7 Traits of Best-selling Authors: #1 Author, Know Yourself

In these days of abundant authorship, a writer needs to stand out from the crowd. But how?  The pundits tell us it takes hard work, and that’s true. But if effort alone could bring writing success, you probably wouldn’t be reading this blog post. At a guess, you work hard but success still eludes you. Even if you need to apply yourself more, read on.

It’s important to work hard, but for writing success you also have to work smarter. Each of us has a finite amount of time, energy and money. It’s possible to spend yourself for little gain.  Over the next weeks we’ll examine 7 traits of bestselling authors that, if adopted, might just make the difference for your writing career.

Cindy Woodsmall, James Rubart, and Lena Nelson Dooley don’t seem to have a lot in common at first glance. For one thing, they write in completely different genres. Cindy’s Amish fiction is a far cry from Jim’s speculative fiction and Lena’s historical romance.   And yet each of these authors writes from a personal passion to meet their readers’ felt needs. Cindy brings the comfort of a gentler world to fans. Jim empowers others to overcome fear and live in freedom. Lena brings the past alive through inspirational love stories.

Cindy, Jim and Lena don’t tell random stories to please themselves. These authors reach out to others and share a passion that taps a larger need than a single book can satisfy. Readers know this on a gut level. And because their need is ongoing, they eagerly await the author’s next release. Readers living in a harsh world will still want Cindy’s comfort, Jim’s encouragement and Lena’s inspirations about love.

So, to bring this home: If you’re confused about your readership, it’s a sure sign you need to identify your driving passion(s). Ask yourself what passion you can tap to bring something of value to readers.

Author, know yourself.