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Thanks for all the nice feedback and e-mails about Monday’s blog post on Amanda Hocking. There was so much, in fact, that I need to do a follow-up about the mistakes we make when we compare our potential for success with another’s. Some people see another author’s success as a door slamming shut on their own noses. These are people who believe Masnick’s Law (which comes from the music industry.) The idea is that only a certain band at a certain time had certain advantages that can’t be replicated. They came along at the right time or had just the right choice of sound, or the moon was in alignment with the stars etc.,….

In other words, if they make it, you won’t.

Wussies.

You might make it in a different way (Elvis ≠The Beatles) but if you have a great book, success can be yours. Amanda Hocking isn’t stopping you from succeeding. Not writing your book is keeping you from succeeding. (Not revising or hiring an editor, too.) Hocking took a machete and cut a path into the jungle. JA Konrath, Barry Eisler and many other authors who went the self-published way are forging ahead. When you see others succeed, take it as inspiration. Masnick’s Law isn’t a law. It’s a self-defeating fallacy.

CHAZZ LAW:

Art inspires more art.

Read it.

Rock it.

Roll it out.

(And don’t be a wuss.)

Related Articles

• Writers: Do you have time to get published? And can we dump the “self” from publishing? (chazzwrites.wordpress.com)
• Barry Eisler turns down $500,000 advance to self-publish, as Amanda Hocking negotiates with major publishers (teleread.com)
• Should self-publishing writers learn to take no for an answer? (teleread.com)
• The Big Authors Begin To Bolt (andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com)
• Published Author Goes Self-Published, As Self-Published Author Considers Big Publishing Deal (musicbusinessheretic.wordpress.com)

Filed under: authors, Books, DIY, ebooks, Editing, Editors, getting it done, links, publishing, Rant, Rejection, self-publishing, Writers, writing tips, Amanda Hocking, Art, Arts, Author, Barry Eisler, Elvis, inspiration, JA Konrath, Publish, self-publishing, Writers Resources, writing success