January 6, 2020– Becoming a best seller means you need a mentor who has been there before. Rule number 1 is that you should never take advice from someone who isn’t doing better than you and who hasn’t accomplished what you’ve set out to do! If you could have any author mentors on the planet, who would your top five consist of? Put together your dream team of mentors! Here’s what you should look for when making your selection:
- They align with your goals. If you wanted to be a great swimmer, you’d probably want to swim with Jimmy down the street who has a pool, passed swimming classes, and maybe has even completed lifeguard training. But if you wanted to be an Olympic Gold Medal Winning swimmer, Michael Phelps is probably your best bet! If you want to be a successful, best-selling author whose books have been turned into movies, you’d want to have John Grisham or Nicholas Sparks on your team.
- They inspire you to do better and dream bigger. Some famous authors have faced impossible odds that include poverty, homelessness, and family drama, but they have succeeded in the face of adversity. One of my writing heroes is Charles Dickens who is considered to be one of the greatest authors of all time. Dickens, who grew up desperately poor, was forced to work ten-hour days in a shoe blacking warehouse to help his parents pay the bills. The conditions were harsh and unfair. Luckily, with help from his father (who was later imprisoned for unpaid bills) and education, Dickens was able to get a job as a reporter. By the age of 20, he was beginning to make decent money writing about Parliament. By the time he turned 25, his writing allowed him to be a full-time writer. Dickens was dedicated to shining a light on the unfair conditions of the poor. Much of his work focuses on the destitute and their hardships.
- They provide clues to success. The great thing about mentors is that by having someone who’s done what you want to do, you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Success leaves clues! What are your mentors doing that you can repeat? How do best-selling authors act? How do they engage with their readers? And so on.
So, what do you do if your dream team of mentors are unreachable? Maybe they aren’t even living anymore! What do you do now?
- Read their work, biographies, and anything else you can get your hands on.
- Think in terms of WWMMD? What Would My Mentor Do? And follow their clues to success.
If your mentor is alive, but you think they’re untouchable because they’re famous, do yourself a favour and ASK! There is no harm in asking and the worst-case scenario is they say no. Imagine if they say YES!
To join our Best-Seller Bootcamp during the month of January, click here: Best-Seller Bootcamp January 4th-31st – Pandamonium Publishing House
