Writing is a business whether you self-publish or go the traditional route. As an author, I HATE the business side of things. To me it is BORING! I just want to write my books. No matter how much I hate and want to ignore the business side, I’ve had to become an expert at my business.

First get a good high-level view of the business and where you fit in it. Here is an excellent article to get you started.
http://www.digitalbookworld.com/2013/self-publishing-debate-part1/

Now look at your publishing business. What is your plan for the next year to grow your audience and increase earnings? What is your target growth for the year? What are your five and ten year plans?

Don’t worry. I won’t make you write it all out (at least not today). These are questions you should know the answer to and you should have to. Are you feeling overwhelmed? It’s okay. Take it one step at a time. Look at one aspect of your business. There is a LOT of information to absorb in this post. Take your time. Reread and needed and I’m always around for questions and to help guide you in the right direction.

Let’s look at taxes. Don’t wait until April to think about taxes. There are things you can do throughout the year to optimize your publishing businesses deductions. Here’s an article from 2013. Use it as a base for knowledge, then do your research: Tax and the More Tax by Michele Tooles.

What were your sales last year? Do you know your numbers? Looking at Amazon ratings is not a good gauge of how well your titles are actually selling. You need real numbers. How many units did you sell? How much did you spend on production and marketing? Here’s an article on gathering your numbers. Know Your Numbers by Deatri King-Bey

Where do you see your publishing business in the next year? Five years? Ten years? Let’s start small. If you don’t have your plan for the year, make one. Your year doesn’t have to start on Jan. 1. Make your plan for the next twelve months (year), then get busy. Your one year plan should be concrete. What are your goals and the steps you will take to make them. Be sure to incorporate cost and time needed for each step.

Once you’ve gotten comfortable with the one year plan concept, write your mid-term goals. Where do you expect your business to be in five years or if five seems to far away, in three years? Your mid-term goals do not have to be as concrete and your year to year plans should be action items to help you reach those goals.

Next are your long-term plans. Ten years down the line or if that sounds too far away, seven years. These plans are not concrete. It’s like your dream. It’s always good to know where you want to be headed, so you can take the steps to go in that direction. Sounds simple, but you’d be shocked at how many people say they want this that or the other, then never get there because they don’t route the path to get there.

Your plans are not written in stone. You WILL update them. As the publishing climate changes along with your wants, you’ll need to make updates.

Here’s an article to help with your planning: Proper Planning Testimony: A Key To Publishing Success by Deatri King-Bey

I don’t want to give you information overload, so will stop for now. Take your time and start mastering the business side.

To save you, I broke this article into two pieces. Click here for The Ever Changing Publishing World

Deatri King-Bey

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