In college, I took a class on entrepreneurship, where our big project was to write a business plan. That same semester, I was also working on a book proposal; and I realized that book proposals are business plans! Most sections of a book proposal are also included in a business plan.
The executive summary is the same. The company description or author description is essentially the same. Your market analysis or competing books sections are the same, and your marketing and sales strategy would be included in both a book proposal and a business plan. Fundamentally, business plans and book proposals serve the same purpose.
A business plan helps you convince investors to invest in your business, and a book proposal helps you convince publishing companies to invest in your book. One difference is that a book proposal includes sample chapters, and a business plan includes financial projections.
To be a traditionally published author, you need to think like an entrepreneur. If you want to be independently published, you need to become an entrepreneur as you create your own publishing company.
Before you get high and mighty and start talking about art, realize that art has always been connected with business. Someone has to pay for the paint, rent, and food. Pablo Picasso had to think like an entrepreneur, and so did Mark Twain.
Some authors are mentally lazy when it comes to the business side of writing.
They use vague puffery about “true art,” and they use it to feel good about mental laziness. But facts don’t care about your feelings. If you ignore the business side of writing, your writing will go unnoticed because you have no money or influence to get it in front of readers.
Independently wealthy authors sometimes talk a lot about art, but you can’t listen to their advice unless you are also independently wealthy. For most of us, it’s time to repent of mental laziness and learn the business side of writing.
How can you learn to think like an entrepreneur?
How can you become an entrepreneur? I asked Kara Swanson. She’s a successful fantasy author, entrepreneur, and the cofounder of The Author Conservatory, an online college alternative for aspiring writers.
Thomas: This topic is near and dear to my heart. I’ve been an entrepreneur on and off my entire life. I started my first business when I was 13 years old.
How did you become an entrepreneur?
Kara: I grew up overseas. My family were missionaries, so I spent my first 16 years in overseas jungles. I remember having all kinds of random small lemonade-stand-type pop-up businesses. I made homemade tortillas and sold and shipped them to other missionaries and things like that.
As I got older, I realized I had an interest in using my creativity and words to craft stories that made an impact. While I enjoyed the writing, I loved connecting with people and seeing their reactions even more than the writing.
I really loved marketing. I’m one of those rare authors who enjoys writing, but I enjoy the marketing aspect more. I enjoy the strategy, learning about my target audience, and discovering how to reach them. Even evaluating what is or isn’t working is enjoyable for me.
I started writing very young and co-authored one of my first projects with a friend, which taught me a lot about collaboration. It taught me how to take feedback and how to grow thick skin. I learned how to assess the writing, the story I was creating, and how it was reflected in the reader.
Once that project was completed, we published it through a very small press. As soon as we had copies to hold in our hands, I started traveling.
My family transitioned from being overseas back to the US; and I realized that the writing was fun, but standing up and selling it was even more fun. I loved being able to find ways to get it into new hands. Something about that clicked with my brain, so I started looking into publishing.
I was 17 when that first book came out. When I started attending conferences, I won Most Promising Teen Writer of the Year at the Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference. Then, I just kept learning and working any odd part-time job in the industry that I could find.
By the time I was 19, I was working eight part-time jobs as a virtual assistant for editors, and running marketing, conferences, awards, and contests. I was doing anything that would help me learn how the industry worked. At the same time, I was learning transferable skills, making connections, and increasing my skill level.
I was learning how to become a better writer as I worked with editors, but I also realized I couldn’t afford to pay multiple editors thousands of dollars as a broke 17-year-old. So, I did a lot of behind-the-scenes virtual assistant work for multiple editors so I could afford their edits.
Every time I learned something, I would interpret it into how I was approaching my own career. By the time I signed with my first agent at age 21, I’d written ten novels. I’d launched my first novella and created a six-month marketing plan for it, and I had coordinated that book launch with the conference I was helping to market and run. That’s where I was able to meet and then sign with my agent.
Throughout my journey, I have been someone who realized that if I wanted to learn something, I had to jump in and invest the time to learn it. I knew I didn’t know everything, so I needed to remain humble and teachable and find the people who did know.
Working eight part-time jobs is not sustainable, but it certainly taught me a lot; and it’s really influenced me as I’ve moved forward.
Thomas: One of the big advantages of working as an author’s assistant or virtual assistant is that you get paid three times. You get paid with real money, with experience, and with industry connections.
That’s especially true if you’re working for a conference because you’re behind the scenes, interacting with faculty and future bestsellers who attend as authors. You get the opportunity to connect before either of you have had success.
Additionally, having a day job is valuable. Older retired authors don’t often want to work, but God created us to work. Adam was created to work in the garden. Working is good for you and for the world.
Some authors are broke, but they also don’t work. They expect a family member or the government to cover them. Maybe they receive Social Security; or their husband, wife, or parents are paying their bills. However, working a job is valuable; and working in the industry is even more valuable.
People often talk about the risks of being an entrepreneur, but let’s talk about the risks of having a full-time day job.
What are the risks of having a full-time day job?
Thomas: What are some of the risks of not being an entrepreneur and having all your income come from one organization?
Limited Opportunities and Skills
Kara: There are so many opportunities to grow and learn. You’ll sometimes fail and realize that failure is not the end. If you are investing all your time into one area, you may not be building the variety of skills you need to reach your dream. You need so many skill sets to approach publishing; and if you invest all your time in one area, you won’t gain many of those intuitive skills you’ll need to endure being rejected repeatedly.
Instead, you’ll be accustomed to someone else being the gatekeeper, setting the pace, and setting the bar. You’re fulfilling their expectations, but you’re not necessarily gaining the skills needed to set your own goals. You need to fail and get back up again, to try something and have it work for a while, but then stop working.
By working those eight part-time jobs, I learned how to pivot. I learned that I may have to try something to find out whether it will work. Even if you fail three times, you can learn to pivot, keep trying, and keep strategizing. Tenacity has been one of the most valuable skills I’ve learned. The ability to keep trying even after failure is why I was able to start The Author Conservatory with my cofounder, Brett Harris.
If I hadn’t had the experience of learning from other people, trying to do it myself, and getting hands-on experience in a huge variety of tasks, I wouldn’t have been in a position to start the conservatory. I had to take responsibility for my goals, successes, and failures while not allowing those to become part of my identity.
While there is value in investing everything into one job, it can be harder to regain that time or carve out mental energy when you get home.
My full-time job is running my business, and it’s still sometimes hard to carve out time and mental energy for writing. But building those skills in other areas and learning to navigate the ups and downs is so valuable.
Vulnerable Income
Thomas: From my perspective, the risk of working a full-time day job is that one person controls your salary. One person can fire you; and suddenly, you have no income.
If you’re running your own business, you have several sources of income. You’re more stable and less vulnerable.
Controlled Speech
Working for an employer is limiting. You trade time for money, but some employers expect you to be on the clock all the time. They want you to answer emails at home, and that can deplete your mental energy and time for working on your book.
If you’re working a W-2 job, your employer may also expect to control your speech. They may tell you what you can and cannot say on social media.
Christians with day jobs often feel like they have to hide who they are and what they believe. They keep their Christianity ratcheted down and don’t feel they can be fully Christian in their jobs. For example, teachers don’t feel they can share the gospel with their students because their boss controls their speech.
Inflation Risk
You also have to deal with the risk of inflation. Total inflation since 2019 is 24% percent, according to the Consumer Price Index. That means if you have not received a 24% raise since 2019, you’ve had a pay cut. Many people working day jobs don’t realize that their pay is getting cut.
Kara: Additionally, your skills grow over time and allow you to become more efficient at your job. As an entrepreneur, efficiency allows you to elevate your hourly wage. When you’re working for someone else, your efficiency means you’ll be handed more work.
What are the benefits of entrepreneurship?
Thomas: There are many advantages to moving away from the supposed safety of a W-2 and moving into the freelance world where you receive 1099s from other authors you work for. You can work for many authors while also working on your own work.
Multiple Income Streams
A passage in Ecclesiastes 11:6 says, “Work hard in the morning, but stay busy all afternoon because you don’t know from which activity your profits may come. The one, the other, or both.” You’re working on your own creative work in the morning, but you’re also working for others in the afternoon.
Having multiple sources of income gives you stability and freedom to speak your mind and share the gospel.
Flexibility
Kara: It also provides a lot of flexibility. When you’re working part-time as an author entrepreneur, you’re rarely expected to show up at a certain time and stay for a certain number of hours within consecutive time constraints as you would if you were working for an employer.
One reason I chose flexible jobs was because I got sick with Lyme disease at age 15. As I was pursuing writing and looking into different ways to grow and learn, I realized my health was quickly going downhill.
From ages 19-22, I was completely bedridden for long periods of time. I couldn’t work a full-time job. I had limited energy to invest when my brain was clear enough to get anything done, so I was forced to be extremely strategic. During that time, I had to think through what skills I wanted to learn, where I wanted to be in a year, and how I could build those skills and connections with my limited energy.
While working those various part-time jobs, I could put in a few hours, then rest and repeat as needed. As I began to heal and my physical health improved, I was able to take on more responsibilities. This allowed me to adjust my schedule. I could write when I wanted, then work, then write more. I took breaks to go for a walk or do other things.
Travel
That flexibility let me fully enjoy different aspects of my life and allowed me to work while traveling.
I now travel a lot. I’m doing more than 11 events this year, and it’s possible because I have trained myself to work on the go. I know how to maintain relationships, connections, and responsibilities, even while traveling.
Being an entrepreneur started with building my own business as an assistant and led to me launching a company and school. Both jobs involved learning the transferable entrepreneurship skills, like marketing, time management, and handling legal logistics. I learned valuable skills, which expanded over time.
The need to work from home led to much greater long-term value than if I had worked one job tied to a specific place, time, and schedule. Having control over my time allowed me to grow, increase my rates, and gain the flexibility to develop my skills further.
As an entrepreneur, what do you do for health insurance?
Kara: When I was younger, I could rely on my parents’ healthcare to some extent, which was helpful. As I got older, I used health-sharing options like Samaritan Ministries and explored other alternatives. For a time, especially while dealing with Lyme disease, many of my healthcare needs weren’t covered by traditional insurance, so I had to think outside the box to find effective solutions.
Now, I help run my own company; and we can cover insurance, which provides more stability. But for many years, I managed healthcare on my own and had to find unconventional solutions to meet my needs.
Thomas: In The Christian Author’s Guide to Health Insurance, I talk about the three health insurance alternatives and the pros and cons of each.
If health insurance is keeping you chained to your W-2 job, please realize there are better options.
As you learn to write, you gain qualifications in many areas. As you develop the skills of writing and marketing, you’ll find others who would gladly pay for your help. If you’ve learned to build a website for yourself, other authors may happily pay you to build theirs. If you know how to manage a ConvertKit email newsletter, other authors will pay you to do that as well.
As you become more successful and make more money as an author, you’ll likely want to focus more on writing while delegating other tasks. When you’re first starting out, being the person to whom these tasks are delegated can be a valuable source of income.
Kara, I know you train your students to start businesses that help support them as they pursue writing.
What businesses have your students have started?
Kara: The Author Conservatory is a three-year, online college alternative where we teach publishing and writing skills alongside entrepreneurship and business skills. An analogy my cofounder, Brett, loves to use is the idea that there are two wings to an author’s career: writing and business. You need both wings to fly, so we teach both of those skills.
In the first year, we teach students to build a “lemonade stand business.” The students are writing a novel and learning about story structure and craft, but they’re also building a small business. They start out making at least $20 per hour by building their business around whatever makes sense for them.
It’s rarely writing-related because most students have not yet learned to build websites or run marketing. For their first business, they’ll use the skills they already have.
Some teach classes and offer tutoring in skills they already have, such as teaching Latin. Others have housecleaning businesses.
I love the idea of house cleaning, teaching lessons, or running camps because those businesses are scalable. They use a completely different part of the brain but still teach the student about marketing. Students still have to determine their target audience and understand who they’re serving. They have to learn how to reach their audience and how to determine the value of their own time. Students even learn the legal side of business taxes.
They can build a sustainable business to support themselves so they can focus on writing, craft, and marketing.
If it takes seven years to get a traditional publishing contract and they’re set on achieving that goal, they might not mind the time investment. They’re willing to keep working, supporting themselves with something they love; and that approach aligns with their strengths. They have the time if they want it. If they choose to indie publish, they also have more than enough skills for that. This approach gives them the time frame and longevity they need.
Thomas: What I love about a job like housecleaning is that it frees up your mind to either daydream about your book or to pop in some AirPods and binge podcasts like Novel Marketing or The Christian Publishing Show. I know people who do this! With over 400 episodes of Novel Marketing and more than 150 episodes of The Christian Publishing Show, you can get an incredible education from top experts in publishing. It’s like having coaches guide you for hours a day, all while you’re getting paid to clean. Over time, this approach really sets you up for success.
Kara: Many students take advantage of their work time to catch up on training. They’ll listen to [recorded Conservatory] ‘Office Hours,’ read books, or binge through series after series. Housecleaning is just one example of a business where our students have had great success. Others have created and sold thousands of custom bookmarks and launched successful cake-decorating businesses. There are many options based on each student’s interests, location, and skills.
We focus on teaching fundamental skills they can adapt, no matter where they go or what they pursue. This approach provides them with lasting freedom and flexibility.
Thomas: Some people may balk at the idea of cleaning houses, thinking it’s a low-status job; but that mindset is toxic. Housecleaning is honest, valuable work that brings order to chaos, serves others, and allows you to work with your hands. The person whose home you just cleaned benefits directly from your effort, and that’s meaningful.
Don’t look down on work like this, especially if you’re relying on someone else’s labor for support. Housecleaning is a good, honest job; and while it may not be your lifelong career, it’s a great way to get started. The barriers to entry are low. You don’t need government permits or certifications to offer cleaning services to others in your community. And, of course, housecleaning is just one option among many that allow you to earn while pursuing your writing goals.
Kara: You can start by cleaning houses for friends and acquaintances. Once you build a client base of five to ten houses on rotation, you can make a great living. Housecleaning can be a successful way to build valuable skills while offering plenty of free time, flexibility, and mental energy.
I enjoy teaching, running our business, and managing a staff of nearly 50; but it is incredibly mentally taxing.
In many ways, I’d gladly pay for the chance to clean someone’s house. Housecleaning would give my mind a break. I would be helping someone and earning a fair wage in the process. The work has real value, especially when you can eventually hire others, step back from cleaning yourself, and ensure you’re taking care of the people you’re responsible for. It’s a rewarding path with a lot to offer.
What challenges do new authors face as they try to start a business?
Learning to Assess the Value of Their Work
Kara: One of the most common challenges is learning how to value themselves. They often struggle with the idea of charging what they’re worth for a service, especially if they feel too young, inarticulate, or inexperienced. It can be difficult to accurately assess the value of what you’re offering.
Starting Small
It can also be difficult to set down our pride so we can start small and grow from there. We all have to start with things that don’t feel glamorous.
I started as an intern doing the lowest, most monotonous tasks that no one else wanted to do. But those opportunities grow when you learn to be efficient and demonstrate you can be trusted in those areas. Students often want to jump into more glamorous business options instead of realizing they need to build skills over time.
Besides housecleaning, we have students who are doing virtual assistant work. They’re training themselves to build websites for other young authors and building their repertoire. Others are specifically interning for someone who will train them to do certain things.
Reaching your specific entrepreneurial dreams and goals doesn’t magically happen overnight. It takes a lot of hard work and the willingness to try, fail, and try again repeatedly until you figure out the right approach.
Trying New Things
Another challenge is that it’s difficult to try something new. Sometimes, you give your all and then realize you didn’t use the best approach. When that happens, you can’t internalize it and call yourself a failure. Instead, you have to review the situation and tell yourself, “The only person who doesn’t make it is the one who gives up.”
Develop the courage to keep trying. We talk a lot about exercising your courage. You must exercise your courage to send another email; to build that email list; and to reach out to your friends and family, even if it feels awkward.
These principles apply to the writing process too. We have our students start with smaller-scale projects, so they can learn the fundamentals of writing first. It’s not as fun to start with the fundamentals. We all want to be able to write a Lord of the Rings type series, but we have our students start with something simpler.
Navigating Failure
Those stepping stones allow for more growth in humility, consistency, and responsibility. When something does take off, and you’re suddenly selling a lot, that success can be hard to navigate if you haven’t had practice in the small, fundamental aspects of the business.
In many ways, success is significantly more difficult if you’re not used to failure. But once failure no longer impacts you, you can navigate business more successfully.
Thomas: When I was a new entrepreneur, I felt embarrassed to discuss money and hesitant to share my rates. There’s a level of emotional maturity that only comes with experience and practice in valuing yourself. By that, I mean learning not to undervalue your work, which is an easy mistake to make in the beginning.
Although the nice thing about undervaluing yourself early on is that it can make sales a bit easier. You’re pricing yourself low, so you may get more customers right away. But eventually, you must raise your rates.
Difficult Conversations
The conversation about raising your rates is challenging at first, but it’s incredibly valuable. Once you learn how to navigate it and develop that kind of fortitude, it becomes a powerful skill. When you’re negotiating with a major publisher or an agent, having the courage to stand your ground while knowing how to appropriately value yourself is essential.
While your skills are valuable, you can’t overvalue your services either.
My parents used to be professional musicians. They toured around the country and eventually were presented with a recording contract from a big record label. My dad reviewed the contract and saw that it was a terrible deal. Because he’s a businessman, he could see that most musicians get taken advantage of; and they end up being dirt poor because they sign record deals simply because they’re so excited to get a deal. They sign right away and share a picture on social media. People are so desperate to get an offer that they don’t take the time to read and negotiate the terms.
What are some other benefits of running your own business?
Everything Is Negotiable
Thomas: As a W-2 employee, almost nothing is negotiable. Your salary might be negotiable, but most other aspects are “take it or leave it.” The owner holds all the power, and you’re just another worker. However, even as a house cleaner, you’re more than that. You run your own business. When you present your services to potential clients, you meet them as an equal, which changes everything. I’d rather own a housecleaning business than be a W-2 employee for some big, fancy company.
You Learn to Identify Customers
Kara: Owning your own business also teaches you how to identify your target audience or client. It allows you to discover what need you’re filling and how to reach the person who needs your product or service. You get to gather information on how to sell to that person. How do you get them what they want?
That business skill is what you need for book marketing. Knowing how to reach your customers and how to sell to them allows you to build a sustainable career. If no one knows you wrote a book, it won’t sell many copies. If you don’t know how to market your book, what’s the point of publishing it?
You Get to Build a Community
Publishing can be difficult and discouraging. It has so many ups and downs. Few people in the industry know what will work and where. However, knowing how to build a connected community that is invested in your product and learning how to consistently sell to that specific group is crucial. Once you learn, you can build that group over time.
Publishing shifts. You may end up at a publisher that does a ton of marketing for you, although that’s unlikely. If you have to do most of your marketing yourself, do you even know how to do that? As an indie author, you have to know how to reach an audience and get a product in their hands.
What advice do you have for the author who feels alone?
Thomas: Having a community of entrepreneurs is a key ingredient to success. Being surrounded by others who are also handling their own taxes, payroll statements, profit-and-loss sheets, and cash-flow reports makes a big difference. Having friends who are going through the same experiences is incredibly valuable.
How would you advise an author who doesn’t know other authors or entrepreneurs?
Kara: First, pray about it. Often, there are other entrepreneurs in our circles, and we don’t realize it.
Whenever you’re looking for a community to join, enter it with the right mindset. Pray about why you are approaching that person or group. What do you bring? You don’t want to enter a space just looking for what you can get out of them. You don’t want to enter a group of entrepreneurs thinking, How can I use you to get a leg up? They will smell that coming from a mile away, and you will be locked out fast.
Look for a way you can bless the group. Brett and I talk with our students about blessing people’s socks off.
Whether you’re going to a conference, thinking about how to approach your email list, or joining an online space, ask yourself how you can bring blessing and beauty to the space. Understanding what you can contribute to the group is valuable.
There are so many entrepreneurial communities you can join. The community at AuthorMedia.social is amazing. So many authors are approaching publishing with an entrepreneurial mindset because of what you’re teaching.
Do your research. If you’re looking for training and consistent step-by-step guidance, The Author Conservatory has a lot of resources for you.
Don’t be afraid to ask people who are more successful than you are. If you approach them genuinely and look for ways to support and bless them, you may find opportunities for growth, friendship, and community.
You’ll also want to connect with those who are at a similar stage in their writing journey. They may be fumbling around a bit, too, and they’ll be so excited to find someone in the same boat. You both can grow together, fail together, and try again to exercise your courage together.
Thomas: At AuthorMedia.social, you can connect with other authors and entrepreneurs. We also have a job board where you can find help wanted and help offered posts.
If you want to become an author assistant, you can post what you offer, such as book editing, website building, email management, or any other service you provide. Browse opportunities as well. Many people post asking for help with specific tasks, and you might be the perfect fit.
On AuthorMedia.social, you can customize notifications on a space-by-space basis. Set the job board to “notify me right away” so you can respond quickly and potentially land a job. Often, authors hire the first qualified person who reaches out, so being prompt can make all the difference.
I also offer a course called The Tax and Business Guide for Authors, which I created with my dad, a CPA. We cover how to establish your business in the eyes of the IRS to qualify for tax deductions, avoid common author mistakes, and reduce your audit risk.
The course includes sections on creating business plans, earning income as an author, and other practical advice to support you in publishing, entrepreneurship, and tax filing. Insights from a CPA can be helpful, especially if you’re just starting out.
What final tips or encouragement do you have for authors?
Kara: Don’t be afraid to try. Everything grows over time. Even if something feels small or less important, that doesn’t mean it is. There’s a lot of beauty and value ahead if you’re willing to take the first steps, pull things together, and keep moving forward without hesitation.
Embrace your skills; value yourself; and appreciate the insights, history, and experiences you bring. Don’t be afraid to try something new or reach higher. Who knows what the future might hold?
Check out Kara’s writing at KaraSwanson.com.
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Kelly Jo Wilson, author of Tearing the Veil
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