What we know:
- Many authors imitate direct marketers.
- Direct marketing tactics are not working as they did in the past.
- Advertising platforms are becoming saturated, and the math on the cost per click versus that revenue per book (even with read through) isn’t adding up.
- People want to buy not be sold something.
- Rather than trying the same tired hard-sell approach, focus on building a community of fans.
Part 3 of 3
It's More Than Just Writing
Treat your writing like a business..
Beyond the act of writing your book, there are the added requirements of running a business.
This requirement is a fact of life.
If you earn a living from writing, that means income.
Income means income tax.
but it's more than just paying taxes...
While you may have a day job right now, with your success will come the need to manage the income and expenses related to being a full-time writer.
If you don’t embrace the idea that you’re going to be running a business, then you’re setting yourself up for failure.
You see, there is a big difference between the goals of “I want to write a book, and I want to earn a living from my writing.”
In the first scenario, you can do this for no cost at all. You can write your book and publish it with a homemade cover. You could just put it up on Medium or a blog and be done. You’ve hit your goal.
But earning a living is a different path; you need revenues to be sustainable for decades, provide reliable income, and create wealth. That, my friend is a business, and if you're not going to treat your writing like a business, then you're going to increase your risk of failure as well as possibly overpaying in taxes.
You'll be Running a Startup
Entrepreneurs and makers rarely look at their creativity as a startup business. We all think that is for techie types in Silicon Valley seeking venture capital.
The reality is, venture-funded tech startups are a tiny percentage of the companies that start each year.
Most startups begin as a sole proprietor bringing a product or service to the market and seeing if there is a need.
Success results in a full-time business, not necessarily what you might have planned.
But many businesses never get past year one. The venture fails to be appropriately funded or gets into cash flow troubles along the way.
Mark my words, if you don’t begin to look at a full-time author career as a business, you’ll end up in money trouble.
This is why I focus so much on the business of writing.
Business is the most significant area of weakness for authors and the one part of the equation they go to great lengths to ignore.
Ironically, business practices are the one skill set that accelerates prosperity.
Reading this far into the material shows you’re looking at your writing career differently.
You seek to learn as much as you can to do things the right way.
Rather than thinking of business practices, cash management, and taxes as a necessary evil of your pursuit, look at them as tools to help you get the results you want from your writing.
Better still, these are the skills that will give you a fierce competitive advantage in publishing.
Let other authors act like amateurs.
By learning how to use business practices to get the results you want, you’ll increase your probability of having a long-term career as an author.
Understanding the business side of writing is crucial for success.
I’ve watched authors earning six and seven figures get into trouble because they don’t have the fundamental processes in place.
You may be saying, "I’ll worry about that when I get there."
These habits need to form early in your career.
If your books take off, then the result of poor habits will be paying too much in taxes.
However, if you’re like most authors, who take several years to get to earning full-time money, then those bad habits might sink you before you ever get to a profit.
Twenty percent of all new businesses go out of business in the first year, and only one in five make it to year five. The most common reason is that the business runs out of money.
Now that you know about this business killer, what will you do with that knowledge?
Do you implement a business system designed to get you through startup and set the right growth rate for your business?
Or wing it and hope you're different?
Authors that treat their writing like a business know;
- to make sure their product is right for the market,
- to treat readers like customers,
- to treat the whole writing process like a business, not a hobby.
You've made it this far...
You’ve seen that today is a great day to be an author because you have better access to the market.
Once you participate in the market by publishing your story, you have less than a 2.5% chance to earn over $1,000 or more a year.
As a published author, you’ll have a responsibility to build an audience. Even a traditional publisher expects that you will help to promote your books.
The promotions that used to work in the past aren’t working, but authors can build an audience in ways others can’t. Using these new ways will take patience.
And finally, without adopting business practices, your dream of becoming a full-time writer may never get off the ground.
I’m not painting a pretty picture, am I?
Those that try to seduce you into the idea that this will be easy are selling a dream, not a real solution.
Instead, I’m sharing that there is a proven process that successful businesses follow. Some are lucky and stumble on the formula, but most don’t, and that’s why they fail.
When you’re ready to start treating your writing like a business, then you know you can tap into my solution.
If you know that you’re ready to begin treating your writing like a business, then I would like to introduce you to my system for operating an author business.
You've read through over three thousand words outlining my view of the publishing market. If you agree that what you need to do to succeed is apply business practices to your publishing, then I can help.
The next step is for you to provide your name and email address. This will give you access to the product page for Treat Your Writing Like a Business. I'll send you a few emails to help you decide if the book and courses are for you.
WHAT AM I SIGNING UP FOR?
If you know that you’re ready to begin treating your writing like a business, then I would like to introduce you to my system for operating an author business.
You'll get several emails and access to the sales page and description. you can unsubscribe at any time.