In the time since I wrote this post, my Kickstarter has funded. In fact, we are within a few bucks of 300% funded! It’s pretty easy to be happy with that kind of response. If you’re interested in seeing what I am talking about, here’s the link to MURDER BUYS A LEMON.
It’s not like I thought anyone was going to mistake one of us for the other. In fact we have very little in common beyond being writers and running Kickstarters for new books.
But that is exactly what we have in common, and why some people might be tempted to compare our crowdfunding trajectories. Because Sanderson just raised $41.7 Million, it would be easy to say he was far more successful than I have been – or expect to be.
Here’s the thing though. I am not Brandon Sanderson, and I DON’T NEED TO BE.
Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to have someone (or, more accurately, 185,341 someones) give me $41 million to write four books. But with that pile of money comes a lot of expectations, a ton of work, and a boatload of expenses.
To begin with Kickstarter takes 5% off the top, and the credit/debit card fees can take another 3-5%. Then there’s the work and expense of producing nearly 100,000 copies each of all 4 books. Sure, he has a highly dedicated and experienced crew, and they built in 9 months of production time, but it still means a lot of mental work, a lot of distraction, a lot of time managing the project.
I am quite happy for Sanderson that his project was a resounding success, and I wish him all the best as he deals with the very real logistical challenges he will face in the coming months.
I don’t aspire to such lofty heights (and the accompanying headaches). I have had my days of juggling multiple projects and competing deadlines, I was good at it, and now I am done.
In the past I have talked at length about the problems that we face when we compare ourselves to other creators. I could do that right now, could compare the modest amount my Kickstarter has raised against the juggernaut of Sanderson’s campaign, could view my tiny percentage of his total, and call my campaign a failure.
I could do that – if I thought I had to be Brandon Sanderson.
I have also talked several times about how we are able to create our own definition of success. That is precisely what I did when I set the funding goal at a very modest sum, one that I was relatively confident I could reach.
I decided what funding level would accomplish what I needed.
I set my own goal.
Sanderson asked his backers for a million dollars. That was how he defined success for his project, based on his needs and expectations, and he more than met that definition.
Using my own set of needs and expectations, I defined my own success.
This week has been an exhilarating experience because I chose to make it one. I defined my own success, I refused to make comparisons that belittled my accomplishment, and I chose to find joy in the work I was doing.
Those three things – all topics we have talked about before – combined to push me along the creative path, to boost my momentum, and to feed my desire to create.
It’s a great feeling, and one I hope you can find in your own creative life. Trust yourself, set your own goals, create your own definition of success, and find the joy that drives you to create your own art.