Writers: Your Real Competition Is You

“Writers are competition.”  Bullshit.

This falsehood will keep you from realizing your potential. And if you do manage to attain success, it will sabotage your wins. To illustrate, let me make some introductions…

Meet Suzy and Jen. These are real people with completely different views on writers as competition. Here’s how that worked out for them.

Suzy was my idol, an incredibly successful writer doing exactly what I wanted to do. I sang Suzy’s praises, promoted her at every turn, and she encouraged me along my path, mentored me even, and helped me promote my first book. Happy, happy, joy, joy. But when my book did well (not remotely to the level of Suzy’s books, but well enough), Suzy popped horns out of her head. She adored me when I was an adoring fan, but she much prefers it when her adoring fans stay confined to their roles.

Jen is a self-made success, a force of wit and words. Jen has legions of adoring fans, but she also pulls them up. Jen believes that “a rising tide lifts all boats.” She habitually reaches out to peer authors and fosters both collaboration and friendship. Though Suzy has more accolades, more experience, more books, and more money behind her from traditional publishers, Jen has surpassed Suzy in reviews, fans, friends who will go out of their way for her, and… sales.

If you want to successfully connect with your fellow writers, it’s simple:

1) Stop viewing them as competition.

2) Give first.

This isn’t worth debunking just for the established writer. The idea that writers are competition keeps many would-be writers from even attempting to actualize their dreams.

Let’s break it down:

Argument #1: Now that publishing has changed, EVERYONE is writing a book.

Um… everyone? Really? I know a lot of people talk about writing a book, but only a fraction of those talkers complete a manuscript. So, no, not everyone is writing a book.

Argument #2: But there’s so much noise out there.

When people say this, they’re using “noise” in reference to the number of books being published. Here’s the thing, many of those books are poorly written and poorly produced. No one is reading them. There are millions of self-published books out there with zero online reviews. Even their mothers won’t read and review their books. There are millions of traditionally published books that are also terrible. Usually they’re packaged a little better, but even that’s not a guarantee.

Do these shitty books represent the competition that you’re so worried about?

“NO!” (you emphatically declare). Insert Argument #3: “There are so many amazing writers out there. I can’t possibly compete with them!”

Before we tackle the absurdity of this, let me ask you: If you read an amazing book that makes you feel and think, the type of book you can’t wait to share, does that cause you to only want to read books by that author?

NO! (I emphatically declare). An amazing book makes you want to seek out other amazing books. A great book written by someone else doesn’t threaten your great book, it creates your market.

If you’re somewhere in the writing journey, and you meet a Suzy, remember that she’s just like you. She has no superpower that you can’t cultivate yourself. Then, walk away.

If you meet a Jen, give first. You’ll receive a lifelong friendship in return.

No matter how many people you meet along the way, don’t try to identify your competition in the crowd. It’s not there.

Your real competition is you.