Is there really a ''key'' to success when it comes to being a published writer?

[Finesse]

Its all about timing. If you write something original, and it goes supernova, its not so much about who wrote it or how well, its just that the world was ready for something like it. Unfortunately its not something you can bottle or predict, you can totally tell the kinds of books where the author created something they wanted to read, and the kinds where they're trying to be mainstream, trying to get in on a slice of that Hunger Games pie.