A business plan for writers

BY SUZANNE ANDERSON

About ten years ago, I realized that I was not accomplishing as much as I wanted to with my abundance of book projects. As a business owner, I had done many business plans and they helped me to accomplish goals by providing a roadmap to follow. I decided to make one for my writing. My plan is only two pages long, but it has kept me on track with my writing and publishing. Creating a business plan for your writing will help keep you focused on your goals and support your career.

You want to start with a main Objective. Mine was to “help writers self-publish their books in a professional manner by providing products and services.” Keep it simple. You can always adjust any part of your objective as things change. Even a short-term objective can be useful. The aim of completing a book and finding a publisher might be all you need to move your project forward.

I set up categories that I believed would be helpful to me as a writer and self-publisher. In the first category, Goals, I listed smaller objectives for writing and selling books, such as selling off all my printed books and completing another book that I wanted to write. Then I made a complete list of books that I planned to write. To my surprise, there ended up being fourteen books on that list. Another category was the Publicity that I needed to do to sell my books, including press releases, blog posts, and mail-outs to libraries. I even included a category for Distractions, which was pretty illuminating: I discovered that my volunteering was taking precedence over my writing and gave up a couple of organizations that I was involved with. Even though I do not make a living from my writing, I made a table of Revenue and Expenses for the current year and following year. The expenses helped me identify items that I did not need anymore, such as subscriptions that were draining my writing income.

The category What Do I Want to Do? has been one of my most useful lists. Like many writers, I talk about what I want to do such as write, publish, consult, and teach, but putting it in writing helped to give me focus. I felt that I needed to be specific with my list too. Instead of stating “write,” I put down “write at least two hours a day during the week.” That forces me to work diligently to carve out of time to write every day.

I revisit my plan every couple of years and update it as needed for what I am working on at the current time. It has helped me to stay on track with my writing projects. I find a business plan for me as a writer is one of the more useful tools I have used. It can be a handy tool for any writer. Try it.

Suzanne Anderson is an author and publishing coach who helps writers navigate the world of independent publishing. She self-published her first book in 1997 and has written three more books since. Best known for the book Self Publishing in Canada, she conducts writing and publishing workshops throughout BC. Learn more at selfpublishing.ca.