By Jennifer S. Wilkov, Host of the “Your Book Is Your Hook!” Show on WomensRadio, Book Business Consultant & The Literary Agent Matchmaker™
To listen to the show: http://bit.ly/xnnKR4
Today let’s talk about why it’s essential to treat your book and writing career like a business.
Although the facts show that less than 10% of writers make a full-time living from their books, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t treat your book and writing career as a hobby.
The fact is your book is a business and your writing career really is a profession. If you treat it that way, it will grow.
All good businesses require new product creation, creative product introductions, great marketing platforms, sales strategies, savvy financial management, good legal representation and more.
How do you treat your writing career and books? Are they a hobby? Or do they have scheduled times in your calendar for you to pay attention to them?
Business managers like today’s show guest, Anita Katzen, see creative artists like writers treat their careers as a hobby but spend money on them and from them like it was a business with a paycheck. If you want your writing career to pay, then you’ll need to treat it as a business so it has every opportunity to generate money for you.
Writers really are a dime a dozen. More than 81% of Americans want to write a book. The writers who succeed see their craft as a discipline that requires a support team and give it their dedicated time and attention.
Today’s author guest, Carla Neggers, knows this well. She writes more than one book a year and continues to grow her writing career and business. Every time we have the opportunity to talk with her about another book, she’s constantly expanding her reach, following, number of bestsellers and her sales. She’s a great example of how to treat your books like a business.
Writing is really a full-time job. It requires everything you’ve got from great imagination to research, creativity, craft and perseverance. It also requires joy and commitment to make it work and to make you want to keep doing it day in and day out.
If you intend to use your books as your hook for your great writing career and legacy, treat it like a business. When you treat your projects well and support them with everything you’ve got, they’ll support you and your dreams in ways you may have never imagined.