The Business Foundations You Need to Publish Your Book

When you’ve spent so long working on your book, writing drafts, self-editing, finding beta readers, and maybe exploring if you should hire an editor, it can feel like all you want to do is take your book and push it right out into the marketplace. And while you can definitely do that, if you’ve set yourself a resolution to publish a book this year, maybe take a beat before you upload that book onto KDP without another thought. 

We’ve got some tips that can help you build a stronger business foundation that will empower you to not only get your book into the marketplace, but to help your book (and your writing career overall) thrive.

Define Your Goals

Writing is an art, but remember that publishing is a business. So as you look at your publishing goals, the first place to start is deciding whether or not your publishing goals are career-focused or passion-focused. 

If you’re hoping to publish a book simply to say that you’ve done it, or if you’re writing out of pure passion and you have no interest or desire to put more money into your books than necessary because writing and publishing is wholly for you and your loved ones, that’s great! You get to focus on the writing and only the aspects of publishing that bring you joy.

However, if you’re interested in turning your writing into a money-making endeavor, if you want to find a literary agent, or if you want to become traditionally published, then you’ve got to put a lot more work into building up the business side of your publishing journey.

Start Thinking About Numbers

If you’ve spent any time around the SPS blog, you know we are big fans of creating a business plan (we even wrote a book on it!). But before you start making a clear business plan, start by getting clear on your own finances. Self-publishing can get expensive quickly if you aren’t careful, so before you start hiring professionals, take a good look at your finances. How much money can you devote to your publishing goals? 

Obviously, you can head into meetings with potential publishing partners and they can quote you a price, but if you can head into meetings with the knowledge of what you can and cannot afford, it will help you make better-informed decisions on who to work with, and it can help you turn your book into a true investment that you can ideally profit from in the future rather than a bank account-draining, reckless shot in the dark.

Work on Your Blind Spots

You don’t have to be an expert in everything to publish, but it does pay to have a basic knowledge of the industry elements and processes that you’ll be encountering through your journey. Building this knowledge base can also help you figure out what areas you will need to hire someone to complete, and what areas you can do yourself or learn to do yourself. 

Are you unfamiliar with social media and how to harness it to build your platform, network, and promote your work? Are the inner workings of things like KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) mysterious and confusing? What about things like ISBNs and the Library of Congress? 

Find those aspects of publishing that you find confusing or the parts of the process that you don’t know anything about and start learning about them. The more informed you are about the publishing process, the more you can handle your publishing journey and hire solid professionals who can best support your specific book.

Begin Networking and Laying Marketing Foundations

Whether you are self-publishing or traditional publishing, having a solid network and a good foundation to market your book is key to success. Unfortunately, that kind of stuff doesn’t happen overnight. Even if you go viral, that doesn't mean the key to lasting professional success (or any at all) like it used to in the early days of social media. 

Because of this, it’s vital to start working on building your network and creating an infrastructure to market your book well before your release date. Begin brainstorming ways you can connect with other people in the writing and publishing community, and explore new ways to reach readers and build your audience.

Publishing can be a confusing journey, and it can feel like a steep learning curve sometimes. But that’s why it’s best to not go these things alone! Schedule a free consultation with us, and we can discuss your book, your goals, and work out a plan to help you reach them.