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Your Author Business Plan Ebook

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You are an author. You turn ideas into reality in the shape of a book.

Ebook edition, delivered by Bookfunnel, read on any device.

You turn the thoughts in your head into valuable intellectual property assets. You understand how powerful the written word can be. Now it's time to use your words to create a business plan to take your writing career to the next level — whatever that means for your situation.

I'm Joanna Penn and I've been a full-time author-entrepreneur for over a decade. In this book, I’ll guide you through the process of creating a business plan that will help you achieve your creative and financial goals.

It’s relevant for fiction and non-fiction authors, as well as those who want to include other products, services, and income streams.

It’s also applicable whether you’re just starting out or if you already have a mature author business. A plan helps at any stage of the journey.

  • Part 1 covers your business summary and author brand, taking you through the process of deciding the overall direction for what you want to achieve and who you want to serve.

  • Part 2 goes into the production process around your writing, publishing and licensing, products and services.

  • Part 3 covers your marketing strategy and author eco-system.

  • Part 4 goes into the financial side of your business, from mindset to revenue and costs, as well as paying yourself now and into the future.

The final chapter will give you a framework for simplifying your plan and turning it into achievable steps across a chosen timeline.

In each section, I give examples from my own business plan and there are questions for you to answer, templates, and resources that might help along the way, as well as example business plans for different kinds of authors.

It's time to take your author career to the next level. Let's get started on your business plan.

Please note: This book doesn’t go into detail on how to do the specific topics, for example, how to self-publish a book, or how to do content marketing. I cover those topics in my other Books for Authors.

Ebook edition, delivered by Bookfunnel, read on any device.

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Who is this book for?

This book is for authors who already have at least one book published and want to take their author career to the next level by treating it as a business — with goals, financial planning, and a strategic roadmap.

What you'll learn

  • How to define what success looks like for you (it is not the same for every author)
  • How to set financial, creative, and lifestyle goals that work together
  • How to plan a 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year author business roadmap
  • How to think about business structure, taxes, and legal basics for authors
  • How to identify which projects to say yes and no to
  • How to revisit and update your plan annually

How is this different from a generic business plan template?

It is written specifically for authors and creative entrepreneurs, not for tech startups or service businesses. It accounts for the long lead times of book projects, the unpredictability of book sales, and the creative-life balance that authors actually care about.

What format options are available?

Available as ebook, paperback, audiobook narrated by Joanna Penn, and a companion PDF workbook to fill in your own plan.

Print books shipped from my independent printer in the UK. Paperbacks and some hardbacks are also shipped from the US, Canada and Australia. Shipping times may vary.

Ebooks and audiobooks are delivered by email through Bookfunnel. Check your email and then download or read/listen on your favorite device.

Reviews

★★★★★

I’m finally giving myself permission to follow my lifelong dream of becoming a writer. To that end, I’ve been doing a decent amount of research about the art and business of writing. Having read a decent amount about the topic, I can say that this guide by Joanna Penn is offers one of the best overviewed I’ve come across!

Elsa
5 star Amazon review
★★★★★

I am not business-minded, or at least I wasn’t till I started following Joanna Penn. Her fantastic podcast, newsletter, and series of author books have changed the way I operate and think about my author career. The audio was fantastic for this one and I have printed out the questions to work through. When I finish, I’ll have a comprehensive business plan and great next steps! Thanks, Joanna!

JacQueline Roe
5 star Amazon review
★★★★★

Joanna has laid out the various components in a straightforward organized fashion that allows you to organize your thoughts and create a plan to follow, whether a new author or an existing one. Thanks, Joanna!

MichelleB
5 star Amazon review
★★★★★

As always, Joanna is clear and to the point. And her design is clean and pleasing to the eye. I'm looking forward to downloading her business plan template and getting to work!

Nicholas Kotar
5 star Goodreads review
★★★★★

Excellent concise summary to help plan your author business whether you are just starting out or on the journey. A quick initial read but a book to apply in practice step by step with many valuable prompts to shape your author business. There’s also a course available on your author business plan as well.

Terri
5 star Goodreads review
  • 5 stars: 12 (80%)
  • 4 stars: 3 (20%)
  • 3 stars: 0 (0%)
  • 2 stars: 0 (0%)
  • 1 star: 0 (0%)
R
Rodney Miles
Foundational to a Successful Book and Author Career

I have followed Joanna for probably 16 years and she has been the most welcome guide to self-publishing expertise of all. Additionally, I attended the webinar she offers on this very subject of author business and it was excellent, I highly recommend. Both this book and the webinar are no-brainer small investments in your career or even just one book. In both she covers the nuts and bolts and best practices that make for a successful author career no matter how you are published, actually. Not a "magic trick" or silver bullet, but the actual business practices that WORK over the long term. Foundational to an author career.

L
Laura Breen
Packed with info!

Packed full of information!!

J
Jen Wildwood

This is really helping me set goals for my writing business. Another excellent book Joanna. Thank you

j
janie glasgow
Full of useful information

Suitable for someone setting out to self-publish. Gives a lot of insight to someone who wants to publish traditionally, but more information than you need.

E
Elsa
Good bird’s eye view of how to build a profitable author career!

I’m finally giving myself permission to follow my lifelong dream of becoming a writer. To that end, I’ve been doing a decent amount of research about the art and business of writing. Having read a decent amount about the topic, I can say that this guide by Joanna Penn is offers one of the best overviewed I’ve come across!

R
RACHH
Good content

The content is good, but it's quite vague in places with lots of links externally or to websites. If you need a quick reference then this would be ideal. If you're wanting something in depth that you can learn from without having to Google suggested links to explain the topics further, it's not for you. I must admit I prefer this author's podcast to the non-fic books. My copy arrived but looks like a misprint. The cover was all lower than it should be with a black/grey line along the bottom too, so that was disappointing.

A
Amazon Customer
Another Book Filled With Priceless Information

Joanna Penn does it again! Great book! Don't waste any time read it as soon as you can. Without a business plan your career as a writer is doomed!

K
Keith
Author Business Plan

I found the content to be both informative and helpful it is packed with ideas on how to maximise your author earnings. The ideas Joanna talks about are easy to understand and thought provoking. I liked the summary at the end of each chapter which I used for note taking, referencing, research, reflection and reviewing. You don’t have to do everything that is in the book, read it and then do what is right for you.

L
Lisa M. Lilly
Work Less, Earn More, Enjoy Writing

An excellent book whether you're writing your first book or your fiftieth. After writing and publishing novels for many years while also juggling other endeavors, I was feeling overwhelmed. Then I read Your Author Business Plan and filled out the questionnaire and template it provides. It opened my eyes to how many things I was doing “for my author career” that I didn’t love and that didn’t increase my bottom line. Despite all the contrary evidence on my income statements, I still believed working more = earning more. Now I’m working less, feeling less stressed, yet earning a little more profit each month. Wish I’d grasped this 5 years ago!

A
Amazon Customer
Good Book

Good useful book. Wish it were longer.

K
Kate M. Colby
Joanna Penn continues to be an invaluable resource for authors

As always, Joanna Penn provides clear, concise, and immensely helpful information on her chosen topic. I love her “books for writers” series because I learn so much about different aspects of being an author in a short amount of time. If you’re looking to learn what a business plan is and create a simple, effective plan for your stage in the author journey, this is the book for you. Joanna gives lots of personal examples and explains how each section can apply at various stages of the author career. Highly recommended for career authors.

J
JacQueline Roe
Well-thought out look at advancing your author business

I am not business-minded, or at least I wasn’t till I started following Joanna Penn. Her fantastic podcast, newsletter, and series of author books have changed the way I operate and think about my author career. The audio was fantastic for this one and I have printed out the questions to work through. When I finish, I’ll have a comprehensive business plan and great next steps! Thanks, Joanna!

P
Praveen Kumar Yadav
This is awesome.

Being an author this book helps a lot to become an authorpreneur

K
Kimberley Shead
Packed Full of Useful Information!

I read through the book quickly to get the gist of the concepts. Now I am going to reread the book in more depth, and answer the many questions posed, by the author, that support the reader in the process of making their own business plan. This book is filled with thought-provoking questions, resources and examples for each step, as well as example plans. There is a bibliography full of other books to refer to throughout. It is a minefield of information and well worth a read for anyone starting or running an author business.

D
Dave Bartell
Concise, thorough, practical

Like the podcast, Joanna lays out a no nonsense guide to making a business plan. It has the same elements as any business plan must and goes the extra step to add personal examples. Thanks Joanna. Your success and passion is a gift to all authors.

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