success

What would success as a writer consist of anyway?
Writing something good? Of course, but what else?
To have something read by a publishing house? or an agent? to write a successful query?
Having something published? As in printed, as in an  honest-to-god book? That someone pays you for?
Having said book sell? Having it sell well, best seller territory?
Of course, that is success! Right?
But what if you write a best seller, and it is a steaming pile of shit? I mean, we all know of these, I won’t mention the authors. They sell millions of books in every language on the globe. They go on book tours, their books are optioned without any effort from the writers.
They are, in a sense, successful. They can quit their day jobs. People know their work, often even their faces. Their characters sometimes become part of the popular lexicon of the day.
Yet, surely they know. They have read the good stuff, indeed they sometimes claim they have been inspired by the good stuff.
Do they think themselves successful?