she was a little younger then) focuses heavily on concepts and related disciplines like “creativity” and “writing” so, needless to say, I have been drawn to the site like a cat to catnip. My hope is to be enlightened, educated, and stimulated by the many words of wisdom contained in each post, and—you never know—such accidents could happen.

Meanwhile, I have to confess that much of the material that Brain Pickings likes to quote—with which I should be intimately familiar—is really not. However, in the interests of retaining my dignity, I try and disguise that fact.

The following is a fairly typical Brain Pickings piece.

9 Rules for Success by British Novelist Amelia E. Barr, 1901

"Genius is nothing more nor less than doing well what anyone can do badly."

The secret of success – like its very definition – remains amorphous and forever elusive. For Thoreau, it was a matter ofgreeting each day with joy; for Jad Abumrad, it comes after some necessary "gut churn"; for Jackson Pollock's dad, it was about being fully awake to the world; for entrepreneur Paul Graham, it's about purpose rather than prestige; for designer Paula Scher, it meansbeginning every day with a capacity for growth. But perhaps, above all, success is about defining it yourself.

Still, those who have succeed – by their own definition, as well as history's – might be able to glean some insight into the inner workings of accomplishment. From the 1901 volume How They Succeeded: Life Stories of Successful Men Told by Themselves (public library; public domain) comes a wonderful essay by British novelist Amelia E. Barr (1831-1919) who, the despite devastating loss of her husband and three of their six children to yellow fever in 1867, went on to become a dedicated and diligent writer, eventually reaching critical success at the age of fifty-two.

At the end of her essay, under a section titled "Words of Counsel," Barr offers nine tips for success, echoing some familiar themes – Tchaikovsky's insistence on work ethic over inspiration, Ray Bradbury's case for perseverance in the face of rejection, the importance of having a good routine and working with joy, and the necessary reminder that success requires a deliberate investment of effort and good writing takes time.

1. Men and women succeed because they take pains to succeed. Industry and patience are almost genius; and successful people are often more distinguished for resolution and perseverance than for unusual gifts. They make determination and unity of purpose supply the place of ability.
2. Success is the reward of those who "spurn delights and live laborious days." We learn to do things by doing them. One of the great secrets of success is "pegging away." No disappointment must discourage, and a run back must often be allowed, in order to take a longer leap forward.
3. No opposition must be taken to heart. Our enemies often help us more than our friends. Besides, a head-wind is better than no wind. Who ever got anywhere in a dead calm?
4. A fatal mistake is to imagine that success is some stroke of luck. This world is run with far too tight a rein for luck to interfere. Fortune sells her wares; she never gives them. In some form or other, we pay for her favors; or we go empty away.
5. We have been told, for centuries, to watch for opportunities, and to strike while the iron is hot. Very good; but I think better of Oliver Cromwell's amendment – "make the iron hot by striking it."
6. Everything good needs time. Don't do work in a hurry. Go into details; it pays in every way. Time means power for your work. Mediocrity is always in a rush; but whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing with consideration. For genius is nothing more nor less than doing well what anyone can do badly.
7. Be orderly. Slatternly work is never good work. It is either affectation, or there is some radical defect in the intellect. I would distrust even the spiritual life of one whose methods and work were dirty, untidy, and without clearness and order.
8. Never be above your profession. I have had many letters from people who wanted all the emoluments and honors of literature, and who yet said, "Literature is the accident of my life; I am a lawyer, or a doctor, or a lady, or a gentleman."Literature is no accident. She is a mistress who demands the whole heart, the whole intellect, and the whole time of a devotee.

9. Don't fail through defects of temper and over-sensitiveness at moments of trial. One of the great helps to success is to be cheerful; to go to work with a full sense of life; to be determined to put hindrances out of the way; to prevail over them and to get the mastery. Above all things else, be cheerful; there is no beatitude for the despairing.

   Apparent success may be reached by sheer impudence, in defiance of offensive demerit. But men who get what they are manifestly unfit for, are made to feel what people think of them. Charlatanry may flourish; but when its bay tree is greenest, it is held far lower than genuine effort. The world is just; it may, it does, patronize quacks; but it never puts them on a level with true men.

   It is better to have the opportunity of victory, than to be spared the struggle; for success comes but as the result of arduous experience. The foundations of my success were laid before I can well remember; it was after at least forty-five years of conscious labor that I reached the object of my hope. Many a time my head failed me, my hands failed me, my feet failed me, but, thank God, my heart never failed me.

For more of history's timeless wisdom on writing, see H. P. Lovecraft's advice to aspiring writers, F. Scott Fitzgerald's letter to his daughter, Zadie Smith's 10 rules of writing, Kurt Vonnegut's 8 keys to the power of the written word, David Ogilvy's 10 no-bullshit tips, Henry Miller's 11 commandments, Jack Kerouac's 30 beliefs and techniques, John Steinbeck's 6 pointers, Neil Gaiman's 8 rules,Margaret Atwood's 10 practical tips, and Susan Sontag'ssynthesized learnings.

IS THE WRITING THE EASIER PART? INTRODUCING A BOOK MARKETING DYNAMO

Image via CrunchBaseDear You--

I'm introducing Judy Cullin because I think she talks a great deal of sense about the marketing of books. I have never met her personally but if her comments on LinkedIn Writers Groups are any indication, she is a lady worth listening to. The following is only an example of her approach. She covers the full range of book marketing advice. God knows when she sleeps. Her website is at  http://bookcoaching.com

The first part of what follows is Judy's pitch and my comment follows:

JUDY CULLIN: Want to Sell Books Other Than Yours for 50% Commission?

I’m not sure if you know about joint ventures that bring in a lot of extra income. One way is through affiliate partners. And this one is so easy to do.

What is an affiliate program?

Simple, it’s an arrangement where you are paid a 50% commission usually for finding customers, and so someone who has a product – say, an expert on book writing, self-publishing and online marketing with content, and this offer may be good. These are all digital books (eBooks) that are downloadable and printable instantly, so sales can go on all around the clock, all over the world, automatically.

Who Benefits? The owner or publisher benefits, because we know we can’t reach all the nooks and crannies around the world on the net, and 50% is better than 0.

You, the commissioned seller benefits because you don’t have to create a product which can be time consuming; you don’t have to setup credit card processing or even bill to a website, as far as that’s concerned. All you do is spread the word about a product that you like, and you get paid for it.

As a true believer in online promotion, I will also include ways to Promote with short blurbs plus you add the URL to your commission page. That means you can tweet these and add to your FB fan pages too.

How to Sign up for these 4 Packages

First you go to my site. You can get there with this link:
http://bookcoaching.com/sell-judy-cullins-books.php

Second, you register, and we give you a link that you then place on your website or in your email, and when people click on that link and buy the product, you as the affiliate, you who is the commissioned salesperson—will get paid your generous 50% commission (many folks out there give less than 50%) off of the sale that you were responsible for.

To see the 4 packages and register, go to http://bookcoaching.com/sell-judy-cullins-books.php

For myself, I’ve made a fair amount of money with these affiliate joint ventures and I will educate you on what promotions will work for you on FB, LI and Twitter, even your blog!

When I know your email, you will get promotions notices from time to time like this one:

Write your eBook or Other Short Book--Fast!

To guarantee your book will be a top seller and also bring you more business, then read this 100 page book that includes 5 special reports including "How to Get Testimonials from the Rich and Famous."

Your link here.

I’m here to educate and inspire you to reach out for more…

Sincerely,
Judy Cullins, Full-Service Book Coach

VICTOR: 

I must say, Judy, you are a marketing dynamo who talks a great deal of sense and who is downright generous in terms of free advice – albeit in the context of drumming up business. Indeed, if I was a little richer right now I’d retain you on the spot. As it happens, I have a background in direct response marketing (in my pre-writing days) so can appreciate the wisdom of what you are saying, but I wonder if enough do. I hope so because you are helping us all. I differ with you in only one regard: Though I accept your argument that authors should spend half their time on marketing as being commercially sensible, I am not sure you are giving enough consideration to the fact that most of us writers find the actual writing process extremely hard, and simply do not have the energy left to do what might well be to our optimum advantage. Also, many of us are guilty of enjoying the process of writing too much, and regard the financial aspects with some distaste. Such an attitude is not going to optimize one’s sales, but many would argue that the writing itself is its own reward. For my part, I’m currently engaged in offering advice on the core activity – writing itself – on my blog, but I’m going to set up a link to your website because I think we’d all benefit from an injection from exposure to the Judy Cullins approach. I look forward to talking with you directly in the future.

Victor.