“There’s gold in them hills!”
And the rush begins.
You’ve got to move fast to stake your claim.
Get the treasure fast and first because it will go.
It could be to grab your gold in translations.
Maybe it’s the mass movement toward selling direct.
Move quickly or get left behind, they say.
Beyond the hype
There will be no end to these act now or perish opportunities.
But the good news is—the endless hustle doesn’t need to be part of your career.
Your focus on the assets of IP and audience is where the relentless pursuit of improvement needs to be.
Many people rush to do translations and then throw them over the wall into the market. This can work in the short run, but it neglects to build the asset of attention.
It also treats every market the same. Just because you succeed in the US or UK doesn’t mean your books will land well in France or Germany.
Then, there is the idea of the best use of capital. I’ve recommended that some clients sell translation rights and produce their own audiobooks, and others do the opposite. The genre and the business inform the right way to invest.
Stop and notice that success compounds for those who do a few things well over and over, not those who do everything sometimes.
I’ve been around long enough to have a list of multiple six-figure authors who were the players to beat and now are irrelevant.
Not to the author community because they will always be a cautionary tale to us, but to the people who matter the most: their audience. These authors have rested on their laurels or pushed too hard into the wrong areas.
So, what about you? When the music stops on this latest fad, will you be left standing?
Next week, I will show you where the treasure is and how easy it is for you to grasp.
Read: Convert Your Rocks Into Uncut Gems by Identifying the Vital Few