How many times can you ask yourself, “Would that work for me?” without doing anything about it?

Many of us suffer from the Shiny Object Syndrome (SOS), but you have to at least throw the dart once in a while to hit the bullseye.

Started a new career lately? Or maybe you’re just getting started with your first?

Unless you have a boss, a contract, and a salary tied to a job description, you might occasionally wonder to yourself, “Gee, what if I did XYZ, would that work for me?”

Let’s take an example. Hmm, who could we use? Oh, OK, me. Last year, I made several drastic decisions that, and I don’t say this lightly, dramatically changed my life. One of them was my work or “career” as some people like to say. I don’t really like to use that word as I don’t understand it or maybe I just associate with it. (Ha, maybe that’s subliminally related to this post. Have I mentioned recently how important it is to Write Every Day? Anyway.)

I made the decision last year to be a writer. Pretty simple and frankly pretty easy. I just need to write. Great, done, check! But what, um, exactly does that mean? Here are a few examples of Shiny Objects:

1. Podcast: I’ve been told in more ways than one that I need to start a podcast. I’m toying with the idea. It’s been fun–and real–and real fun.
2. Nonfiction books: I can’t not do this. I am drawn to it because I’m a teacher and I enjoy it. The Every Single Day book is a part of my life, ahem, every single day.
3. Fiction books: This one has snuck up on me recently (The Accidental Superhero) and I keep making drug references to drugs that I have never done (no, really). This is my kid in a candy store and it’s terribly exciting.
4. Courses: I’m having fun building the Book Sales Page course with fellow Authorpreneuer Angela J. Ford. I very much enjoy teaching and I like helping people, and I even like combining technology with design and marketing, but it’s not where my heart is.

So imagine my intrigue as I listen to one of my favorite book marketing podcasts about a writer who is killing it with short fiction (The Short Story Miracle Man with author T.S. Paul). Well, “intrigue” isn’t quite the right word. Intrigue might work if my neighbor heard the podcast. Maybe because I’m so open and available to options right now in my life, I take the “Would that work for me?” question more seriously.

He’s writing shorter books and selling them on Amazon. That’s about it. That’s his big secret. But behind the scenes, he’s selling lots of books. No, lots of books. If you listen to the podcast, it’s also rather fun to hear about how he’s not following many (if any) of the regular “rules of the game” as we Authorpreneurs know and love them. This is both exciting and concerning. Exciting because we think, “Ooh, maybe we don’t have to follow all of the rules!” but concerning because then we might think, “But what rules should I follow, if any?”

Yeah, so there’s that.

But he’s writing. A lot. He’s also enjoying it and, get this: his readers are enjoying his stories. Let’s just back up and minute and finish off this entire thing with that: his readers are enjoying his stories.