Business for Authors - Joanna Penn

Are you ready to take the next step in your author journey?

Art for the sake of art is important. Writing for the love of it, or to create something beautiful on the page, is absolutely worthwhile and critical to expand the sum of human expression.

But I'm not here to talk about creativity or the craft of writing in this book. My aim is to take the result of your creativity into the realm of actually paying the bills.

To take you from being an author to running a business as an author.

I was a business consultant for 13 years before I gave up my job in September 2011 to become a full-time author-entrepreneur. I worked for large corporates and small businesses, implementing financial systems across Europe and Asia Pacific.

I've also started a number of my own businesses: a scuba dive charter boat in New Zealand, a customized travel website, a property investment portfolio in Australia as well as my freelance consultancy. I've failed a lot and learned many lessons in my entrepreneurial life and I share them all in this book.

In the last six years of being an author, through tempestuous changes in the publishing world, I've learned the business side of being a writer and I now earn a good living as an author-entrepreneur. I'm an author because it's my passion and my joy, but also because it's a viable business in this age of global and digital opportunity.

In the book, you will learn:

Part 1: From Author To Entrepreneur
The arc of the author's journey, definition of an author-entrepreneur, deciding on your definition of success. Plus/ should you start a company?

Part 2: Products and Services
How you can turn one manuscript into multiple streams of income by exploiting all the different rights, various business models for authors and how to evaluate them, information on contracts, copyright and piracy.

Part 3: Employees, Suppliers and Contractors
The team you need to run your business. Editors, agents and publishers, translators, book designers and formatters, audiobook narrators, book-keeping and accounting, virtual assistants. Plus/ how to manage your team.

Part 4: Customers
In-depth questions to help you understand who your customers are and what they want, as well as customer service options for authors.

Part 5: Sales and Distribution
How to sell through distributors and your options, plus all the information you need to sell direct. ISBNs and publishing imprints: do you need them? Plus/ your options for pricing.

Part 6: Marketing
Key overarching marketing concepts. Book-based marketing including cover, back copy and sales pages on the distributors. Author-based marketing around building your platform, and customer-based marketing around your niche audience and targeted media.

Part 7: Financials
The money mindset, revenues and costs of the author business. Banking, PayPal, accounting, reporting, tax and estate planning.

Part 8: Strategy and Planning
Developing your strategy and business plan. Managing your time and developing professional habits. The long term view and the process for becoming a full-time author. Plus/ looking after yourself.

Part 9: Next Steps
Questions from the book to help you work out everything to do with your business, plus encouragement for your next steps.