#110: The 11-Year "Overnight Success" Story

Earlier this week, I was on a call with one of my mentorship clients when they asked me about my wife's author journey.

As I started telling the story, it took me right back to those early days in 2020.

Back when we were spending £10 per day on Facebook Ads and watching every penny.

Back when we were struggling to hit even our first £1,000 month, let alone dreaming of five figure months.

Back when we wondered if we'd made the biggest mistake of our lives by diving into self-publishing with twins on the way and no other income.

The truth is, what looks "effortless" now was built on months of uncertainty, small wins, and refusing to give up when the numbers looked grim.

But that's not the story people see when they look at successful authors.

They see the highlight reel, not the behind-the-scenes struggle:

→ The sleepless nights as they wonder how their books are going to pay the mortgage, put food on the table and support their family.

→ The painful refreshing of the KDP dashboard every hour just to check, just to see if they've made a sale in the past 60 minutes.

→ The frustrating, pull-your-hair-out moments when your Facebook Ads stop working and you go back to the drawing board to figure out what to do next.

We've been there.

We know exactly how it feels. 

The "Overnight Success" That Was Several Years In The Making

Here's a rundown of the my wife's timeline as an author to give you an idea of our journey:

Years 1-10 (2010-2020): Hobby writing. Zero income. Countless rejections from traditional publishers.

April 2020: First book published. First month royalties: $133.33

May-December 2020: Slowly building. Four months to hit $1,000 in royalties in a single month. Constant worry about whether we'd made a huge mistake.

Year 2 (2021): Finally consistent, but still not life-changing money until October 2021 when we hit our first 5-figure month.

Years 3-5 (2022 onwards): The compound effect kicks in. Books start selling each other. Real momentum begins.

The Compound Effect

Here's what I've learned watching 1000's of authors build their businesses:

Success isn't linear. It's exponential.

Which means:

• Your first book teaches you how to write and publish
• Your second book teaches you how to market
• Your third book is where things start clicking
• Your fourth book is where the compound effect begins

But most authors quit after book two because they're comparing their Chapter 1 to someone else's Chapter 20.

The Comparison Cure

When you catch yourself in the comparison trap, I highly recommend you ask yourself these questions about the author(s) you're comparing yourself to:

How long have they been doing this?

• Publishing timeline
• Total books in their catalog
• Years of building their email list

What don't I see?

• Their failures and setbacks
• How much they've invested
• Their budget and resources

What stage am I really at?

• Be honest about your timeline
• Count your actual wins (first review, first $100 month, first email subscriber, etc.)
• Acknowledge your progress from month 1

What can I learn from them?

• Instead of comparing, study and reverse-engineer their success
• What strategies are they using?
• How can I adapt their strategy for where I'm currently at?

Your Chapter 1 vs. Their Chapter 20

Authors making $10,000+ a month?

In their Chapter 1, they were celebrating their first $500 month.

They just kept writing.

Your job isn't to be where they are today.

Your job is to write your next chapter.

The Timeline Reality Check

Here's what I wish someone had told my wife and I back in 2020.

This isn't the only way author success happens, but it's fairly realistic:

Months 1-6: You're learning the basics. Celebrate small wins.

Months 7-18: Things start clicking. You see glimpses of what's possible.

Months 19-36: The compound effect begins. Growth accelerates.

Year 4+: You become the "overnight success" that new authors compare themselves to.

Where are you on this timeline?

And more importantly...

Are you willing to keep writing until you get to your Chapter 20?

The Real Competition

The only person you should compare yourself to is who you were yesterday:

• Are you a better writer than last month?
• Is your business more systematic than last quarter?
• Do you understand your readers better than last year?

That's the only comparison that matters.

Everyone else is on their own timeline.

Focus on yours.

Your Next Chapter

Instead of comparing your Chapter 1 to someone else's Chapter 20, ask yourself:

What does my Chapter 2 look like?

Because the authors who "make it" aren't the ones who never feel discouraged.

They're the ones who feel discouraged and keep writing anyway.

Your story is just getting started.

Keep writing.

That's it for this week.

Thanks for reading and enjoy the rest of your weekend.

To Your Success
- Matt