You know… I’m noticing an interesting trend of late… I’ve been doing readings for far more many years than I care to admit to, so don’t ask… it’s quite rude and pretty much akin to asking a lady her age… 😉 and during most of that time, I have a good idea before you even open your mouth, what your question is going to be… as… well… the faces may change but the stories pretty much stay the same and the plot twists that people mostly want to follow revolve around either love or money…
Now… I’m seeing a new question frequently flying in…
Will my book be successful?
Will my book be a success???
Suddenly it’s the question on everybody’s lips…
Part of me wonders if maybe I’ve accidentally slipped into some kind of variation of the game Punch buggy due to the fact that I’ve been co-writing on a project for the last year…
Another part of me… that dark cynical part of me… wonders if it is a new question at all or if it is merely a sign of the times and a modern twist that combines both the old questions of love and money… a new question that has been spawned out of the trend for radical self-love, the huge increase in networking events and the relentless cheerleading spouted by soulpreneurs which has all somehow merged together to prod people into writing that book about how they discovered what a special snowflake they are and then further egged them on to turn the journey of a hard life into hard cash…
But let’s put the snark back onto the leash…
Will my book be a success???
Well… really… the first thing you need to do is decide your actual definition of success and what that means to you…
Do you want to outsell Stephen King or are you happy to self-pub on Amazon and get a 5* review from your hairdresser…
And no… that’s not me being bitchy… that’s my way of asking… are you doing this for the Love or the Money… or is it simply because you have that goddamn itch that needs to be scratched… or maybe it’s a bit of all 3? That is something only you can decide… and within that decision, you plant the seeds of your own success or failure…
See… hitting the word count is the easy part… do you then have the capability necessary to cull and slay your precious bon mots and creative babies until only the fittest survive and you are left with words that count…
Do you have the stamina to promote yourself and push yourself forward to be heard in an already crowded room full of people crying out…
BUY MY BOOK! BUY MY BOOK! BUY MY BOOK!
Can you sustain that amount of effort…
See when you ask me…
Will my book be a success???
The question that I want to ask you is…
Do you have enough heart to see your art through…
Because at the end of the day… your success lies in your hands and not in the cards that I hold in mine…
Though I certainly wish you the very very best!!
🙂
Cards by Karen Sealey ~ The Waxing Oracle (c) 2015
The pure and blessed way 
Love the snark! I have to say, though, I think part of why you’re getting the question is that we get what we need to work on. Have you decided where you stand on those very good Funny, it’s not a question I’ve seen once so far. Still, I bow
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Ack, sorry, it accidentally posted while I was still editing. I was asking whether you’ve decided where you stand on those very good questions you ask? And admittedly, you may see more querents than I do, but while I’ve seen a move towards lots more work related questions than love questions, I haven’t had that one, yet… 🙂
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I think my short answer is that if you are asking questions that start with ‘will’ then that’s a fair indicator that it ‘won’t’… but that’s me coming from an itch to scratch stance that says… ok… how the hell do I get this out of my head… what can I do with this… what are the options etc… My main motivators are things that feed into my sense of aesthetic, the off-shoot adventures that turn up and the general experience… Earning money from books for me would be a nice bonus but not something that I crave as a primary income, though something that aids reputation and bolsters other areas of my work…
Basically I’m 4 years into a 10 year plan… where I knew I’d be working to create something that doesn’t exist yet… I think I’m just getting to the point where I can start to feelsense what the end may look like…
Lol yes, I agree with you… you do seem to get the questions arrive that you need to contemplate 😉
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Brilliant as always, Karen! Go to the Snark Park and go all unleashed! And yes, I am hearing that question more and more too, so good call. As always, you hit the most important stuff with cleverness and sharpness–from word count to words that count, and the heart of the art. I get a lot too of “I bought a tarot deck last week (heard of Reiki and became a Reiki Master last weekend) and want to quit my job and be a full time reader (healer) tomorrow.” Sheesh.
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Thanks Joy 🙂 lol Snark Park! I’m going to steal that! 😀 Lol a couple of years back I bumped into someone who i’d made brief acquaintance with and did not much like at first impression as they made an elaborate show and display of introducing themselves as a Reiki Master… anyway… I bumped into them in a supermarket and asked how they were… they came over all namaste and went into how they’d reached enlightenment and had completed ALL of their healing… I laughed so loud that I fell over bent up double and could hardly breathe… I eventually managed to stand up and get my mirth under control as their previously serene face was now ruffled with anger and they demanded to know what the joke was… I said…you’ve done ALL of your healing!! They got even angrier and insisted that they had, which of course had me rolling in laughter again… Anyway… the next time I see them it’s a year later… they’d seen that I was going to be at a venue reading and had turned up nearly an hour early to see me… The big question they had was – why is my life such an effing mess?!!! I said… mmm… probably a healing crisis caused by enlightenment…
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Yes! The only way to be certain that an initiation took effect is to observe your life crumbling around you. Perfect!
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(and then those who crumble are most likely to ask for their money back, while you’re trying to explain that, whoohoo! It worked! You are now on your way!)
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Too funny! and all too true! 😀
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