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How to Create a Writer’s Business Plan
And why you really should.
If you’re a writer, you’re a small business owner. That’s true even if you’re not making any money yet — kind of the way a store or restaurant owner is still running a business, even before they’re in the black.
Framing your writing as a business is kind of a double-edged sword.
On the one hand, it can really help to make you feel like a real writer. It signifies in your mind that you take your work seriously and that it’s you real job (even if something else is earning more income at the moment.)
On the other hand, putting pressure on your art to earn you money before you’ve reached a professional skill level can be demoralizing.
A business plan for your writing can bridge the gap between art and business — helping to guide you toward purposefully improving your art and keep you from expecting it to support itself before it’s ready.
Having a very clear idea of where you are on your path lessens the likelihood of standing at the trailhead, or maybe even still sitting in your car on the side of the road, but feeling like you should be halfway finished.
A writing business plan also lays out your goals and helps you to visualize all the steps between where you are now and where you…
