The Business Side of Writing

When I first got into publishing, my mentor Adrian J. Smith taught me one of the most important aspects of this business.

It’s simple: This is a business.

In order to make a living at writing, you have to treat it like a business. You need plans. You need goals (long and short term). You need discipline. And you need integrity. 

I will preface with this: if you’re writing for fun and don’t care about making money, this does not apply to you. If your ultimate goal is to make a living at writing, then you need to print this out and take notes. 

First and foremost… To become a full-time writer, you need to put in full-time hours.

Nothing comes for free. Nothing is easy. You must put in what you want out of it. Even if you have a full-time job, in order to develop yourself, you must put in every hour you can. Any excuse you make is just that: an excuse. 

• Ask yourself, where is your time wasted? How can you block out writing business time? What are the obstacles that hinder that time? 
• Wake up one-two hours earlier. Stay up one-two hours later. Take your lunch break (30-60 minutes). Get off of Messenger or Facebook. As a society, we waste time with unproductive, unnecessary tasks. Just by taking a little time in the morning and the evening, you give yourself up to four hours a day to put toward a full-time future.
• If you work five days a week, there are two days you are not at your day job. Those days are perfect for working on your writing business.
• Working on your business isn’t always about writing: there’s other things you have to do to build your brand. Editing. Plotting. Scribbling ideas in your journal. Marketing your past books. Developing a digital profile like a website or blog. Designing book covers for your future works. These (and more) are all things you need to be doing.

Another challenge authors find themselves facing is the conundrum of writing to market vs. writing for art. And while there is a market for everything, small niche genres such as splatterpunk are hard to make a living on unless you do it well. 

And trust me, only a few people can. 

Larger genres such as romance or thrillers are easier to “write to market,” because there are formulas and patterns. 

• Read and research the bestsellers before diving in. Who are the big names? Why are they on the bestseller lists? What are they doing to get there? Do you see patterns in the work?
• Just because you have a idea that no one is currently using doesn’t mean you automatically stand out. If no one knows what you’re writing, they won’t buy your work, no matter how awesome it is. 
• The horror world doesn’t care who has the goriest or most violent book—they want quality over body count. A big part of becoming a successful writer is what happens after you finish your first draft: revising, editing, marketing, building relationships, etc…

Just because writing is free, doesn’t mean it doesn’t cost to be a self-published author or indie press. This is where goals and planning become a big part of the “business” world and where most authors struggle. 

You will not make money when you start out. 

Writing and publishing a book is not an automatic money machine. You have to spend money to make money, and if you’re not ready to make the initial investment, you could destroy your reputation before you’ve gotten off the ground.

• Just because you can publish a book doesn’t mean you should. Creating a marketable (or even readable) book requires a financial investment. If you aren’t prepared for it financially, then wait.
• You have one shot to make your first impression on a reader. If your book is riddled with spelling and grammar errors or the formatting is horrible, then the reader will look somewhere else for their next read. 

When it comes to finances, I was taught how to fund the writing habit. Again, this is a business and it must be treated like a business if you want to succeed.

• You must have the capital to start. Period. If you do not have the money to release a minimum of three books, you are not ready to publish. 
• Every book needs a professional cover. A photo with a little text is not professional and readers will think so too—readers judge books by their covers. First impressions matter—amazing content on the pages doesn’t matter if the reader doesn’t get past the cover. 
• Every books needs a professional editor. No, grammarly and ProWritingAid are not editors. And no matter how good of a writer you think you are, you can NOT edit your own work. Period. Even professional editors (who are writers too) pay for professional edits. A thorough edit needs a minimum of three passes: developmental editing, line editing, and proofreading. Usually, the last one should not be done by the same person who did the first two. 
• Every books needs a formatter, someone who knows the difference between formatting for an eBook vs. a paperback. Again, an investment in a professional will pay off down the road. 
• And when you finally pay off all those items and get your first payment from Amazon…do not shove it in your pocket and go shopping. This is a business. You need to invest back into your business—your profits fund your next books! I recommend reinvesting until you are earning more than triple your costs on a regular basis. Then splurge for champagne and caviar.

And finally, you are the face of your business. We live in a society where the world is ready and waiting to chew you up and spit you out. Social media in the the publishing world is a necessity, so put on your best face and ONLY show the world your best side. Stay professional even on your personal social media profiles.

Fame-by-scandal is something of the past. You are not going to gain popularity for being a bad boy; you will be cancelled for being a jerk.

And remember…writing is a business!