Publishing a book is a business. I don’t want to treat it like a hobby. It’s my career. You’ve probably heard the term authorpreneur.
“An author who creates a written product, participates in creating their own brand, and actively promotes that brand through a variety of outlets.”
Even if you go the traditional route, you’re an authorpreneur. I’m about to finish grad school and I’d like to continue this life working from home– without my tuition refund.
If you want to be a full-time author, you need to do more than just write. Unless you’re Stephen King or J.K. Rowling, more than likely, you aren’t going to make enough money from book sales to live off of. It is possible but unlikely. Even those authors didn’t start out as mega-brands.
Well, I’ve studied some authors who publish many books a year. I mean above average–more than 3. Maybe about 5-10. Their stories are usually about 50,000 words. They don’t do a lot of marketing and promotion. They don’t do anything else except publish many books a year. It’s probably possible to make a living off your books if you write a lot of them.
You’d still need a plan for that– at least a publishing schedule.
You don’t sell hundreds of thousands of books by just winging it, especially if you’re an independent author. When you sell that many books, people notice you. They start making you offers, inviting you to speak.
You need a business plan. Here are some resources on creating a business plan and being an authorpreneur.
Do Writers Really Need a Book Business Plan?
“It’s vital for a writer to have a Book Business Plan because your books and you are the products to be sold. It makes most writers queasy to even imagine selling themselves but without a plan, you can hardly figure out a way for your book to sell itself. Think of it as a GPS getting you from Starving Writer Street to Successful Author Square.”
The roadmap we created allowed us to avoid distractions and focus on what would help us grow.
Introducing the Business Plan for Writers Worksheet!
“Business plans don’t have to be about numbers or sales projections. (I don’t do math. *smile*) They can also be about defining who we are as an author and what we want for our dreams….In addition, simply having a business plan might help us present ourselves more professionally. Our family and friends might see that we’re serious about our writing and better understand or respect our choices. Or at the very least,we’d know how serious we are.”
[Book] Business For Authors. How To Be An Author Entrepreneur by Joanne Penn
“I’m an author because it is my passion and my joy … but also because it can be a business in this age of global and digital opportunity.”
Small Business Administration: Create Your Business Plan
“This living document generally projects 3-5 years ahead and outlines the route a company intends to take to grow revenues.”
