Serendipity and Success – Acknowledging the Reality

A lil reminder that my FALLING UNDER trilogy is now re-released and on Kindle Unlimited! These books are NOT fantasy, but are contemporary erotic romance. If that’s the kind of thing you like, then you may like these!

Our topic at the SFF Seven this week is hard work vs. luck as applies to authorial success.

One of my least favorite pieces of advice from successful authors is when they declare something along the lines of “Just write a good book!” This happens a lot with debut authors, happily reveling in the out-of-the-gate success of their first effort. I say this because authors who’ve had lots of trunked books or only midlist success almost never say this.

Why?

Because they know that writing a good book isn’t enough.

Yes, writing a good book is key. Improving our craft as authors is critically important. That’s where the hard work comes in. At least, one kind of hard work, the foundational kind. If the books aren’t written and revised and polished to the best of our ability, there’s nothing to sell.

On the other hand… luck is a huge factor in publishing. It just IS. That’s why I roll my eyes at any successful author who fails to acknowledge the role of serendipity in their rise to (relative) fame and glory. As human beings – especially ones with egos sufficient to withstand the slings and arrows of creative life, which is rife with downs as well as ups – we like to credit ourselves with being awesome. Are we fortunate or are we just that good?

We’d all like to think we’re just that good.

The thing is, lots of creators are really good. And lots of good books go nowhere. Acknowledging the role of serendipity in success not only keeps us humble – remember that ego is the enemy! – but also should reassure us when things don’t go our way. Authors careers, as previously noted, are rife with ups and downs. We can’t control the luck. What we CAN do is work hard and put ourselves out there so the luck can find us.

Best of luck to you all!

 

 

First Cup of Coffee – April 10, 2023

Should you throw out the first 30 pages of your manuscript? Um, no. Bad advice. BUT, figuring out where to start a story is an ongoing challenge, craftwise, and also because the marketplace changes rapidly.

First Cup of Coffee with Jeffe Kennedy

First Cup of Coffee - April 10, 2023

April 10, 2023

Jeffe Kennedy

Should you throw out the first 30 pages of your manuscript? Um, no.  Bad advice. BUT, figuring out where to start a story is an ongoing challenge, craftwise, and also because the marketplace changes rapidly.

Read the Falling Under books  in Kindle Unlimited! https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0C1ZMDW1Y

Join my Patreon and Discord for mentoring, coaching, and conversation with me! Find it at https://www.patreon.com/JeffesCloset

Preorder ROGUE FAMILIAR here https://jeffekennedy.com/rogue-familiar

RUBY is out now! https://jeffekennedy.com/ruby FIVE GOLDEN RINGS is now available here: https://jeffekennedy.com/five-golden-rings SAPPHIRE is available here: https://jeffekennedy.com/sapphire and PLATINUM is available here https://jeffekennedy.com/platinum.

THE LONG NIGHT OF THE RADIANT STAR, a midwinter holiday fantasy romance in the Heirs of Magic series, now available!! https://jeffekennedy.com/the-long-night-of-the-radiant-star

SHADOW WIZARD, Book One in Renegades of Magic, continuing the epic tale begun in DARK WIZARD. https://jeffekennedy.com/shadow-wizard is out now! Including in audiobook!

Interested in Author Coaching from me? Information here: https://jeffekennedy.com/author-coaching

ROGUE'S PARADISE is out (https://jeffekennedy.com/rogue-s-paradise). Buy book 1, ROGUE'S PAWN, here! (https://jeffekennedy.com/rogue-s-pawn) and book 2, ROGUE'S POSSESSION, here! (https://jeffekennedy.com/rogue-s-possession).

If you want to support me and the podcast, click on the little heart or follow this link (https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/jeffekennedy).

You can watch this podcast on YouTube here https://youtu.be/wfEzHcdo0P0

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First Cup of Coffee – January 31, 2022

First Cup of Coffee with Jeffe Kennedy

First Cup of Coffee - January 31, 2022

January 31, 2022

Jeffe Kennedy

A blooper-filled Monday podcast today, but I do offer some coherent thoughts on why "send your best work" is one of the two pieces of advice I hate most. Also, what's needed to make a living from your writing. 

The workshop I mention is "Crossing the Streams Isn't Bad: A Workshop on Writing Cross-Genre Fiction." Saturday, February 5, 2022, 3pm-4:30 MT. Beastly Books in Santa Fe, NM, US. Free! It will also be streamed. (https://www.beastlybooks.com/) The panel is The Cross-Genre Author Experience! and you can get your free tickets here (https://www.eventbrite.com/e/highgarden-entertainment-presents-a-farofeb-author-panel-tickets-258695183257).

The audiobook of DARK WIZARD is here (https://www.audible.com/pd/Dark-Wizard-Audiobook/B09QQRHTYZ?source_code=AUDFPWS0223189MWT-BK-ACX0-294201&ref=acx_bty_BK_ACX0_294201_rh_us) and you can check out FaRoFeb here (https://farofeb.com/farofeb-2022/).

You can order FIRE OF THE FROST here (https://jeffekennedy.com/fire-of-the-frost) and DARK WIZARD here (https://jeffekennedy.com/dark-wizard). You can preorder GREY MAGIC here (https://jeffekennedy.com/grey-magic) and THE STORM PRINCESS AND THE RAVEN KING here (https://jeffekennedy.com/the-storm-princess-and-the-raven-king).

If you want to support me and the podcast, click on the little heart or follow this link (https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/jeffekennedy).

You can watch this podcast on YouTube here (https://youtu.be/7__4Tkw4clw).

Sign up for my newsletter here! (https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/r2y4b9)

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Thanks for listening!



First Cup of Coffee – October 21, 2021

First Cup of Coffee with Jeffe Kennedy

First Cup of Coffee - October 21, 2021

October 21, 2021

Jeffe Kennedy

I saw yet another class purporting to teach plotting for pantsers - this one to sell you software - and so I'm ranting about how ALL WRITERS PLOT, that your process is fine as is, and that you don't need to outline!

You can preorder FIRE OF THE FROST here (https://jeffekennedy.com/fire-of-the-frost).

If you want to support me and the podcast, click on the little heart or follow this link (https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/jeffekennedy).

You can watch this podcast on YouTube here (https://youtu.be/f4TDhsY2I4o).

First Cup of Coffee is part of the Frolic Podcast Network. You can find more outstanding podcasts to subscribe to at Frolic.media/podcasts!

Support the show

Contact Jeffe!

Find me on Threads
Visit my website https://jeffekennedy.com
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Sign up for my Newsletter!
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Thanks for listening!



Does Boring Writing Mean Boring Reading?

Our topic at the SFF Seven this week takes a look at the oft-quoted advice for writers: “If you’re bored writing, the reader will be bored reading.” And we’re asking is this true or false? I think it’s wrong, even dangerous advice. Come on over to find out why.