Stories of Our Journeys

J.C. Hutchins is an award-winning fiction and nonfiction writer. He’s also the author of 7th Son: Descent and Personal Effects: Dark Art and is the self-publisher and producer of the first podcast/audio book productions on the web. He has had more than 5 million episodic downloads of his fiction to date and is one of the most popular podcast novelists in the world.

J.C. reveals how he did all this and it came down to four basic principles.

J.C. Hutchins Successful Secret #1: Think Like a Businessman

In our interview with J.C., it was evident that J.C. worked very hard for his achievements. J.C. pushed 7th Sun: Descent for five years before it was published; now that’s some persistence.

Whilst J.C. was pushing for publication of his book, he pursued alternative methods of promotion when major methods weren’t available.

J.C. learned early on that if you can’t afford to advertise, you must find compelling ways to cross-promote with those who can so that everyone benefits in some way. So what did J.C. do?J.C. networked for promotion.

The result? Promotion for J.C.’s book was free. Distribution for J.C.’s book was also done for free.

J.C. Hutchins Success Secret #2: Be Your Own Biggest Supporter

You must be the biggest fan of your own work because if you don’t do it, no one else will.J.C. talks about his work and his projects with such infectious passion. In fact, J.C. even convinced his publisher that distributing his book contents for free would boost book sales because he absolutely believed it.

According to J.C., 7th Sun and the trilogy are million dollar books. “This thing has hit written all over it.”

No one can fault J.C. that he is a believer in himself and his works. You need to be your project’s biggest supporter.

J.C. Hutchins Success Secret #3: Don’t be Afraid of Hard Work

People often don’t see the hard work that is mandatory in making a person successful. The truth is, no success is earned without hard work.J.C. will be quick to tell you that he is a self made guy. He did it all himself for three years and he dedicated 80 hours into his projects every week.

The moral of the story? You have to work for what you want.

J.C. Hutchins Success Secret #4: Learn to Move On

J.C. reveals that he bears no ill will, even when his publisher informed him that they would not be publishing his later books.He was crestfallen but he didn’t take it personally. Beyond the disappointment and heartache, J.C. asked himself, “How do you want to spend the next year of your life? Do you want to spend it fretting?”

It doesn’t seem like a wise way to spend your time, creative and emotional energy. It was time to move on.

Now It’s Your Turn

Have a think about any current or future projects that you plan to begin and consider whether there are any areas that you can be improved.It can be anything from putting in the hours to re-framing how your envision and approach your project.For more inspiration from JC Hutchins, check out our Stories of Our Journeys interview with him.