ARE YOU READY TO TREAT YOUR WRITING LIKE A BUSINESS?

Why should this book be in the library of any serious author that craves to earn a living from writing?

Treat Your Writing Like a Business gives you the system used by Amazon’s top authors. I’m not talking about authors that get an orange best seller badge for five minutes in some low volume category. I mean authors who win blue best seller banners and Kindle Unlimited bonuses. Names you would recognize from the top one hundred sellers in romance, thrillers, science fiction, and fantasy. Treat Your Writing Like a Business is the system they use to run their business.

How do I know this?

I’m Joe Solari, and I help authors build great businesses.

My business is running the back offices for top authors, all earning six and seven figures. They come to me because they want to build wealth from their content. They want to build a business to serve them, not the other way around. The business system herein is one I developed while working with these authors.

If you’re serious about making a living as a writer, then you’ll find value in this book. Even if you haven’t written a book yet, this system will show you how to make that happen. You see, for your publishing business to be successful, it must produce a quality product. This book was written in a way to help you create your publishing business in tandem with getting your books to market. If you’re already published, and you’re looking to get serious about the business of writing, then you’ll get the help you need as well.

If you’re looking to get rich quick, then this isn’t the book for you. Please only buy this book if you’re serious about being a full-time writer. 

Are you prepared to write three million words before your books take off? The authors I work with, the authors at the top of this game, were not overnight successes. In every case, it took years before they earned six figures. This book is for those who know they are destined to earn a living as an author. Those prepared to do what it takes to make that dream a reality. 

My system will get your book to market faster, and habituate a business system that can scale up as your business grows. This system will facilitate the life you desire. Better still, this system will help you figure out exactly what that life looks like so that your business and your goals are in alignment.

Included in the purchase of your book is the Treat Your Writing Like a Business course. Depending on the level you selected for the course you will have varied level of access to course material. You should have received an email with your login information. You can access the log in page here. 

You can learn more about this book and my other books, along with courses and resources, at my website www.JoeSolari.com.

Introduction

Years ago, I had this weight set in my house. I had bought it to get in shape in the comfort of my own home.

One morning, I was doing a deadlift, and POP! A stabbing pain shot down my lower back, and I fell to the floor. I let out a horrible yell — the kind of sound you make when in excruciating pain and with the knowledge that you just did something terrible to yourself. It took me a week of bed rest to be able to even move, and several more weeks to not feel pain with every step.

Needless to say, I didn’t touch those weights for a long time.

When I did get the courage to start exercising again, I went to a strength coach. After stretching, our warm-ups consisted of going through the weightlifting movements. We used a PVC pipe to give the feel of the bar, which had no weight at all. When we did move to weights, my gains were exponential. 

You see, I had learned proper form (I won’t say it was perfect). Having proper form delivered faster results because:

• The movement engaged more muscle

• The movement used momentum to move a more significant mass

• Moving more weight produced more stress in muscle tissue, creating faster gains.

More importantly, I didn’t get hurt. With my body habituated to practice safe movement, my back was protected and, over time, made stronger.

Think of me as the strength coach for your publishing business. I’ll help you strip down to the essential movements and show you how to use them to get where you want to go with your business.

That last statement is important, so I’ll repeat it.

I’ll help you get where you want to go with your business.

No BS promises of passive income riches, or millions made from selling your books. We will figure out what you want, and then go and get it.

Here is what I know about successful author businesses, and I see a lot of them because I’m working with six and seven-figure authors on their strategy and back office:

There are many obstacles in front of you. 

• Lack of information. While the small business owner is lauded as the backbone of the economy, nothing is done to educate them. The Small Business Administration (SBA) is designed to protect banks, not help individuals start a business, and there is an almost laughable lack of access to skills and training for business operations.

• You. Not you, per se, but all business owners have to get out of their own way. Limiting beliefs like “I’m a creative, so this business stuff is too hard,” or fears around success and failure will impact your business.

• Limited resources. You’re the principal investor, and unless you’re loaded, you’re doing this on a limited financial budget. Most authors are also doing this on the side while raising a family. That means you have limited time, as well. All this adds up to limited resources.

I’ll show you some ways to overcome these obstacles, and build a functional and successful business. A functional business produces the cash flow necessary to fund itself and investor goals. A successful business fulfills investor goals. You need both. The functioning business can pay the bills, but a successful business delivers on what you as the investor want from the business.

What separates successful authors from the pack? 

An investor mindset and clarity of purpose. 

How do we get that?

1. Your business must align with what you want out of life—it’s not just more money. Figure out your life goal (to get out of debt, put kids through college), and we can optimize your business to achieve that goal.

2. Learn that there are interim goals that have to be achieved. Clarity and completion of these goals will get your life-changing results faster.

3. Build a business that serves a customer. It boils down to writing what you love and connecting with readers that love what you write. Every dollar you make will come from a consumer of your content. Never forget that the source of income is a content consumer.

With these three points in mind, you have the critical elements. By first aligning your business with what you want, then regardless of your momentum, the direction is always correct, meaning your business is pointed toward the next important goal.

This book and the corresponding course material are designed to help you build a business based on core business movements and phases. The activities are designed to create habits or mental muscle memory. If you have good form, you will get results faster, and you will be trained to do the right thing almost unconsciously.

This system isn’t contingent on writing speed. There is no call to action for you to write outside of your comfort zone. Instead, we will adjust your business and your expectations to fit how you write. By using this system, you’ll determine your path to market, and adapt plans accordingly. Velocity, not speed, is what we seek. “Short and actionable” is my motto. I have worked to keep the word count down, the material concise, and each section with exercises that will move you forward toward your goal. 

Much of what you’ll find here isn’t original; I’ve drawn on multiple disciplines, learning from some of my mentors, and I went to the school of hard knocks. That being said, you won’t find this in other author-based courses, because the premise of this work is original.

By doing the work, you’ll build a publishing business with systems and structure. Read the section, do the work, implement the systems, and enjoy the results.

Is this the only way?

No!

Entrepreneurs and authors have been muscling their way through business practices for decades. No system, no support…and to make matters worse, no alignment with their life goals.

This book shows you a successful system for a publishing business. 

Depending on where you’re at in your author career, you may have to adjust your entry point. The book is broken down into four sections.

1. Foundations. This is a collection of articles that outline fundamental concepts to running a business and achieving success, as well as my observations about the industry. 

2. Start. This section covers getting your business started. If you haven’t published, or are in the early stages of publishing, start here.

3. Grow. After you have published, and your business needs to scale, you will add to the system to enable your business delivers on your goals.

4. Prosper. Strategies to customize your business to your needs. This section includes how to plan your exit from your day job.

You can start at the beginning if you’re just getting started, or jump to a specific section, like “An Exit Strategy,” if you’re looking to leave your nine-to-five.

I will caution you that if you decide to jump around, you should first go back and read the “Foundations” section. I called it “Foundations” for a reason. The philosophies and concepts are fundamental to any business going through the phases of maturity.

This book isn’t motivational. If you’re not motivated, you won’t do the work, and no amount of rah-rah, or pictures painted of you rolling in tubs of cash from readers will make you a success. My experience is that those who want this will persevere, and they will earn a living from writing. 

I do think this book is inspirational in that, as you go through the work, you’ll begin to see how you’re better suited to be a CEO than you thought before reading. And that’s what you are; you’re the CEO of your writing business. Creatives are naturally inclined to make something of value out of nothing. That’s what building a business is—creating value for customers and investors.

The book is also connected to the course to help you build a robust business. Support videos and additional material is provided to get you where you’re looking to go in your life. All of this is part of your business strength coaching. 

If you’re ready, then let’s begin.

The Treat Your Writing Like a Business is a system designed to get results.

Rather than overwhelm you with all the information at once, it will be shared in bite sized pieces as you work through the book. There will be choices for you to make as you read that may direct you to specific sections based on where you are in your career or based on what you have decided to want out of your writing career.

There will also be exercises. These can be one-off tests or evaluations to help you get information together for the system, or routine processes to help you get results. Follow the directions and do the work as outlined, and you will see results faster.

Here is your first challenge: 

Exercise #1:  Book an Appointment with Yourself

Book time with yourself. Use your calendar to block time, and make sure that time is used to do the work. Set aside time each day, five days a week, all year long.

The time block should be thirty minutes. That’s it! Use a timer on your phone to let you know when you’re done.

Your only task during this time block is to read this book and do the work prescribed. 

Determine the best time to do the work. You may be a morning person or an evening person. Some people have to squeeze this work in during their lunch hour. The point is to make the time for this work, and don’t let anything else distract you when it is time to do it.

The time blocks will be a recurring tool we’ll use to provide you with short, intense work sessions. There is further detail on this in the “Habit Foundation” section.

Now, let’s get to work!