They’re simple, yet not obvious at first

“Hey, Tim, I’ll mention your book launch in my next newsletter.”

“Thanks, mate. Not expecting any sales really. It’s more a passion project and a challenge. If you can mention it, great. If not then it’s all gravy.”

This is a good reply for sure, but what you don’t know is the commitment that was involved in making this book.

I was involved in his book project from an early point. I proofread it, gave him suggestions, and I even made his sales page and set up automation for his mailing list. Through all that, I’ve seen how committed he was and how much effort (in time and money) was put into the whole project.

If Tim Denning, one of Medium’s highest-earning writers, genuinely says that he’s in it for the passion and the challenge, not the money, why aren’t we all?

I see people complain every day on Medium:

“My stats are going down” (it happens)
“I’m in curation jail” (that doesn’t exist)
“Medium doesn’t like me anymore” (they don’t even know you)
“My revenues are down this month” (it happens)
“Why aren’t all my articles going viral?” (that’s just delusional)

What does Tim do? He writes. Consistently.

He doesn’t do it for the money. He does it for two less sexy reasons: because he loves doing it and he likes to challenge himself.

He spent (unpaid) months writing the manuscript for his book. He hired (paid) editors to make sure everything was great. He asked for help from other writers he admires. He paid for multiple book covers until he was satisfied. He paid a web developer to set up his sales page. And more.

At the end of all this time and money effort, he’s OK with it being a flop. Not only that — he even expects it!

Now, before you call me a fanboy, think deeply about the lessons here. As a creator, I too pride myself on consistency and following my curiosity. Thanks to this, at times I’ve had similar results to Tim. It’s not by chance. Many of the top writers I know have that same mentality and results. Niklas Göke, Nick Wignall, Jessica Wildfire and Darius Foroux jump to mind for me.

Takeaways

Do things for the sake of passion and challenge.
Spend time and money with no pretence that you’ll get them back.
Expect failure, but do everything you can so it doesn’t happen.
Ask for help from others.
Work consistently without obsessing over vanity metrics.