Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Why Authors Need a Business Plan


Many authors do not have a business plan and thus only plan for failure.  Without a map to somewhere, you are on the road to nowhere.  So why don’t authors have a plan?

1.      They don’t think they need one.
2.      They think what’s in their head is good enough.
3.      They don’t really know how to write one.
4.      They don’t want to confront the truth of what they need to do.
5.      They don’t have much of a budget, so they assume there isn’t much that can be done.
6.      They mistakenly think being on social media all day is a plan.

Whatever the reason is, it’s not good enough to not create a plan. To design a business plan, you simply have to think about your answers to these things:

1.      What am I trying to accomplish?
2.      When do I start and end?
3.      What resources do I have access to?
4.      What will I not be able to do?
5.      How will my plan fit into my larger objectives and long-term goals?
6.      How will I spend my time productively, both before the book launches and afterwards?

When creating a business plan, address these key areas:
·         Sales
·         Marketing
·         Advertising
·         Publicity
·         Branding

Think of which action steps and series of sub-steps are required to achieve tangible results in each area.  Don’t try to do everything—narrow down your list of achievable priorities.

When you create a business plan you’ll need to budget your time, money, and resources.  Determine what the costs will be and guess what the likely pay-off shall be.  Have periods of evaluation to determine what’s working and what isn’t.  Make adjustments—or kill parts of the plan are failing.

A business plan will help you:

·         Move from generating ideas to executing them
·         Enter into a business mindframe
·         Structure monumental action steps
·         Assess and measure results that keep you on the right path
·         Identify what’s needed, what’s probable, and what’s just beyond your means
·         Have an intense focus and direction to help you get from where you are to where you want to be

The art of writing might be about feelings, emotions, desires, fantasies, and purpose—but it’s also a business that demands an eye on the bottom line.  Make a business plan and be ready to alter it along the way.  Otherwise, you’ll just float aimlessly until one day you determine that it’s time to pack it in.

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Brian Feinblum’s views, opinions, and ideas expressed in this blog are his alone and not that of his employer, the nation’s largest book promoter. You can follow him on Twitter @theprexpert and email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels more important when discussed in the third-person. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog © 2013

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