You wrote a book. Maybe you published it, or you're about to. You think of yourself as a writer, maybe even an author.
Wrong.
You're a small business owner who happens to produce books as inventory.
I know that sounds harsh and unromantic. You got into writing because you love stories, not because you love spreadsheets and tax forms. But if you want to make money as a writer—if you want this to be more than an expensive hobby—you need to stop thinking like an artist and start thinking like a business owner.
Because that's what you are. Your business is you. Your product is books. And every decision you make about writing, publishing, and marketing is a business decision whether you recognize it or not.
What Being a Business Owner Actually Means
When you're traditionally published, the publisher handles the business side. They invest capital in your book, manage production, handle distribution, and absorb most of the financial risk. You're more like an independent contractor—you deliver a product, they pay you for it, and they handle the rest.
When you're independently published, you ARE the business. You're the CEO, CFO, production manager, marketing director, and creative director. All of it.
That means:
• You make strategic decisions about what to write and when to publish
• You manage your budget—what to invest in and what to skip
• You hire contractors (editors, designers, formatters)
• You handle production and distribution
• You're responsible for marketing and sales
• You track expenses and revenue
• You file taxes on your business income
• You decide when to invest profits back into the business vs. taking them as personal income
This isn't optional. This isn't something you can ignore because "I'm just a writer, not a business person." If you're publishing books and trying to make money, you're running a business.
Your Book Is Not Art—It's Inventory
This is where writers get uncomfortable. "But my book is my art! It's my creative expression! It's not just a product!"
As long as it's sitting on your hard drive unpublished, it's art. The moment you ask someone to pay money for it, it's a product.
That doesn't diminish the creative work you put into it. It doesn't mean you shouldn't be proud of it. But it does mean you need to think about it the way a business owner thinks about inventory:
• Does this product meet market demand?
• Is it priced appropriately for the market?
• Does the packaging (cover, description) appeal to target customers?
• How much did it cost to produce?
• What's the profit margin?
• How does this product fit into the overall business strategy?
A bakery owner might love baking croissants, but if croissants don't sell and cupcakes do, they bake more cupcakes. They don't keep making croissants and complain that customers don't appreciate fine pastry.
You can write whatever you want. But if you want to make money, you need to write what people want to buy. That's not selling out—that's understanding your market.
Understanding Your Business Model
Every business has a model—how they make money. Yours is straightforward: you create products (books) and sell them to customers (readers).
Traditional publishing model: You license your product to a manufacturer (publisher) who produces, distributes, and markets it. They pay you an advance against future royalties (typically 10-15% of cover price). If your book earns more than the advance, you get additional royalties. If not, you keep the advance but nothing more.
Independent publishing model: You fund production yourself ($3,000-$8,000 per book), keep all rights, handle distribution through platforms like Amazon, and keep 70% of the cover price on ebook sales, 60% on print. No advance, but much higher profit per unit sold.
The math:
Traditional: $4.99 ebook × 15% royalty = $0.75 per sale. You need to sell 10,000 copies to earn $7,500.
Indie: $4.99 ebook × 70% royalty = $3.49 per sale. You need to sell 2,148 copies to earn $7,500.
Traditional publishing makes sense if you can't afford upfront costs or if you value the credibility and distribution network. Indie makes sense if you have capital to invest and want to keep control and higher margins.
Both are legitimate business models. Neither is "better." They're different strategies with different tradeoffs.
Managing Your Business Finances
Most writers treat their finances like a hobby. They don't track expenses, don't budget for reinvestment, don't separate business income from personal income. Then tax time comes and they panic.
If you're serious about this, set up your finances properly:
Track every expense. Editing, cover design, formatting, software subscriptions, website hosting, ISBN purchases, promotional costs, conference fees, office supplies, mileage to writing events. All of it. These are business expenses you can deduct from your taxes.
Separate business and personal money. Open a separate bank account for your author business. All book income goes in. All business expenses come out. This makes bookkeeping and taxes infinitely easier.
Set aside money for taxes. If you're making money, you owe self-employment taxes. Set aside 25-30% of your profits so you're not shocked when tax bills arrive.
Budget for reinvestment. Every business reinvests profits back into growth. For you, that means budgeting for editing the next book, upgrading your covers, advertising, improving your craft through courses or conferences.
Know your numbers. Revenue per book. Profit per book. Cost to acquire a reader. Customer lifetime value (how much an average reader spends on all your books). These numbers tell you whether your business is healthy.
Production and Quality Control
You wouldn't buy a car with missing parts, would you? Readers won't buy poorly produced books.
Your job as business owner is ensuring quality control:
Professional editing. Non-negotiable. Readers expect error-free books. One editor isn't enough—you need developmental editing, copyediting, and proofreading. Budget $2,000-$4,000 per book minimum.
Professional cover design. Your cover competes with traditionally published books. Template covers and amateur design lose sales. Budget $500-$1,500 for a good cover.
Professional formatting. Interior formatting should be invisible—readers only notice when it's bad. Invest in good formatting for both ebook and print.
These aren't optional expenses you can skip to save money. They're the cost of producing a quality product. Cutting corners here is like a restaurant serving undercooked food to save on gas bills.
Marketing and Sales
You can write the best book ever written, but if nobody knows it exists, you won't sell copies. Marketing isn't something that happens after you write—it's built into your business strategy from the beginning.
Product positioning: What genre is your book? Who's the target reader? What similar books would they enjoy? How does your book stand out? Answer these before you publish.
Distribution strategy: Where will readers find your book? Amazon only? Wide distribution across multiple platforms? Each has tradeoffs.
Pricing strategy: How much should you charge? What does your competition charge? Will you run sales? Bundle books? Offer the first book cheap to drive series sales?
Discoverability: How do readers find new books? Mostly through Amazon's algorithm, browsing categories, and searching keywords. Optimize for that. The best marketing is being easy to discover when readers are looking for books like yours.
Advertising: Paid ads can work, but only if your book is already optimized for organic discovery. Ads amplify what's working—they can't fix a book that doesn't appeal to readers.
The Backlist Is Your Business Asset
Here's the difference between a writer and a business owner: a writer finishes one book and moves on. A business owner builds a product line.
Your backlist—all your published books—is your most valuable business asset. Every new book you publish:
• Brings in new readers who discover your other books
• Provides more products for existing fans to buy
• Increases your visibility on retailer platforms
• Generates passive income while you work on the next book
• Compounds your earning potential exponentially
One book might earn $1,000 per year. Five books might earn $8,000 per year (readers who love Book 1 buy Books 2-5). Ten books might earn $25,000 per year.
That's why successful indie authors focus on consistent output. They're building assets that generate revenue for years.
Time Management and Productivity
As a business owner, your time is your most valuable resource. You can't afford to waste it on activities that don't generate revenue or improve your product.
High-value activities:
• Writing the next book
• Working with professional editors and designers
• Optimizing your existing books for better discovery
• Learning craft skills that improve your product
• Strategic marketing that reaches target readers
Low-value activities:
• Endless social media engagement
• Debating writing advice in forums
• Perfecting a book that's already good enough
• Chasing every new marketing tactic
• Networking with other writers instead of reaching readers
Track where your time goes. If you're spending 20 hours per week on social media and two hours per week writing, your business priorities are backwards.
Strategic Planning and Growth
Business owners don't just react—they plan strategically.
One-year plan: How many books will you publish this year? In which genres? What's your budget? What's your revenue goal? Break it down month by month.
Five-year plan: Where do you want this business to be in five years? What does success look like? How many books in your backlist? What annual revenue? Working backwards from that goal, what do you need to do this year?
Series strategy: Standalone books are harder to market than series. Readers who love Book 1 buy the rest. Plan series from the beginning.
Genre strategy: Writing across multiple unrelated genres dilutes your brand and confuses readers. Build a reputation in one genre before diversifying.
Reinvestment strategy: What percentage of profits goes back into production? Into marketing? Into professional development? Into savings? Make conscious decisions instead of spending randomly.
The Mindset Shift
The hardest part about becoming a business owner isn't learning the skills—it's changing how you think about your work.
Artist mindset: "I write what inspires me. If readers don't get it, that's their problem."
Business mindset: "I write what inspires me within genres readers want to buy. I optimize discoverability. I produce consistently. I treat this professionally."
You can be both artist and business owner. But if you want to make money, the business side can't be optional.
When to Treat It Like a Hobby vs. a Business
Not everyone needs to run their writing as a business. If you're writing for personal fulfillment, sharing work with friends, or treating publication as a fun experiment, keep it as a hobby. Nothing wrong with that.
But if you want to:
• Make a living from writing
• Publish multiple books
• Reach thousands of readers
• Build a sustainable career
• Quit your day job someday
Then you need to run it like a business. Track finances. Invest strategically. Produce consistently. Market effectively. Plan for growth.
Treat it like a hobby and you'll get hobby results. Treat it like a business and you might actually make money.
The Bottom Line
You invented a product. You're the inventor, manufacturer, marketer, and sales force. Whether you recognize it or not, you're running a small business.
The writers who succeed—who actually make money, build audiences, sustain careers—are the ones who figure this out early and act accordingly.
They track their numbers. They invest strategically. They produce quality products consistently. They understand their market. They make business decisions based on data and strategy, not just passion and hope.
You can be an artist in the writing. You must be a business owner in the publishing.
That's not selling out. That's treating your work with enough respect to give it the best chance of reaching readers and making money.
Stop thinking of yourself as "just a writer." Start thinking of yourself as the CEO of a small business that produces books.
Your business—and your bank account—will thank you.
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