When a writer is ‘successful’

Writers like Chinua Achebe are dead and yet leave a mark that makes their names spoken almost everywhere Nigerian writing is discussed. His works, as well as that of Wole Soyinka among many others, have set a pace that leaves others panting in their wake. MoneyIn a recent interview with Thisday, award-winning Nigerian writer and […]

Writers like Chinua Achebe are dead and yet leave a mark that makes their names spoken almost everywhere Nigerian writing is discussed. His works, as well as that of Wole Soyinka among many others, have set a pace that leaves others panting in their wake.
Money
In a recent interview with Thisday, award-winning Nigerian writer and filmmaker, Onyeka Nwelue, said “I am nowhere near successful. You must have your personal definition of success. For me, one who has money is successful. I don’t have it. I still borrow. I still owe lots of money.” And this coming from a writer whose literary works resonates far beyond Africa.
Chioma Nnani is an award-winning author who is self-published. For her success is that platform which gives her the opportunity to build the life she wants.
She admits “yes, I do interviews, but if they don’t open the door to money-making opportunities, they’re not a marker of success for me. I don’t care what the publication is. I’m not star-struck by anyone, so if meeting dignitaries doesn’t help my brand and put more money in my bank accounts on a consistent basis, that is not an indication of success to me.”
But could literary success simply be zeroed down to the amount of money a writer makes off his or her works? Or is there another way out? “Money is simply an addition,” says Denja Abdullahi, another award-winning writer and vice-president of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA). For him it is the personal recognition writers get for their work that makes them successful.  
Books published
A quick surf through the internet shows that there exist writers that are not yet household names but have published many books, sometimes more than what better known authors have. Such a fit by the latter must be success, one may conclude. Here, Abdullahi emphasizes that numbers do not count. The journey begins with a writer getting his work published, distributed, and then feedback that will tell how it has been received by readers.
Validation of a master
In an article titled, Chinua Achebe at 82: “We Remember Differently,” written by Adichie and published in Premium Times, she narrates her encounters with the literary icon and how his words made her feel.
Adichie wrote: After my first novel was published, I received an email from his son. “My dad has just read your novel and liked it very much. He wants you to call him at this number.” I read it over and over, breathless with excitement. But I never called. A few years later, my editor sent Achebe a manuscript of my second novel. She did not tell me, because she wanted to shield me from the possibility of disappointment. One afternoon, she called.  “Chimamanda, are you sitting down? I have wonderful news.” She read me the blurb Achebe had just sent her: “We do not usually associate wisdom with beginners, but here is a new writer endowed with the gift of ancient storytellers. Adichie knows what is at stake, and what to do about it. She is fearless or she would not have taken on the intimidating horror of Nigeria’s civil war. Adichie came almost fully made.”
Adichie said that afterwards she held on to the phone and wept and have memorized those words and added that, in her mind, they glimmer still, the validation of a writer whose work had validated her.
Awards
Nnani says “success as a writer, for me, is based on my core concept,” and explains that for some, it means awards, an incredible fan base, interviews, bragging rights on a bestselling list, the opportunity to meet dignitaries, speaking gigs and so on, but for her success is that platform which gives her the opportunity to build the life she wants.
Presently, writers across Nigeria such as Helon Habila, Tope Folarin, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and many others who have won prestigious awards have thrived on the push it has given them in the literary world and have gone on to write more works after that. Abdullahi caps it all when he describes awards as “a manifestation of a successful writer and not a measurement of success.”