The Road to Success
The road to success for a successful professional fiction writer appears to have three levels; publication, mid-list, bestsellerdom.
Any author, if they gain entry into the land of the published, can travel these roads. Potholes abound on each.
I have yet to figure out how a writer can make a living writing short fiction, unless they do it prolifically, with cross genre and non-fiction magazines. So, what follows pertains to the novelist.
Publication is not the panacea. It's the ticket at the gate. Many first-time published authors sell poorly and are never published again. Thier books quickly go out of print and can be found, if at all, on Amazon for a penny. Therefore, selection of a supportive publishing house is crucial. Gone are the days where big houses nurture an author over several books. Some smaller genre publishers may still do these but most have limited marketing support and budgets. Most published authors must diligently self-promote to advance to the second level of success. Author J.A. Konrath is the Svengali of self-promotion, so any authors should check out his blog and website.
Mid-list authors are those that sell well enough for the publishing houses to earn back thier investment and make some profit. These are good authors with a loyal fan base. They may be in niche genres that do not generate the requisite numbers to push the author into th next level. As I understand it, mid-list authors have taken a beating recently, being dropped from larger houses as they seek the next bestselling author. The mid-list author makes a living. A good mid-list author makes a good living.
Bestsellerdom. This is the brass ring. The whole enchilada. Fame, fortune, expensive hotels, jets, etc. But there's a down side. There are expectations and demands on bestselling authors to remain bestselling. In many cases, A book a year must be produced. Bestselling author, Tess Gerritson has an excellent blog, titled Cranking Them Out, explaining this phenomenon. If sales lag, bestsellers can decend the tiers of authorship or fall off all together.
These is one thing that a novelist should keep in mind when selecting a publishing house. Will the house keep your books in print? An interesting thing happens on your way to the top level. Demand for your previous books increase proportionately with fame. I.e. backlist gets pulled up. Be aware.
I am still in the research phase of my career and am surveying the field. If any published authors or other find errors in my assessment please piont them out.
The road to bestsellerdom is a rocky one filled with cavernous pot holes. The task is to navigate this road without being swallowed.