The Business Side of Writing

Many writers who turn into authors love the creativity of releasing the work but dread the behind the scenes work that’s needed to make a book a success.

First, there’s the marketing. One must learn social media, target audiences, and build content to post or record to remain in the forefront of their fans’ minds.

Second, there’s searching for events where the books can be sold. Local events are where I meet the greater part of my fan base. They return yearly to see what new story or poem I’ve written. Having a signup sheet for emails also helps me keep in touch with them.

Third, pursuing radio, podcast, or television interviews is critical to building up the reading base. There are many small stations out there that are willing to help new authors introduce themselves to the world.

Fourth, keeping track of sales taxes, earnings, and inventory is important for understanding the health of this venture. Whether it’s a side hustle or main source of income, understanding these details is important to help keep things running smoothly. This is true even if you hire an accountant to do the grunt paperwork.

So, do your best to learn as much as you can about the business side of writing. I am fortunate that both sides of my brain enjoy the entirety of the writing process. I enjoy making graphs and seeing how many copies have sold over time almost as much as I love writing stories and poems. It helps me plan for the future better.

I keep track of the best-selling venues and which of my books sold the most copies at each one. This helps me organize how many copies of each to take. The data also influences whether I take extra to a certain event or return to a certain venue.

The other thing I did was to make additional merchandise available for purchase. So far, I had mugs made with the covers of my books on them. Some buyers like the idea of buying a mug to match the book they just purchased. Others got one because they loved the design or colors of the cover. You basically have to study your audience to know what they’d like.

Listening to my buyers has led to me broadening my genre base. At first, I hesitated because most authors are encouraged to stick with one genre. However, since I enjoy many kinds of stories, my mind comes up with plots from many genres as well. Readers are constantly amazed that I have multiple genres and sometimes return to buy copies of all my inventory. Some have even made requests regarding genres I already enjoy. One thing to remember, though, is to remain true to yourself. If a request doesn’t fit your writing, refer the reader to someone else. For example, I am not into mystery, so I don’t have the desire to release one, but I know author friends who write mystery. I find happiness in helping another author increase sales, and they do the same for me. Helping others grow too is good for business.

But most of all, have fun with what you do. The buyers can tell.