The Worst Goal When You Want To Write and Publish a Book.

I’ve been in publishing for nearly 20 years and I can say with absolute certainty and confidence that one goal creates the most heartbreak for authors I know.

Wanting to be a New York Times bestseller.

Here’s why. 

First, “the list” — as it’s known in publishing — is curated. Instead of being based on the bestselling books of the week, the people who work for The New York Times choose what’s on the list. 

Yep. It’s sorta rigged. 

In my career, I’ve worked on “bestselling” books that appeared on the list, even though I knew and everyone else knew that book hadn’t sold enough copies to be there. And I’ve also worked on books that sold more than enough that were mysteriously left off.

But that’s not all.

What I’ve seen is that when authors focus on The New York Times list or becoming a bestselling author or getting a particularly big advance, say — their perspective gets twisted. The goal becomes very all-or-nothing, boom-or-bust. Any “good” goals they meet along the way — like landing their dream literary agent or selling 5,000 books in the first week on sale — seem mediocre and paltry in comparison. Worse, the author is doing it to themselves by making an extraordinary accomplishment that only a small number of people and books achieve seem ordinary and reasonable when it’s actually not.

And last — becoming a bestselling author goes way beyond The New York Times. 

When I look at the most successful books I’ve published, two out of the three top sellers are what we call “backlist bestsellers” — books that never hit The New York Times bestseller list, that sold modestly at first and then sold consistently, month after month, year after year, decade after decade. These books succeeded because the advice in them was solid, the authors do great work and continue to grow their platform, and the problem that the book solved is perennial.

Becoming a bestselling author is possible — especially if you shift your focus from something out of your control (The New York Times) to what’s in your control (your content and platform).