A warm welcome to our new writers and the many existing authors we already have in the She Owns It community!

This week we learnt that there are many amazing writers amongst us in a call-out to see who was thinking of writing a book (you can see the discussion here!)

The publishing world has changed. The exciting benefit is that it is much easier to get your book into the world with indie publishing and digital publishing. Anyone can put a book on Amazon to sell.

The downside is that there is a lot of noise in the book world - and authors (traditionally published or indie) need to put weight behind their work to get sales.

And this means that authors are increasingly running businesses (either by choice or default) - complete with marketing, branding, systems, purchases, financial considerations and more!

Why authors need to buckle in

Marketing.

Unfortunately it’s no longer enough to just put up some social media posts about your book, have a simple website and let readers do the rest.
You’re now entering the world of chaotic world of marketing and social media, where you need great messaging, consistent presence, and a strategy. Your products (books) need to be part of a launch process and a promotional campaign.
You also need to stand out - and invest your hard-earned money into marketing materials that your customers actually want.
Branding

You need to stand out and have an aligned consistent brand if you want readers to find you, recognise you, and buy from you amongst the noise of the internet. Your branding is everything from you as an author to your book and it’s themes and characters.
Systems

If you’re self publishing, you’re likely to have boxes of books ready for posting. That means courier bags and packaging materials, any special items you put in. Printer or labels, some way of getting parcels into the mail system, and some sort of system to help you manage orders coming in.
You also need systems for managing your accounts, claiming expenses, and managing tax on purchases.
Funding, financial management and other money chat

Selling books is one way to make money. Speaking engagements, content creation (podcasts or blogs etc) might be another. Sales of merch.
Applying for funding grants or other ways to top up your writing income. And then you need to manage the money coming in. If you haven’t run a business before, this can be overwhelming.
For long-time authors, scaling or supplementing your income also requires great systems, efficient purchasing, and great strategies to sell yourself as an author, and your books.

Everyone needs to set budgets, project revenue, pay for opportunities to showcase your work, have a strategy for pricing your products.
Professional Development

This may be additional learning to fine your craft as a writer, or to develop your business skills. Continuing to learn and grow is essential!
Time Management

You may have this sorted, or you may be trying to fit more writing time around a full time job or other commitments. If you’re looking to get your next book out soon, you may have a timeline you need to stick to.
Diversification

As above, not putting all your apples in one basket is essential for most writers to make a livable income. And if you’re working or running another business, that may see some of the above tasks doubled.
Doing all the things

If your precious writing time is being sucked in by content creation, social media posts, email newsletters, your blog and website, you probably aren’t going to get your book published as soon as you’d like. And book launches and events are time consuming to prepare for.
Whilst it is tempting to do ALL THE THINGS, delegating taskings and employing help frees you up to write more - which may give you more opportunity to sell more.

How can authors do business better?

Firstly, don’t do it alone. Writing is already a solo gig, so make sure when you’re running your author business, you’ve got a crew around you.

She Owns It is a community of other women in business. As this week’s post showed, we’ve got dozens of published authors amongst us.

And even more importantly, we’ve got experts in marketing, branding, printing, accounting, social media, messaging, email list building and so much more!

In fact, our membership library contains Masterclasses supporting women-in-biz to upskill in many many topics of running a business.

You definitely aren’t in this alone!

In the coming two months, She Owns It is hosting several masterclasses that our writers might be super keen on! One is with a book coach who will demystify the process, and another on author branding and why it’s so important and how to do it. These are just some of the great topics we cover to make sure our women-in-biz are empowered when running their businesses.

Three quick wins

Introduce yourself on social media routinely

Make sure your readers know who you are - especially in such a digital AI world.
Ask people to join your mailing list
It’s an asset that you own (unlike social media). Ask your previous and current clients, take emails at book signings and events, and build up your newsletter list. And then actually send emails and connect with your readers!
Review your branding
Is your brand who you are and who you want to convey. Does it align with your stories? Is it consistent? Are your book covers, marketing materials, newsletter, website, social media doing the heavy lifting of delivering a consistent, professional and authentic brand for you?