This is a follow-up to my previous post on What is a Servant Author?
Servant Authors Have a Different Definition of Success
When I talk to people about being an author, and about the amazing things happening in my author journey, inevitably the conversation turns to imagining what could happen if my books take off. “Could you imagine what it would be like to get a $1m advance?” “Do you think that movie deal is going to go through?” “How much will you make if…?” And I’d be lying to say those things didn’t cross my mind. But there’s something else that crosses my mind more than all that.
How can I keep doing what I’m doing?
People sometimes wonder why I’m not more excited about the prospect of movies and becoming a bestseller. But there’s a reason I temper my excitement. At the end of the day, I know the most important thing is that I’m establishing a foundation from which I can help and serve others. I’m not trying to sell manuscripts–I’m trying to build a platform. I want this career to benefit the world; not just me.
Therefore the central story question in everything I’m doing right now is, “How can I keep doing what I’m doing?” The pie in the sky dreams of fame and fortune can be alluring, but for me they’re an albatross. If I’d been overly worried about making a fortune on my work, I wouldn’t have gone with a small press. My career would be on hold. In fact, if I were to focus on those monetary measures of success I probably wouldn’t make it in the publishing world at all. Because contrary to popular opinion, there isn’t a lot of money in being an author.
Selfishness Is a Servant Author’s Weakness
I’m reading Brandon Sanderson‘s Reckoners series right now (yes, Brandon Sanderson fans, I’m WAY behind…he’s just got too many GREAT books for me to keep up), and one of the concepts there has really been poking my mind lately.
Firefight by Brandon Sanderson
In book 2, Firefight, people with super-abilities have taken over the world and rule as malevolent super-villains.There are ostensibly no superheroes, because the use of super-abilities corrupts the user’s mind, making them prone to evil and murder and all sorts of general nastiness. The power these people possess can ruin even the best people, turning them into monsters.
This is also true in my upcoming book The Outs. An honor student allows himself to take a step down a destructive path, and before he knows it he’s dragged kicking and screaming into America’s Most Wanted, becoming a different kind of monster entirely. And it’s all because he embraced selfish thoughts.
Selfishness is at the heart of pain. It destroys people, in both fiction and real life. And in the end, it destroys more than it creates. It’s humanity’s weakness, and I’m not prepared to give in.
What a Servant Author Values
If I’m to stay on the path I’m on, I have to angle myself away from selfishness. I’m a creator, not a destroyer. I want my words to bring life to the people who read them, and that can only happen if I’m setting my eyes on the good goals. In the words of Dumbledore, I need to “choose between what is easy and what is right.”
Publishing is a high-risk, high-investment, low-reward profession. I have to always remember that, or else I will get discouraged. And I can’t get discouraged and quit, because if I really believe I’m a servant author, then I’m not doing this for myself. I’m doing it for something more important. Something greater than me. And that something is more valuable than million-dollar advances.
What Do Other Authors Have to Say?
If you’re an author and this resonates with you, good or bad, I want to hear from you. Please leave a comment down below telling us all what you think.
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