by M.T. DeSantis

Therein lies the message. There is no single definition of “best.”

And so, by extension, there is no single definition of “worst.”

It can be very tough to feel like you are nowhere near your hypothetical “best” while you watch other authors blow past milestones you’re longing to come close to. Seeing your book fall into the bowels of the sales rankings or having people leave lukewarm 3-star reviews can be very disheartening. It’s tempting to think “Why bother? Other authors are doing so much better than me. I’ll never compete.”

No, you won’t.

Because it’s not a competition.

Maybe in one sense it is—sales ranks naturally lead toward forcing books to compete for attention—but that’s very different from you competing with another author for the privilege of feeling like you’re doing better than them.

Because, really, what does that accomplish?

Answer: Nothing.

It can be very tough to feel like you are nowhere near your hypothetical “best” while you watch other authors blow past milestones you’re longing to come close to.

Every author’s journey is unique. For the lucky and talented few, the right combination of factors falls into place at the exact moment, catapulting them to their “best.” For most people, though, it’s the exact opposite—months or years of slogging through the trenches, building up a following, getting to a place where you make enough money to pay taxes on book sales. It can feel like a whole bunch of “worsts,” but every accomplishment, every sale, every moment where something good happens might be your next “best.”

I know it doesn’t seem that way, and that’s partly because of all the noise making you feel like you aren’t good enough because someone else is doing things you wish you were doing. But for every moment you’re being jealous of where someone else is, someone’s being jealous of where you are.

So, you have a choice. You can spend your time jealously staring at the people you wish you could be.

Or you can go out and be your “best” you.

This requires letting go of fear, which is probably one of the most difficult things in the world. But I promise you, it’s worth it. The moment you stop comparing yourself to others, you free yourself from harsh judgment and unnecessary pressure, and you can start on your individual road toward where you want to be.

Your “best” is specific to you and different from any other author’s “best.” Even more, your exact journey to that “best” is specific to your process and path. You’ve heard the expression about apples and oranges? Well, you’re an apple, and all those other authors—the ones you’ve been jealously comparing yourself to—they are oranges. Their “best” has nothing to do with yours, and they have nothing to do with your “worst.”

So go on your author journey, find your “best,” and don’t let the “bests” of others control how you feel.

Especially when their “worst” author day could have been the day before you saw how great they’re doing.

And their new “worst” day could be the day after.

Born a New Englander, M.T. DeSantis moved south in early adulthood, realized she actually liked winter, and promptly moved back north. She’s currently trying out life as a Michigander/anian with her family, who also (mostly) actually like winter. When not making word magic, M.T. can be found practicing yoga, attempting to make friends with the oven, or trying to read while people keep talking to her. Join her newsletter, the Seeing Pool, for a free story from the magical circus of Grimmfay.

Find her online here. Sign up for her newsletter here.

Find her on Goodreads here. Find her on Amazon here.

Book Links:

Once Upon a Broken Sky (available now).

Grimmfay (available for preorder, coming Oct 10).

If you’re an indie author and you’re interested in guest posting on this blog, email here.