This picture is of author Kennedy Ryan and me. The picture in the middle of the blog is author Kandi Steiner and me.

This week’s blog is about success.  Success is defined in many ways.  As an audio book narrator, I feel successful when listeners leave four or five-star reviews for the books I work on, whether they comment on my performance or not.  That’s because I know if they didn’t comment on the narrator it means the performance was not distracting to the enjoyment of the story.  Another measure of success is when authors or publishers select me from a group of voice artists to partner in telling their story.

During the “Angst Nation” panel at Book Bonanza 2019   the authors were asked how they define success for themselves. Many had beta readers (some provided the entire book, one provided one chapter at a time) and the feedback they received from those readers confirmed whether they had met their goals.Kennedy Ryan reached her goal of success when her stories didn’t include anything that made her readers “roll their eyes” in disbelief.  Others looked at fans’ comments after the book was published.  If readers feel “heard” by her story, Mia Asher feels successful.

In a world where we fear failure, it was interesting to hear Kandi Stein’s measuring stick.  She knows she’s reached the level of writing engagement she wants when she has at least 10, one star, passionately written reviews. Because real fans take the time to comment, regardless of whether they like the book or not.

Isn’t that interesting? She turns lemons into lemonade.  Do you have any measures of success that may surprise people?  I’d love to have you share them here to inspire others.

The talented authors on the panel know about challenges, risks and success.  They smiled and shared a bit of their journeys with us.  To learn more about these angst romance writers see the links to their websites below.

Note: If you’re an author and would like to be a part of Book Bonanza 2020 now is the time to express interest. The event is August 13-15 near Dallas, Texas. If you’re a fan there is a great Facebook group for attendees Let me know if you’re going. I’d love to meet you.