After working with hundreds of authors, I have seen so many common traits that the most successful authors have. And I thought of just breaking it down for you to see if you might have already possessed some of these attributes a successful author has or if you might need to develop them.
The good thing about these attributes is that it can be imbibed. These attributes and skills can be taught and can be learned but only if you are committed to becoming a successful author.
So what are some of the attributes that you need to have to become a successful author?
Clarity
As an author, you need to have absolute clarity as to why you are writing a book. Once an author has that clear purpose as to why they are writing a book, everything else falls into place. It’s like the Domino Effect! The moment your purpose becomes clear to you, everything else will follow – you know who your target readers are, you understand your target readers’ problems, and you have an idea of how you want to fix that problem for them.
Therefore, I believe that the clarity of purpose is the most important attribute an author must possess. Remember, your very reason for writing that book will act as your North Star that will guide you through your publishing journey. This is why it’s very important to be absolutely clear as to why you are writing that book.
If you are doubting your purpose, go ahead and take this opportunity to list down all your reasons why you’re writing a book. Your purpose may be different from others and for you to find out precisely what it is, you will have to drill down and ask yourself further “Why” questions to help you get to the root cause of what motivated you to write that book.
Confidence
While the fear of failure is all too familiar to most of us, we rarely hear people talk about the fear of success. Why is that so? When in reality, it’s our fear of success that is preventing us from doing bigger, life-changing things like writing a book. Many of us lack confidence in ourselves, thinking that we are not good enough, and that we lack the knowledge on how to become an author. We continue to create so many self-limiting beliefs due to our lack of confidence in our own expertise and the knowledge we have.
If you suffer from Impostor Syndrome which is the culprit in draining your self-confidence, here is the only antidote to that: Stop comparing yourself to the people who are ahead of you in your industry!
Here’s what you need to do. Look at the people who are a few steps behind you. Look at those people who are in the same position as you were before. Those are your target readers. And just like you before, they are waiting to read a book relatable to their current situation. A book that you can write that will help them move forward to their own success. Thinking about them will automatically give you the confidence you need to become a successful author.
Compassion
Truly care for your reader.
A person lacking compassion can still be an author, but what you want to be is to become a successful author. And most of the successful authors we know are truly caring for their readers.
Your success depends on the many people who will be buying your book. So unless they can feel a connection with your words through your book, the book may not sell beyond the point. So show compassion to your readers. It should be that one of the reasons why you’re writing a book is because you care about the person who will flip through it. In other words, your book should be able to serve others. Plus, if your book truly serves your reader, you will not have to worry about how good of a writer you are or how good your English is. Because what matters most to the reader is the message that you are sharing with them. And for you to show your compassion through your book, the book must be about your reader and for your reader. Is your book useful? Will it help your readers? Your genuine compassion will be translated through the sales of your book.
Again, here’s my advice, you can write your book for a variety of reasons but the foundation should always be about serving your readers.
Commitment
You may have the Clarity, you may have the Confidence, and you may have the Compassion HOWEVER, without Commitment, you will not be able to take massive action!
Having the drive to publish your book within a certain period will make you decide on your book launch date. From there, you will be able to start working backwards.
But if your commitment is not strong enough, even though you have the intention to write and finish your book, you will get caught up with all your other priorities in your life.
So unless you commit your 100% towards the process of writing your book, it’s never going to happen and your book will always be just a dream.
Successful authors make their book projects their priority!
Community
You need to have the vision to build a community around your book!
If your book is truly life-changing and it’s helping people build new habits or new strategies that they can implement in their work or life, then it’s time for you to create a community.
Having a community built around your book will help motivate other people to take action, practice your teachings, and create a bond that will keep the people in your community strong which will, in turn, contribute to the organic growth of your community.
As an author, you will highly benefit from this since the community will serve as your followers. They love you, they love your book, and they can’t wait for your next product, course, or coaching. Whatever you have to offer, you can guarantee that your community will be your number one support in everything you do.
Besides, with the support of your community, you will not have to solely depend on royalties. Your community will help you build and grow your business.
Remember that, every successful author understands the importance of community. This is one attribute that a successful author knows they need to have, the understanding of how a community can benefit them, as well, as their readers.
I’m sure you may have a few of these attributes already but I hope that this will help you identify some of the other attributes that you might want to work on.
I would love to hear more about what you think about these attributes an author should have. And if you can share a few more attributes that you think can be important for authors, make sure to mention that in the comments so we can all learn from one another.