In fact, I wrote novels for years before I ever tried to get
published. For me, writing was never about getting published. It was always
about doing what I loved. And doing what I love full-time for 20 years has
given me great perspective on writing, on success, and on life.
I got my start as a professional writer in the early ‘90s.
My first book, published in 1995, was a major bestseller, and so was the
sequel, published in 1996. It was wondrous times to see my works in bookstores
and in enormous stacks that were sometimes chest-high. These were of course
1,000-page tomes, so a chest-high stack was easily achieved and yet tremendous to
see all the same.
By 2005, my books had sold millions and millions of copies
and had earned well over $100,000,000 in retail sales, putting me easily in a
class of the top 1% of authors in the world. The fact that I have remained
there in the top 1% of authors in the world for a decade is no small feat. Yet
there I am, and I cannot but wonder at the marvelous road I’ve traveled. (For more background, read: How I Made This Crazy Thing Called Writing a 20-year Career...).
I’ve been around the world, lived around the world. I’ve
made fortunes, lost fortunes, and given away fortunes. Along the way millions
of people have bought and read my works and millions more have checked my works
out of libraries.
The path traveled hasn’t been all roses, cavalcades, and
unicorns. The publishing business can be an ugly business; the world can be an
ugly place. And yet, I’ve never lost belief in my words or my ability to
instruct, to entertain, to tell a story. I love the craft. I’ve not only
written in literary genres from action/adventure, mystery and suspense to
science fiction and fantasy, in subject areas from computer technology to
military memoir, and in children's picture books for toddlers, preschoolers and
early elementary school readers—but I’ve been successful in all.
Now that’s the stuff of Willy Wonka’s wondrously wonderful dreams.
The books, the ideas, they live large in my thoughts and in my pages. And yet there
are still many places I’d like to travel to with my words. Irrespective of
whether I get to travel those roads, it will have been a wondrous journey and
one I will be writing much about in 2014. I may even answer the question as to
whether a Top 1% author is a 1 percenter after 20 years in this crazy business.
Thanks for reading! My new book “Two Million Books a Trickle
at a Time. Selling More Books, Finding Success & Making Writing a Career.
Inspiration, Essays & How To” tells part of the story of my journey and
gets its title courtesy of my indie author endeavors. I do, of course, write as William Stanek and Robert Stanek.
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