Why do authors lie to themselves? It's because they think that telling them these lies will help them write, edit, publish, and sell their book. Unfortunately, the opposite usually happens - some authors waste days of their lives with lies and empty promises. Every author writes to fulfill their dream of seeing their work in print, but many get swept up in the day-to-day business of publishing and forget why they started writing in the first place. The result? Author burnout, writer’s block, and more unfinished manuscripts than published books. Today, I will share with you three lies that authors tell themselves and explain how to avoid these self-destructive mistakes. #1 My Book Will Become a Bestseller One of the many lies authors tells themselves is that their book will become a bestseller. Especially if the book is published on Amazon. In reality, only a few books become bestsellers - Yes! There is a science and strategy to it. We'll save that for another time. The problem is that many authors and books do not become best-sellers, regardless of how well-written or interesting their content is. I'll go over strategies for becoming a bestseller later, but let me say that factors that can influence whether a book becomes a bestseller include competition from other similar titles by authors, the timing of the release, and marketing effort. I advise authors not to make becoming a best-selling author a major goal in their publishing journey, as this can potentially derail their writing. I've met several authors who were disappointed because their books didn't sell even ten copies or become a bestseller as they had hoped. #2 My Content is Just Perfect One of the most common lies that authors tell themselves is that their work is flawless. This lie is mostly believed by religious people, who are so glued to their ideologies and interpretations of their faith. From the title of the book to the cover design, they would never give in to opposing opinions. This belief may cause them to avoid making any changes or adjustments to their manuscript, even if it isn't working well. It may also prevent them from seeking feedback from others, which would aid in the improvement of their work. This can stifle your creative writing and render you unsuitable for professional criticism. Constructive criticism is necessary for the development of a good piece of writing. Receiving feedback on your work will help you identify areas for improvement and how to implement those changes to ensure that the final product meets all expectations. Relying solely on self-evaluation can result in stagnation and decrease writing quality over time. #3 I can do this alone it's Easy Another lie authors tell themselves is "I can do this alone, without any help." If you think that you can do everything by yourself, then you need some help. Getting your work published through self-publishing is often portrayed as an easy and quick process, but it isn't always that simple. As a result of the tremendous amount of work necessary to publish a book, self-publishing may be harder than going through traditional publishing houses. To turn a manuscript into a paperback or hardcover book, you need an editor, beta readers, proofreaders, designers, and printers. Setting up your website can be difficult enough without having to deal with all of the logistics of actually publishing a book. It's not an easy task, and it takes a dedicated team of experts to pull it off successfully. The author may sometimes want to be the writer, editor, and expert, but this is not always the case. In my experience, most writers and authors who act in that manner produce crappy content that doesn't deliver on their promises.