The sweet smell of success
No one talks about what color the success is, just how it smells.
When Amanda Palmer was busking on the streets of Harvard Square, she made enough to pay her rent. She supported herself, she made it work. She didn't plan on busking, think about busking or get ready to busk. She did it and she succeeded. One person, ten people in the crowd… Didn't matter, she was working, she was a pro.
I sold my first book project (I owned half of it) for $5,000. I didn't worry about how big the advance was, I celebrated that I had a publisher. I followed that up a (very long) year later with another book (I owned half of that one, too) which I sold for even less. But now I had TWO publishers, and stories to go with each.
You will be labeled, like it or not. If you earn the label of, "person who builds things, ships them and sells them to someone who values them…" you're way ahead of the pack. You're going to be doing this for a long time. When you have the chance, engage with the market, declare victory, make the sale.
More chocolate chip cookies don't smell that much better than just a few.