Success- By However You Determine It

 by Charlotte Bennardo

One person's success is not another's. We all have different perspectives-and those perspectives change over time.

Photo by Anna Shvets: https://www.pexels.com/photo/close-up-shot-of-a-person-holding-a-gold-trophy-6250969/

When I first started writing, getting a book published was my ideal.

Then I got the first, and second, then a third published. Success! 

But then, sales weren't spectacular. And I had no more book contracts and my agent dumped me. 

There was a drought of several years. While I continued to sell books by hand at fairs and festivals, I had nothing new. So I decided to independently publish my middle grade trilogy. One cover won a gold award, and another book won a bronze award. Success! 

Sadly, sales weren't spectacular. Back to querying and writing and volunteering for the SCBWI.

Stuck in a hold pattern; query, reject, write, revise, query. 

The pandemic struck and there were no more in-person events. Feeling untethered, I decided to go for my Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing. I graduated, achieving a goal. Success!

After a year of physical injuries and illnesses, I've finally recuperated and regained my physical health. Success!

My Master's thesis is under consideration by a publisher! (Almost success!) 

My children are all doing well (shared success with them and the hubs).

So success comes in many forms; personal, professional, shared. 

And it comes in its own due time, wherever it wants. 

Charlotte writes MG, YA, NA, and adult novels in sci fi, fantasy, contemporary, and paranormal genres. She is the author of the award-winning middle grade Evolution Revolution trilogy, Simple Machines, Simple Plans, and Simple Lessons. She co-authored the YA novels Blonde OPS, Sirenz, and Sirenz Back in Fashion. She has two short stories in the Beware the Little White Rabbit (Alice through the Wormhole) and Scare Me to Sleep (Faces in the Wood) anthologies. Having finished her MFA, she's applying what she learned and is working on several children's and adult novels, along with some short stories. She lives in NJ with her family and her floofy cat. When they trimmed the backyard tree, the crazy squirrel couple had to move out, but she is happy to report she has a new squirrel tenant along with a pet rabbit (Bad Bunny).