I could use some feedback on the PSA copy I wrote. I feel like I’m rambling and not hitting all the key points. Thoughts?

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PSA: You do not need to win awards or Amazon Bestselling status for your book to be worth reading, valuable, impactful, or powerful.

I went to a networking event recently and was put into a zoom room with a couple of others. As it happened, all of us were authors. All of us had gone indie or self-publishing routes. Only one of us had achieved the Amazon Bestselling stamp. And they were pretty adamant that a book was really only “worthy” to readers if that book had that kind of “prestige.”

I listened and nodded. Had there been more time to counter I would have but our time together wasn’t meant to be debating this idea. Still, I felt slapped. I felt like what I had poured over for 18 months, what I had been committed to doing my whole life, what hundreds of readers had to say about my book was deduced to one thing: I hadn’t gotten Amazon Bestseller status therefore my book wasn’t worthy of being read and no one would take it seriously. Or at least that’s what this other person would have had me believe.

But I know better.

I know that what they’re feeding me as an idea is bullshit.

No award or ABS stamp of approval really speaks to the value my book or anyone else’s offers. Awards are subjective; they are provided by a group of people who each have their own lens. And in the case of Amazon Bestseller status, this is about an algorithm and sales data and numbers and not about the writing or about the true worth of the book to readers.

It’s a stamp of approval from the algorithm Gods not a stamp of value.

I’m not knocking trying to go for it. By all means, I know from a marketing perspective that customers see that kind of stamp or status and think it means something. I also know it’s exciting to have sold enough books to get there. But…

Not achieving it doesn’t make you a loser or your book worthless.

Not achieving it doesn’t mean your words aren’t powerful or impactful.

And achieving it doesn’t mean you’ve written the best book or produced the best book.

It doesn’t mean your book is automatically better than someone else’s or more powerful.

And if you’re entering a book writing journey focused on reaching some sort of status instead of writing a damn good book then, IMO, you’re focused on the wrong thing.

What you’re saying is that you care more about the validation from some committee of people (or algorithm) rather than the readers you want to reach.

It can be both. You can want to write a damn good book and want to win awards. You can go after both. But don’t discredit any book because it may not have won something.

Plenty of awesome books win nothing and are worthy of being read.

Plenty of awesome books also win.

And plenty of horrible books win awards and shouldn’t have.

Awards and statuses don’t really prove anything.

I’m in the business of writing quality books and focusing on telling a compelling story and making it impactful for the reader and aligned with the author’s voice and message.

You won’t find me focusing on statuses or titles. If we get one, BONUS, but it’s not the point of the work I do and it’s certainly not where I’ll be placing any emphasis.

So if you want to write a powerful book that has plenty of value regardless of awards and stamps of approval — let’s chat. I may be your gal.

[Link to my free call]