Business For Authors: How to be an Author Entrepreneur Ebook

There are so many gems in this book – to list them all might be copyright infringement!

“Did you create art today?” and other such questions helped me to further define my business and creative goals.

This book contains (almost) everything an author (new and experienced) needs to know to run their author business – things like marketing and mindset are separate books.

As a long-time reader of Joanna’s work (fiction and non-fiction) I appreciated her candour in how she envisioned and changed her business goals over time.

There are loads of extra resources at the end and many book recommendations to help one become a successful authorpreneur.

A must-have on every Indie author’s bookshelf.

It’s hard enough to write never mind run a business! This book provides a good starting point for any author who wants to earn serious money from their books. There were some chapters, I wish were a bit more detailed on ways to do things. But, I guess I can look at other resources on specific areas. If you’re looking to just write a book or two just for fun and don’t care about the money, this book probably wouldn’t be useful to you.

It's a nice detailed guide for new writer's wanting to make a living from their writing. Covers various aspects of the journey with a good practical toolkit list. Useful to read in detail when you are starting out and as a reference to check back as a reminder later.

Another gem from Joanna Penn with great advice on how we can measure our life by what we create. Chock full of useful information and references. I valued the reminders on knowing what you want and writing down your goals such as write 5,000 words a week and planning a series in advance. Valuable interviews at back of book with Jane Friedman, Elizabeth Hyde-Stevens and Jen Blood

I would put this book down as a must-read for anyone who is really serious about a career as a self-pubbed author. My issue with most books like this is that they are geared toward beginners, and while those books definitely have a place in the market, I've been doing this too long to really find any value there. Thankfully, that was not at all an issue with Business for Authors. Every bit of info was for people who have been writing a while, have some works published, and are ready to turn a hobby into a career. The information was really in-depth and applicable to where I am and where I'm looking to go. I also really enjoyed the resources and the long list of recommended reads, some of which I've read but most I haven't. All in all, a relatively easy and short read (about 200 pages) that is stuffed full with great info and useful advice. I know I'll look back and mark this as one that really changed things for me and my career.

I've read quite a few books on writing, marketing, and so forth. There seems to be a gap out there, where there isn't so much information on the business side of writing. Thankfully, Joanna Penn saw this, and she has the expertise and practical firsthand knowledge to back it up too. This book will give you the practical knowledge you need to make your own personalized business plan. You'll answer questions like, is my business idea a good one? How can I do my taxes? What is your production plan (how many books will you write per set of time), who do you need to help you in your business (editors, covers, etc.) and of course, will I make a profit and how can I increase them? There is much more to it, but this is a sampling. Some of the best features of the book are that she tells you specific tools (programs, apps, etc.) she uses to get the job done. They add up, and you don't need to use them all, but they sure help. Also, I like that she links to outside sources pretty regularly for anyone that wants more detailed information. I plan to follow up on some of those. One of my favorite parts of the book is when she talks about strategy. She emphasizes the importance of your time, and that strategy is choosing what you focus on, as well as what you won't focus on. If you want to get a bigger picture understanding of your writing career as a business and put yourself on a long-term track to success, this book is a great start. Before this book, if you wanted to understand the business of writing, you probably needed read several business books, and several books on writing for a living, and some blogs. Now, it's all easy to digest in one place. Bottom line, if you have any interest in making a living and a career out of your writing, read this book. If/when you get the book, I advise opening up a word file and answering key questions Joanna poses, and jotting down notes on the parts that are most relevant and important to your particular writing. Even if you don't do this, she conveniently has a list of key questions to answer at the end of the book if you prefer. You'll want to have all this information organized in one convenient place. I. C. Robledo, Author in "Mind & Brain Improvement" To learn more, search my name in your Amazon search bar.

This is another huge hit from Ms. Penn! As of about a year ago I was primarily a fiction reader, but as time has passed, I have developed an interest in non-fiction too. Ms. Penn is one of the very few non-fiction authors who I continuously purchase books from. I have personally read all her books except for the one on public speaking. Though, I am sure if I was interested in going that route, I would be devouring that book as well. What you can except from this book is EXACTLY what the title says! This is a great starter book to have to begin your journey with. It breaks down the personal, the YOU side: the psychological, mental, emotional, the whys and your goals, free time and taking time for yourself. Then there's the author side: the inspiration, finding your niche, scheduling creative time, then there's the business workings. She touches on legal structure, bookkeeping and accounting, sales, marketing, taxes, employees/contractors, and so much more. There's tons of content in this book. I love this author's style, her tone, usage of words. She's fresh and insightful. She includes her personal experiences and blog post from the past. There's also a compiled resource section that features books, podcast, and videos from authors. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. You will not go wrong and there is also a FREE companion workbook on her site to help you process your thoughts during or after you read this book. Another highly recommended!

Un buon titolo per scollarsi dalla mentalità dell'artista e tuffarsi in quella dell'imprenditore. Chiaro e metodico, Joanna Penn non risparmia i propri segreti. Consigliato a chi è digiuno di strategie di marketing sia social che fuori dalla rete ma può essere letto tranquillamente da chiunque, vista la possibilità di riflettere su diversi argomenti che la Penne tratta sul proprio blog.

Joanna provides readers a good list of considerations to tackle when trying to make that shift from not just writing, but to become an entrepreneur. I like the format of her information, it is very cohesive, each section having, or linking, all pertinent information. This makes it easy to jump around to specific concerns, leveraging the thorough toc. Joanna mentions and links to a variety of resources, allowing the reader to jump deeper into the topics. Given that, I see this as an excellent overview, but with this breadth is a lack of depth. I do not recommend this if you are looking for heavy specifics on each topic. Do read this, to get an idea of what you do need to be thinking about, and using it as a launching point for conducting further research.

In her book, Business for Authors: How to Be an Author Entrepreneur, Joanna Penn outlines basically every aspect of turning one’s love of writing into a business. Penn begins by describing the mindset one must have to be a successful entrepreneur, and I imagine, quickly weeds out those who see themselves too much as “artists” and not enough as “business people.” This approach may be off-putting to some readers, as many writers do not like to think of their art as business, but it also sets the tone of the book and instills confidence in those who are (or want to become) more business-minded. The content of Business for Authors builds similarly to an actual business. Penn helps the reader identify her potential business plan by outlining the various business models authors can have as well as the products and services they can offer. However, where the book really gains momentum is when Penn explains how to run one’s authorship like a business by hiring contract laborers (editors, cover designers, etc.), defining a customer base, and determining sales, distribution, and marketing strategies. Even someone with a highly limited knowledge of business can follow along up to this point. Where Business for Authors becomes more complex is when Penn discusses the financial aspects of running a business. While her explanations are clear and concise, the subject matter still requires the reader to have a solid knowledge of finances, and if this knowledge is not existent, it may be difficult for the reader to follow along. This is not necessarily a critique of Penn, as she clearly states that technical financial knowledge is outside the realm of this book, but there may be some additional research necessary on behalf of the reader to understand this part entirely. In the final content section of Business for Authors, Penn provides tactics for strategizing and planning one’s author business. This section takes the business knowledge from the rest of the book and shows the reader how he can apply it moving forward. For this section, Penn relies heavily on her personal experience, as she does throughout the book, and while this anecdotal approach is full of great examples and extremely helpful, it would have been beneficial to draw more upon the experiences of other authors and business people for more diversified insights into how an author entrepreneur business could be approached. On a side note, while Business for Authors is intended for independent publishers, it is also useful for those looking to traditionally publish. Most notably, Penn has entire sections dedicated to agents, publishers, and contracts, and she lists multiple questions one should ask before signing away his rights as well as describes tricky situations and contract language to look out for. Likewise, authors seeking to traditionally publish can benefit from learning to view their novels as products and figuring out ways to market themselves and their products to potential agents, publishers, and readers. My one advice to prospective readers is to buy the e-book edition and not the print book. Penn has loaded Business for Authors with dozens upon dozens of links to other reference books, articles, and videos, and of course, in print form, you cannot click on these links and must physically type them into your browser. I have not yet re-purchased the book in e-book format (I am considering it, because it is that great of a resource!), but I strongly encourage you all to learn from my mistakes and buy the digital copy to have those resources close at hand. Additionally, Penn provides a Business for Authors worksheet on her website, which I highly recommend. The worksheet is free, and it contains questions to help guide the reader’s framing of her author business as well as a business plan template that the reader can fill out and revise as necessary. If you are dreaming of or seriously considering turning your writing into your full-time career, Business for Authors by Joanna Penn is the perfect place to start. The book will walk you through the basic process, step-by-step, with personal examples from how Penn built her own author entrepreneur business. Where the book lacks, Penn will direct you to more detailed resources, either from herself or other publishing professionals. I strongly recommend this book to anyone looking to independently publish and considering going the extra mile to full-time entrepreneurship.

Every author who wants to make a living from their writing should read this book. As most of you know, making a living from selling your books through traditional publishing (query, secure an agent, sell your ms to a publisher, print books on paper, sell books in bookstores, etc.) is like getting hit by lightning. This book is for the rest of us--those of us who realize that it will take a combination of writing good books, self-publishing, traditional publishing perhaps, speaking engagements, having a web site, marketing and more to make a good living. Making a living from our writing means not just being an author but being an author entrepreneur. For me, this is a welcome thought. For others, it might scare the pants off of you. No worries. Penn's book is clear, concise, easy to understand, friendly, encouraging and extremely informative. It will help you go from clueless writer to savvy author and business owner. Highly recommended for all authors of the future!

This book I really recommend to my friends. Not necessary being a writter or wanna be. Just needed to run a creative business as Illustrator business. Working with creative assets very well

I've been a fan of Joanna's work for over a year now and this book is another winner. What I love most about it is she recommends taking a strategic, long-term approach to your author business. You can't just write books and expect to succeed. Instead, you have to treat of your book business like any start-up and manage all the things that will (or won't) make it successful. A few areas that I really loved: ** Taking the time to research the "business model" of your books and find out if your idea is worth pursuing. ** Exploiting rights ... honestly, if you truly *get* this concept (and take action on it), then you turn a single book into multiple streams of income. ** The income circles diagram. It's really important to understand where your money is coming from and where you'd like to grow down the road. Overall, I loved her emphasis on treating writing like a business. As authors, we can't rely on publishers or agents to tell us what to do. Instead, we need an action plan on how to handle all the moving parts. This book can be YOUR action plan.