Tim Speer's Blog - Posts Tagged "best-seller"
Defining Success
The other day I read a blog post about how to deal with a lack of success as a Christian author. Among other things, it noted that, having put a lot of time and effort into our work, we have a natural desire to be rewarded for that work. Most people have one dream or another about being wildly successful at something. As the author of the blog post mentions, for an author, that usually translates into being on the New York Times Best Seller list, or winning a major book award; or even just seeing thousands and thousands of your books sell, and seeing those big royalty checks come in.
The reality is, that most will never see that kind of success. But perhaps the problem isn't ones lack of success, as much as the way they define that success. If we are truly writing for God, then success must be defined by God, on his terms, not by us, on our terms.
Before proceeding, I will qualify myself a little. Unlike some, I do not write as a full time profession, and I do not count on my writing for income. Also, although I am nowhere near making any type of New York Times list, the reality is that for a new author with only one published book, I am not doing that bad.
So how do I define success? First I have to look at the reason I chose to write a book to begin with. The answer to that is simple, I felt that God was calling me to write it. So if God was calling me to write, that means he has a purpose for my writing. By definition then, success is achieved when God's purpose for my writing is fulfilled.
I also have to realize that it's quite possible that God may only have a limited number of people for whom he wants to use my writing. And, I have to remember that when he called me to write, he never said I was going to make a lot of money off of it. So, since God's pupose may not be for me to make the New York Times Best Seller list, or to make a lot of money on my books, how do I know if God's pupose is being fulfilled? How do I know if I am being successful on God's terms? The bottom line is faith. I have faith that if God has a purpose for my writing, then God will make sure that it is read by those he wants to read it, and that it will serve the purpose he wants it to serve. I start by constantly praying that what I write will be what God wants me to write, and that it will be used for his purpose.
Do I have a basis for my faith? Absolutely. As I have said, I am a new writer. This is not something I have ever done before. Nor have I ever taken any courses, or had any training. And, while I realize that just because I wrote a novel doesn't mean it's any good, I have had overwhelming feedback from people telling me how much they liked it. Some even going out of their way to do so. So if God can take me, an untrained writer, and use me to write a book that people actually like, then why should I not have faith that God will see that it accomplishes his purpose? And I have faith that, to that end, I will be wildly successful.
The reality is, that most will never see that kind of success. But perhaps the problem isn't ones lack of success, as much as the way they define that success. If we are truly writing for God, then success must be defined by God, on his terms, not by us, on our terms.
Before proceeding, I will qualify myself a little. Unlike some, I do not write as a full time profession, and I do not count on my writing for income. Also, although I am nowhere near making any type of New York Times list, the reality is that for a new author with only one published book, I am not doing that bad.
So how do I define success? First I have to look at the reason I chose to write a book to begin with. The answer to that is simple, I felt that God was calling me to write it. So if God was calling me to write, that means he has a purpose for my writing. By definition then, success is achieved when God's purpose for my writing is fulfilled.
I also have to realize that it's quite possible that God may only have a limited number of people for whom he wants to use my writing. And, I have to remember that when he called me to write, he never said I was going to make a lot of money off of it. So, since God's pupose may not be for me to make the New York Times Best Seller list, or to make a lot of money on my books, how do I know if God's pupose is being fulfilled? How do I know if I am being successful on God's terms? The bottom line is faith. I have faith that if God has a purpose for my writing, then God will make sure that it is read by those he wants to read it, and that it will serve the purpose he wants it to serve. I start by constantly praying that what I write will be what God wants me to write, and that it will be used for his purpose.
Do I have a basis for my faith? Absolutely. As I have said, I am a new writer. This is not something I have ever done before. Nor have I ever taken any courses, or had any training. And, while I realize that just because I wrote a novel doesn't mean it's any good, I have had overwhelming feedback from people telling me how much they liked it. Some even going out of their way to do so. So if God can take me, an untrained writer, and use me to write a book that people actually like, then why should I not have faith that God will see that it accomplishes his purpose? And I have faith that, to that end, I will be wildly successful.
