Tonight is the big college football national championship game. The first one ever decided via a playoff system. Oregon vs. Ohio State.
Many could care less. But those who do number in the millions. We have some extended family who are pretty excited. (One used a foam-head Duckbill hat as his Christmas tree topper – see the picture to the right).
Be careful if you disparage Ohio State while in the company of bestselling author Rachel Hauck. You may lose a limb. (Considering that her agent is an Oregon fan you have to wonder about their recent conversations.)
But tonight’s success will not last much beyond the headlines. For example, can you name the national college football champion in 2010? Or name the winner of American Idol in 2013? Or what was the bestselling Christian novel in 2009? Or, even harder, name the five top selling Christian novels in 2014. Last week Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook, started a bookclub…what book did he ask everyone to buy and read with him? (It sold out on Amazon within minutes of the announcement.)
My point is that success is fleeting. On top today, forgotten tomorrow. But that depends on your definition of success, doesn’t it? Author and Artists tend to depend on adjectives like “bestselling” to “award winning” to define whether or not they are doing a good job. The problem is that the arts rarely have a method to quantify success. So sales numbers, or awards, or bestseller lists become the criteria upon which everyone relies.
I celebrate every author who does achieve bestseller status or receives an award. They are confirmation and encouragement that is hard to achieve. But at the same time I know of writers who are wildly successful with their writing but will never garner such attention. They labor with stories or with non-fiction topics that have a focus that will not capture the imagination of the commercial market or go viral in social media.
Wouldn’t it be interesting to hear the stories of authors who receive letters from readers telling of changed lives? I’ve seen a few over the years and they can be astounding. Readers, of novels or non-fiction, choosing life over suicide. Birth over abortion. Recommitment to marriage instead of divorce. Studies instead of drugs or sex. Don’t know about you, but I’d like to define that as success. And a type of success that is not “fleeting” but “eternal.”
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Great post. I really needed to hear that.
I’m no best-selling author, as Steve knows! I’ve had to learn the hard way that it’s not up to me and my efforts to determine my worth – or my patch – as a writer. Sometimes we do receive gifts in the form of letters. I write about an amazing way God used some devotionals I wrote during an earthquake in New Zealand in my blog: http://www.amyboucherpye.com/2014/05/23/life-changing-words-how-god-used-a-devotional-during-a-crisis/ (hope it’s okay to put that link, Steve).
Thanks for this reminder, which I needed to hear today. Oh, and I don’t care about college football, but LOVE Rachel’s writing! She has a lot of fans in the UK!
You are so right, Steve. When I worked at Focus on the Family, I remember Dr. Dobson speaking about how the world will “trash your trophies” and one of his examples was seeing his first book in a discount bin.
I knew when I started working on my novel that I would, most likely, have a small readership because of my platform. So I had to decide if I would write anyway. Not that it was ever really a question. . . .
The point is that the conjecture of the publishing world, that printing and promoting another milk Christian project… is being proved by the universe to be a chart line that starts with some high interest, and quickly flat lines unto forgetfulness. (Hence, Christian books that sell for $25 are sold six months later for 25¢ at the garage sale table.)
What is the universe telling us is the Return on Investment in such?
Rather, the world needs a thing like happened in 1776. It took many decades of thoughtful, independent thinking, wherein the second-greatest docs in the history of the world were created! First docs were the OT and NT. The second most important docs in history are the Dec. of Indie ’76, Constitution and Bill of Rights. This really took about a hundred years to put together. (Might through in the Gettysburg Address, wherein mutual dedication to self-restraint is proscribed!)
So, what you need is this: A project so controversial, but at the same time incontrovertibly True by all High Measure Standards… and self-shaming to major institutions by the evidence they are so behind the ball… that this project starts with a low acceptance rate, that climbs, and climbs, and over more time climbs, and becomes understood as a major help unto mankind.
Anything like this is, by definition, prophetic. That means that the day has now come when Evangelical mighties have to come to the table of truth… and forever decide betwixt two things… either shenanigan church and rapture-mania, give-to-get-greed, emergent-gobbledygook…. is the path to the future of all-powerful-rube-control…. or needs to be flushed down the toilet…. because prophetically, we are now given a choice… to do the greater, the harder thing… to live in truth, instead of mouthing a textual truth and walking in a shenanigan spirit fead by fear, greed, laziness and other unclean entities.
So, this project would make major ministries question themselves for the first time, the fact they’ve never had a debate whether selling subtext evil emotion Gospiel is good and if the fruit of that is good? Or does it explain the infinite explosions and implosions of empowered ministries who sell the philosopher’s stone of “support my ministry-and-God-will-return-the-monies-sent-by-you-to-us”… etc.
So, it is going to be a tough New Millennium, at first. But truth will win, and things will truly be better and folk will love listening to 60s music, which had hope and life, and not the worship-weakness praise music of today’s ratted-out condition. So it will be a restoration of all good things!
I heard George Clooney’s acceptance speech at the Golden Globes and remembered I had recently read similar sentiments, about the true measure of success. It was this blog post. Thank you.
“I don’t remember what awards Lauren Bacall won. I just remember her saying “You know how to whistle Steve, just put your lips together and blow.” And I have no idea what kind of hardware Robin Williams took home but I sure remember carpe diem and “Seize the day boys, make your lives extraordinary.” I’ll never forget that. So congratulations to all of you for having a very good year.” – George Clooney