I’ve heard it time & time again in the book community “She/He is only a bestseller because of who they know.”

Is there any truth to that?  In my opinion – no.

Reality – You can have a million friends who are best sellers and it doesn’t mean you’ll be one.  It takes hard work, passion for what you do, and dedication to write a novel.  If it was easy then everyone would/could do it.  (Yeah I know you’ve heard that before.)

I read once that we all have it in us to be a writer.  It’s just a matter of honing that skill and of course writing something that someone, somewhere, will want to read.  But that doesn’t mean that in one sitting we’ll churn out a new best seller because hey…we’ve got friends.

Do we seek out books by our favorite authors?  All of the time.

Are we more likely to buy books from our favorite authors because of who they are?  Of course.  Authors are like a brand to us.  It’s like shopping for shampoo.  You’ll try a few and then you find the one that’s perfect for you.  That one brand that sets itself apart from the others.  So anytime you see a new product from that brand, if it’s something you can use, you buy it because you trust that brand.  Same is true for an author.  If we like their brand then we become that loyal customer.

A new author hasn’t really established their brand yet.  Many people are hesitant to try a new brand.  They stick with what they know.  It doesn’t matter what they’ve heard about it. Then there are those who will only try something new after reading the reviews.  They carefully weigh in the good and the bad before making a decision.  Lastly there are the gamblers.  The ones who’ll jump right in for better or for worse.  (While this can be fun for the adventurous reader, I don’t recommend it for DIY hair color.  Just FYI.)

So the next time you see a new author out there please be kind.  It takes time to establish a brand and believe me they’ve worked hard on it.  Before you spread hate, ask yourself “Could you do it?”