Is book writing your business? If not, it should be.
Did you know that roughly 80% of authors make less than than $1,000 per year if they’re self-published? It’s slightly less for traditionally published authors. Wow. It takes months, even years for some authors to turn out a book worthy of publishing. Of course, some get lucky on their first book and see tens of thousands of dollars per month. They may even get a movie deal.
What sets these struggling authors apart from those who reap big books? For one, the most profitable authors are those with numerous titles to their name. More than that, though, these are authors who view writing as more than a creative outlet. Writing and publishing books is their business.
Very few authors create an overnight best-seller. If you treat being an author as a side hobby or a fun project, that’s what it will likely stay. On the other hand, if you want to make your living off of your books, you need to treat it like a business. Why?
Table of Contents
Is Book Writing Your Business?
Does it really matter if you start writing as casual hobby or a business from day one? Actually, yes. By treating book writing as your business, you establish the framework for higher levels of success. What does this framework consist of?
Financial Management
As soon as you look into publishing options for your first book, you’ll see the cost of getting cover art as well as editing and proofreading. Have you calculated how many books you need to sell to break even on the simple matter of getting your book on the market? This, of course, doesn’t include promotional costs. Often, hobby writers don’t find higher levels of success because they fail to manage their writing finances separate from their personal finances.
A business typically has startup capital, even if it’s a small amount. These funds initially are allocated to getting your book on the market and initial marketing opportunities. However, marketing isn’t a one-time thing. In addition, you probably have some other great book ideas that you want to bring to life. You’re going to have to put some money into your writing business before you can expect to turn a decent profit in many cases. You’ll have to budget inflow and outflow, making business decisions that ultimately lead to positive cash flow.
Marketing and Promotion
Those who’ve only written and published a book or two often toss some money at one marketing avenue to see if it works. However, from Facebook ads to Amazon ads, Bookbub ads and many others, simply trying something once likely isn’t going to be successful. A-B testing is crucial. This is followed by data collection and deep analytics. Then, you need to measure your cost of sale.
Have you considered the benefits of having your own author website. This is a powerful marketing option, but it does take time and money.
Marketing and promotion should not be limited to a “when I have extra money” expense and activity. Managing funds properly to maintain steady promotion and finding what works through deep analysis of many options are essential.
Networking
Networking is critical regardless of what you do for a living. It might initially seem like writing books is an exception, but this isn’t actually true. By communicating regularly with other authors, you can learn about what promotional opportunities have been working for them lately. You can get feedback on their experiences with other marketing options.
Authors have come together on several social media platforms to get feedback on their latest chapters. They share writing tips and talk about the latest industry challenges. Is someone never working with a specific publisher, self-publishing platform or book cover designer again? These are things that will absolutely help you be more successful as an author.
Accountability
When you run your writing activities as a business, you adopt professional habits and strategies. The most successful authors maintain a publishing schedule. Some publish a few books per year, and others create a schedule to publish eight or 10 books annually. Such a schedule keeps you on track and accountable for meeting production goals.
Finding success as an author is about more than writing books. Authors create marketing schedules. They set timelines for coordinating with editors and cover artists. They’re accountable for creating schedules that are feasible and for following through on their planned activities day after day to ultimately reach short-term and long-term goals.
Growth
A hobby is something that you do in your free time and when you’re in the mood. Hobby writers could publish a book every year or two, or they may not publish their second book for five or 10 years. When you are an author as a business, however, you have the financial plan, marketing strategy and established schedule for growth. This includes the growth of your income, your audience and your reputation.
You might eventually see some growth as a hobby writer, but this will generally occur over many long years, if it ever happens. If you hope to one day be a full-time novelist, you need to see faster growth. Imagine how many wonderful books you may have in two or three years if you treat writing as a part-time job with dedicated work hours throughout the week. Compare this to a “when I feel like it” approach.
Turn Book Writing into Your Business
While the benefits of turning a hobby into a business are substantial, exactly how do you do that? As you establish a business plan that works for you, consider:
- How many hours per week you can allocate to writing, financial management, marketing and planning?
- Based on your average writing pace, how many books could you realistically publish over the course of a year?
- Determine how much capital you can contribute to your business for editing, proofreading, artist fees and promotion on a regular basis.
- Create a budget that takes into account your publishing schedule and marketing schedule.
- Identify networking opportunities. Take advantage of these opportunities with regular collaboration and contributions.
These steps will get you started. After you dig into it for a few months, you’ll tweak your business plan and activities to find what works for you.