Working on my Perennial Seller

“Yet far too many people set out to produce something that, if they were really honest with themselves, is only marginally better or different from what already exists. Instead of being bold, brash, or brave, they are derivative, complementary, imitative, banal, or trivial. The problem with this is not only that it’s boring, but that it subjects them to endless amounts of competition.” – Perennial Seller by Ryan Holiday

I have read Perennial Seller already, but I am rereading it because I hope for my next book to become one. Essentially, a perennial seller is a book, product, or service that continues to sell in time as more people discover it and realize the true value that it holds. You may also think of these as classics.

The creative approach that aims to build a perennial seller is unique because many industries are based on creating the next fad. Many of them want to build something hot right now and are not concerned about a decade or more into the future.

For example, the popular music on the radio today is unlikely to be played at all in ten years. A trendy new restaurant may not exist in five years. A book that is the “must-read” today may be a distant memory, no longer relevant in a few years.

Many industries are used to the idea that you crank out the work at a breakneck pace, and if it quickly ends up in the waste bin, that is fine as long as some profit was made. Authors or creators are eaten alive and spit out, and it doesn’t seem to matter because there is always a new line of authors and creators, ready to make something new and trendy that will also quickly end up in the trash.

Instead of going down that mad road, perennial sellers will keep on selling, being discovered, rediscovered, shared, and enjoyed for 10 years or perhaps much, much more.

Sometimes I think that the goal of an author, or perhaps anyone, is to become immortal. The goal of immortality is built into us, as when people have children, they pass on their genes onto someone else, who can then pass them onto someone else, and in a sense, reach immortality.

When an author writes a book, I think he has reached true success if his books are still relevant decades or perhaps even centuries after his death. This would be something that truly stands the test of time.

As the quote at the top of this post suggests, I aspire to create something daring and bold at this point in my career, something that does not just rehash or reinterpret the work of someone else. The goal of originality can be self-defeating, for any idea can often be traced to a prior one and a prior one. Everything comes from something and is therefore not truly original. Nonetheless, when my next books are read, I don’t want someone to be able to say: “These books are just saying what another author already said.” Even if they do not like the book, I want them to be able to say:

This was different… this was an attempt at greatness… even if it didn’t work out in the end.

Whether I actually can achieve a perennial seller is secondary to me. The primary objective is to truly create something worth reading, something that will help people to understand and perceive in a new way.

As a regular reader, if I see a book that is similar in style or content to many others I have read, I tend to put it down and look for something else. At a minimum, I need a new perspective on an old issue to consider reading a book. And the books that are most attractive to me are the ones that push me in new directions and open up paths for me that I was not even aware existed.

Whether I succeed or not in writing a perennial seller, I will enjoy the attempt. I will change things in my approach this time. I will strive to get more feedback on my work, spend more time making improvements, seek out higher-level professionals for my cover design and formatting. I may ask my audience, authors, or experts for their opinions if I should reconsider a chapter, a cover, or even a promotional plan.

By now, you may be wondering, what will my next book be about?

It will be about finding our personal truth. I completed the first draft last week, but this week I have set aside the manuscript to approach it with fresh eyes next week and continue to work on it. I will be discussing it in future posts here and on my mailing list.

I plan for the book to be published in June, but I will take the time required for this project. Creating a perennial seller cannot be rushed. I must be patient so that I can create my best work.

After having said all the above about wanting to write a perennial seller, I don’t want you to get the wrong idea. I’m not particularly concerned with the number of people who buy a book or even whether it qualifies as a perennial seller and is still selling well in 10 years. I suspect I will do fine in life either way. I will continue to write many books, and if one book fails, it will not affect me in the grand scheme.

My main objective, rather, is to be able to say:

I wrote the best work that I could, and I broke new ground for myself, pushing myself in new directions, discovering something new along the way. Writing this book was worth it because I learned deeply about myself and the universe. This book is one that I can honestly say: “I think the world would be better if everyone owned a copy.”

These may seem like grandiose comments, but if I can’t say the statement above sincerely, then I doubt I will actually write that perennial seller.

Essentially, the highest standards need to come from within myself. I am not worried about the critics around the world who may or may not like my books. I am more concerned with what I think of it. I am the one who knows all of my background. I am the one who knows what I should be capable of producing. I am the one who knows if I went all the way, pushed myself as far as I could go, and told the full truth, the full story as it needed to be told. Was it a success, as much as I could have ever hoped for? Only I can know. So only I can be the true judge of the work I produced.

This isn’t to say I will discount anyone else’s opinions. I will surely listen to them. But I feel that I am the final judge of my work. I need to know how to judge my work because if a thousand people tell me a thousand different things about my work, who am I supposed to believe in the end?

Ultimately, I must have my own inner compass to know what is real and what is not.

But of course, it would be nice to achieve a perennial seller – that would be a dream come true. No one can deny that.

As a last note, my advice for the new creators is to put in your time. Learn your craft, practice it, hone it. Take the time to do it right. I have 12 years of experience writing, starting with graduate school. Funny enough, I don’t count elementary, middle school, high school, or even college in my 12 years of experience - because I wasn’t working at a professional level yet.

So I have 12 years of professional writing experience. In graduate school, I focused on writing academic articles and book chapters. That is where I learned how to organize my ideas, be concise, and truly write. After that, I have written some fiction and poetry, but most of my work has been self-development books. After 12 years, I am just now feeling like I may be ready to write a perennial seller.

I would encourage you to take some time to build up your expertise before you can hope to create a work of true perennial value. Have fun in your first years, and allow yourself to explore new ground. Learn about yourself to figure out what your true perennial value will be. What can you offer to this world that will still matter in 10, 20, 30 years?

Will I be able to create my perennial seller? Will you? Only time will tell.

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The book I discuss in this post is now available. It is called Your Personal Truth: A Journey to Discover Your Truth, Become Your True Self, & Live Your Truth.

Celebrate the Milestones & Little Achievements

Introduction

For the ambitious and hardworking, sometimes we can meet a personal milestone and forget to celebrate it. Perhaps a party is unnecessary, but it can be worthwhile to at least acknowledge a significant moment. I am fairly diligent, so my celebrations are usually minor – simply acknowledging the accomplishment to a few close family members and friends is enough for me. Then I get back to work. Well, sometimes I may enjoy sharing a bottle of Champagne.

Moving along, to me, a milestone is simply meeting many little goals that have culminated into something bigger. Or, if you prefer, it means accomplishing a grand goal.

My Milestone: 100,000 Words

Today I have met a milestone of my own.

I have written 100,000 words for this blog. The longest book I ever published was about 70,000 words – 7 Thoughts to Live Your Life By, so 100,000 is certainly a milestone. And I only started this site just 3 months ago (on September 9th). In reality, I had written some of these words before beginning the site, but this is still a major accomplishment for me.

Little Achievements

In light of this accomplishment, I would like to point out some other little achievements that came along with this:

• My friend Arthur has commented on most of my posts, which I think adds great value – heed his comments carefully, as there is great depth in his soul.

• I have received several messages through my Contact page – usually, they were for opportunities to collaborate.

• I have received numerous comments from friends and readers telling me that they found the blog helpful. Some of the comments have used these words: deep, philosophical, practical, interesting, wise, inspiring, motivating. One reader mentioned “Kafka flavor” – in regards to my post on The Paradox of the Model Citizen, and another reader said it was “a blessing” regarding How to Make a Decision, which I wrote as a response to her question.

• My writing and thinking are improving – After writing 100,000 words, and reflecting on thinking, and thinking about thinking, I sense more clarity in my Thoughts. I can more efficiently know what I think, why I think it, and provide supporting points.

• The blog readership has been growing slowly but steadily. Some readers are beginning to find the site through search engines, so this helps. The more, the merrier!

Thank You

Thank you to everyone who has contributed, shared this site with friends, supported me, or given me some kind words about the site. Also, this site is still fairly new and small, so every reader matters to me.

Thank you for reading - It makes me very happy just to be able to help

Don’t worry. The journey is just beginning.

Future Plans

I am glad for the progress I have made on I. C. Robledo’s Thoughts, but I sense that it is time to change gears. From here on, I plan to post weekly instead of daily. This will continue into 2021.

The reason for this is that I need to open up time in my schedule to:

• Wrap up many projects before the end of the year - publishing some book translations, reviewing audiobooks that I am having narrated, setting up some book promotions, fine-tuning business plans, and so on

• Continue to post high-quality content – at this stage, I need to take more time to properly develop my Thoughts since I hope to explore something new with each post

• Pursue new experiences, perform my own life experiments, and learn new information - which will help me to produce more insightful Thoughts

• Focus on writing books – I would like to write two new books per year and at the highest level of quality that I can

• Promote I. C. Robledo’s Thoughts – at this point, I would like to expand my readership. I am working hard to explore valuable Thoughts, so it would be nice to get more people tuning in

The bottom line is I plan to post less often, but I believe doing this will actually help me to improve the site and also help me stay on schedule with writing new books and tackling multiple projects.

Acknowledge and Celebrate Your Milestones

Enough about me. Let’s go back to you.

I want to encourage you to acknowledge and celebrate your milestones. Don’t allow them to slip by unnoticed. There is no need to brag obnoxiously, of course. But if you accomplish something big in your life, you deserve to be able to stop for a moment, take a breath, and appreciate what you have been able to do.

When we neglect our milestones, we can easily get lost in just doing and doing, with little reflection on why this even matters. When you celebrate a milestone, you give yourself a moment to reflect on what this truly means to you.

If you find that your milestone was meaningless – that you only did it for the praise, or it turned out that someone else stole the glory for your hard work, then you can learn that perhaps you need to change something in your life. In such cases, perhaps you need to reconsider your purpose and your life goals.

Questions to Explore

• What is the most recent milestone you achieved?

• Or what milestone are you close to achieving?

• Are there some little achievements worth noting?

• What does this mean to you?

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What Do You Think?

Do you have any thoughts about my new planned change to start posting once per week, instead of five times per week? Please feel free to let me know. As always, you can comment below, or you can use my Contact page.

Also, if you have any general thoughts about the site, this would be a good time to let me know. I always welcome any feedback.

I will aim to continue to improve the site and offer more great Thoughts in the future.