Is story excellence something you "know when you see it"—or can it actually be measured?

Is excellence defined by hitting bestseller lists? Filling seats at every book tour stop? Being selected for “Best Books of 2025” lists?

Is excellence defined by getting gatekeeper approval? Getting agent representation? Landing a book deal? Winning awards?

Is excellence defined by earning money? Getting a big advance? Earning out the advance and bringing in royalties?

Or is it something else?

How can we measure that a book is good? What is the pinnacle we’re trying to reach, and how will we tell when we achieve it?

This is a big, big question, and feels in some ways impossible to answer. But I’m going to try. Because if we want to craft excellent novels, we need to know what we’re aiming for so we can recognize when we reach it and spot when we’re going off course.

Come journey with me to discover what excellent stories truly do. We’re going to get lightly philosophical so you can shape your stories to excellence too. 

You’ll hear:

• My current working definition of an excellent novel
• Why I am not actually the arbiter of excellence (even though I have really good taste)
• Why excellent books don’t always receive industry validation . . . and whether all books the industry promotes are excellent (spoiler: no)
• What readers WANT from stories
• Why stories have been essential to human survival since the beginning of storytelling
• 5 questions to ask yourself to define YOUR OWN standard of excellence

Once you’ve heard how I’m defining excellence, I’d love to hear your definition! Head to the comments on the blog post and let me know what makes a story excellent to you.

Share your standard of excellence in the comments »

Links mentioned in the episode:

• Ep. 65: Why Some Writers Resist Measuring Their Craft (And Why They Shouldn’t)
• Ep. 84: What If You Do Everything Right and the Book Launch Still Goes Wrong? with A.S. King
• Ep. 36: Your Story Has Deep Meaning. Do You Know What It Is?

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