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6-Month Business Planning Guide for Authors

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6-month business planning guide for authors

As an author, you know that publishing a book is just the beginning of your journey. In order to turn your book into a successful writing career, you need to have a clear plan in place. This 6-month business planning guide for authors will help you lay the foundation for long-term success.

Step 1: Define Your Goals

Before you can create a plan, you need to know what you’re working towards. Take some time to think about your goals as an author.

  • Do you want to make a full-time living from your writing?
  • Do you want to build a platform to help you land a traditional publishing deal?
  • Do you simply want to share your message with as many people as possible?

Your goals will shape every decision you make, so it’s important to be clear about what you want to achieve.

Write down your goals and keep them in a place where you can refer to them often. This will help you stay focused and motivated as you work towards your objectives.

[Read more…]

How to Launch a Book With No Platform: Your Lean Launch Plan

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Having a solid platform and network in place before you launch your book gives you and your book a powerful advantage. 

Having a ready-made fan base will significantly increase the odds that your book launch will be successful—and that the goals you’ve set for yourself and your book will be reached or surpassed. 

Yet, despite this, many authors find themselves with the launch of their book imminent, and no platform or community in sight. 

With a book in hand (or nearly so), and no time for the long-term, slow-and-steady platform-building approach, what’s a panicked author to do? 

[Read more…]

Your Author Business Plan: A Framework for the Creative Entrepreneur

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Author Business Plan: A Framework for the Creative Entrepreneur | YourWriterPlatform.com

Does the thought of writing a business plan make you wince?

You’ve been struggling valiantly through most of the non-writing, left-brained activities that have been thrust upon you as a modern writer – do you really need to go through the formality of crafting your “executive summary”, “sales forecasts” and “market analysis”?

Well…yes. (sorry)

But if you’d prefer to skip the spreadsheets in favour of a more “writer-friendly” planning process – because deep down you know you could use a bit more direction to move your writing career to the next level – you’re in luck!

I’ve designed this business plan framework with the creative entrepreneur in mind.

Yep, it’s still a business plan.

But I’ve tried to soften the corporate jargon, as well as give you ideas as to how you can use each section to grow your writing career.

I’ve also created a free downloadable workbook to guide you through the process and that you can complete at your own pace: [Read more…]

The Big Question: How Can I Build My Platform and Still Have Time to Write?

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How Can I Build My Platform + Still Have Time to Write _ YourWriterPlatform.com

While speaking at a local writer’s conference, I had the pleasure of meeting Suzanne Harris, a writing coach and “get-it-written” strategist. Her work helps writers take charge of their writing life, deal with resistance, finish their projects and make more out of their writing dreams. So I asked her if she could apply some of her insights to platform building – here’s what she has to say…

As a writers’ coach, I know first hand how many of you struggle to fit writing into your busy lives.

You’re already heroically juggling any combination of full-time, part-time, freelance, or volunteer work, along with grocery shopping, meal making, appointments, child care, errands, house work, yard work, family, friends in need…

Yet when you get a small in-between space you slip off to your pages and let the words come, because despite it all, dammit, you are a writer.

But you never signed up to be an entrepreneur, and now all this platform stuff… where the heck are you going to find time to do all that? [Read more…]

Your Path to Influence: 17 Simple Ways to Make an Impact

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Your Path to Influence_ 17 Simple Ways to Make an Impact _ YourWriterPlatform.com

Languishing in obscurity?

Things pretty quiet on the visibility front?

You’ve tried to follow advice from the “guru de jour” to get your writing career on the map, but despite your best efforts, your ideal audience remains surprisingly resistant to your appeal.

What’s worse, is that you know it’s possible to build a loyal, invested community, because the evidence is all around you.

Somehow, both new and experienced writers are finding ways to stand out and get their work noticed.

But here you are, playing patty-cake with the crickets, debating if it would hurt to just let one of those spam comments through (it’s about time your blog got a little love, right?):

“am to a great extent impressed with the article I have just read. There is not much to say except the following universal truth: You never know where to look when eating a banana. I will be back.”

Okay, maybe not.

(Desperate chic is not the look that bestselling authors are wearing this season.)

So what does it really take to get noticed?

Let’s be honest. Some of the top-selling authors and über successful Indie-entrepreneurs are pretty impressive.

There’s no doubt they have that it factor that compels us to listen (or to act).

But are they six figures a year more charismatic than you? 65,000 plus Twitter followers wittier than you? Sell a million copies and get a sparkly-vampire-movie-deal more talented than you?

What is it that they have that you don’t?

Deep pockets? A better agent?

Nope. [Read more…]

Authors with Platforms Sell Books.

It’s that simple.

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