You can find the first post in the series here: Monday Musings: LOA for Writers

Every bestselling novel began as an idea in someone’s mind. Many people don’t get beyond the idea. Your writing career can begin the same way but better — with clarity and visualization.

Let’s take a look at the numbers.
The odds of you finishing the writing of and publishing you book are often quoted as follows:

• Only 3% of people who set out to write a novel actually finish a novel. To put that into context, the USA (pop 332M) is about 4% the population of the world (8B).
• Less than 0.1% of people ever write a book, so we’re down from a worldwide population of 8B to 8M. That’s equivalent to New York City. It’s still a lot of people, but think of it like this: in the entire world, 7,992,000,000 will never write a single book.
• The odds of getting a book traditionally published is around 1-2%.
• The average traditionally published book sells around 3,000 copies over its lifetime, and less than 500 the first year.
• A PUBLISHER breaks even on a $10,000 advance by selling around 1,000 copies. There are a lot of variables at play here, but an AUTHOR earns out on a $10,000 advance by selling more than 5,000 copies. Less than 25% of books “earn out” their advance.
• What about best sellers? These numbers are clouded in secrecy but one estimation is that a book has to sell at least 10,000 copies during the FIRST WEEK to even have a shot at the NYT Best Seller list. Something like 0.08% of books published in the US annually (300,000) make the US Best Seller lists. To break this down, you have a better chance of winning the lotto (1 in 300M) and being struck by lightning twice (1 in 9M) than writing a book, getting it traditionally published, and making the Best Sellers list.

Sound discouraging? It shouldn’t. If you’ve finished a book you may already be in an elite class of only 3% of all the people who start a novel and actually finish it. If you’ve been traditionally published you may already be breathing even more rarified air.

Even so, almost any author will tell you that every book feels like writing for the first time. Many of us call it “imposter syndrome”. This is where visualization comes in. Visualization is mental rehearsal. When you picture your ideal writing life, your mind treats it as reality, preparing you for opportunities and because your mind treats all input as true, negative visualizations can bring negative influences, let these pass on by. They’re not for you.

There’s lots of ways to use visualization to create a writing life to help you succeed.

You can use:
A vision board
Journal prompts
Mantras
Meditations (guided or your own)
And more, find what works for you at this time

Try This:
picture yourself at a writing retreat
picture yourself opening a shipping box and holding your published book
imagine you’re doing a wildly successful book signing event
Imagine readers and fans reacting positively to your work
Imagine yourself as a best-selling author

Make your visualizations as detailed and vivid as possible. What are you teaching at the writing retreat? Who are you be hanging out with? Look at your hands note every detail then imagine them holding your book. Whose familiar faces do you see at your book signing cheering you on? FEEL the feeling of seeing that best seller tag on your book on Amazon, or the writeup about your best-selling book on Publishers Weekly.

Exercise:
Create a mini or digital vision board using magazine cutouts, Pinterest, or sketches. Include writing spaces, book covers, and images that represent the lifestyle you want. If you make the digital version, use the image as the wallpaper on your laptop or desktop.

When you clearly see your destination, the universe speeds towards you with what you need and desire to move you to your desired destination. You’ll notice new people who bring knowledge you need, events that put you on the path to your dreams and in the path of people who will be instrumental in your success; your vision board coming to life. Comment below about how you’re using visualization in your life.