Are Writers, Artists, and Creatives In Competition with One Another?

Even in a crowded market, we’re not competing with each other.

creatives are not in competition — *Photo by Brooke Cagle on Unsplash*

In trying to learn how many authors are self-published, no search I’ve run on Google can give me a number. Between Amazon and other services making self-publishing increasingly easier, it’s safe to presume that there are thousands, if not tens of thousands of self-published, indie authors.

The number I have been able to find, according to Bowker data published in February of 2023, is that 2.3 million books were self-published in the US in 2021. That’s a lot of books.

How many genres does that cover? What degree of proofreading and editing has gone into them? How do they sell compared to traditionally published books?

The question I don’t ask, that some might is – how much are indie authors competing with one another? The answer is not at all.

To be fair, yes, we are competing to get readers, people clicking and buying our books, and sales. But that’s not the competition of author versus author. Rather, it’s a matter of how we do promotions, marketing, use social media, mailing lists, and the tools at our disposal to draw in and entice readers to read our books.

The reality is that writers, artists, and other creatives aren’t in competition with one another.

What is competition?

Many things get defined as competition in the world today. It gets applied to both tangibles and intangibles. But what is it?

According to dictionary.com, competition is:

noun

the act of competing; rivalry for supremacy, a prize, etc.
a contest for some prize, honor, or advantage

By this technical definition, competition is a far narrower topic than it tends to be lumped into.

Competition, in its truest, purest form, is for a win or a prize. Football, hockey, wrestling, and most sports are competitions to see who comes out on top. Board games, gameshows, trivia contests, and the like are also competitions for prizes, recognition, and such.

Society tends to lump lots of other things into the definition of competition. People striving for jobs, homes, cars, resources, and other goods and services. Frequently, artificial lack and scarcity are emphasized, used, and abused to create an air of competition. Hurry – before supplies run out!

Worse than this, however, is society’s tendency to create competition for intangibles. It’s often implied, if not stated outright, that we’re competing for love, recognition, acceptance, happiness, joy, and every other feeling, emotion, or attitude you can conceive of. Things that are in abundance largely due to their immaterial nature are treated as something we must compete for.

This creates a lot of fear, uncertainty, and worse. How else do you think people get drawn into cults and utterly blind faith? Their leaders use and abuse competition – that doesn’t exist – for intangibles.

Writers, artists, and creatives aren’t competing

In the crowded indie author market, I am one of many, many writers striving to get attention for my work, gain readers, and sell books to earn my living. In my niche genres of sci-fi and fantasy, the number of writers seeking readers makes it challenging.

But I’m not competing with other writers. That’s because I desire for all other writers, artists, and creatives to be successful.

My work isn’t to everyone’s taste. But let’s face it, one-size-fits-all, seldom, truly fits all. Even in the generalized genres of sci-fi and fantasy, there are a ton of sub-genres. When you get right down to it, each is its own unique, separate niche.

So, the reality is that I’m not competing with any other author. That’s why I recently joined a book promotion group via BookFunnel with other indie authors. This offers an opportunity for us to support one another.

This applies to other writers, artists, and creatives. What we make won’t appeal to everyone. Hence, we’re not competing. As communities, we work together better to advocate for ourselves, for representation, and other means to improve the world around us.

Together, the creative community does best in harmony with one another. That doesn’t mean blindly agreeing with each other, nor accepting everything that’s called “art” is art. So, what is it? It’s seeing the power of being a community of creatives over fighting one another in false competition for this, that, or the other thing.

There is good and useful competition in the world

I am by no means an advocate of participation trophies for all. Merit deserves recognition. Merit and skill create necessary benchmarks to strive for in life.

In most sporting competitions, you’ll get winners and losers. We can’t all win, and if your team is outscored by their team – no matter how well you played – you don’t win. There’s a lot to be learned from losing, too.

Along this line, some authors have greater merit, do better work, and will be better sellers as such. If you craft a truly amazing, enticing story – even if it’s way better than mine – you deserve sales and recognition. But that’s not a matter of competition between us.

Artificial competition and competition for intangibles do us all a disservice. It sets people up to compete not for prizes, victory, honor, or advantage, but for an endless cycle of comparison that has no logic. Nor any basis in reality. Compare apples to oranges all you like. The red and green apple with its edible skin is not the same as the orange citrus fruit you need to peel, and neither one is better than the other. Your preference notwithstanding.

Recognizing useful competition from pointless competition puts us more firmly in the driver’s seat, behind the wheel of our lives. It empowers us to give our best, be our best, do our best. No matter what anyone else is doing.

The world can never have too much creativity in it. And that’s why creatives of all types aren’t truly in competition with one another.

Thanks for reading. As I share my creative journey with you, I conclude with this: How are you inspired to be your own creator – whatever form that takes?