People always quote survivors.
The Lindsay Burokers, the Mark Dawsons, the Linsey Halls, the Amanda Hockings, but for every one of those there are a thousand that came out at the same time, did everything right, and never caught fire, or burned brightly for a second and then flamed out.
Yes, there are thousands of authors that make a living self-publishing, but there are millions more struggling to make it worthwhile, and tens of millions more that tried and failed.
Acknowledging only the survivors does a disservice to your own career and distorts the truth about being a successful author, which is more than just having a great cover, a killer blurb, and a great story.
Way too much of it is just dumb luck, and way too much of what’s left is just pushing forward to the bitter end, way past the point other people, any sane person, would give up, to push through the other side.
Tacking your north star to a successful author is fine and well, but don’t ignore the fact that the sea is littered with the bodies of authors past.
