Your Book Means Business—Treat It Like One
- Christina Crosland
- Apr 23
- 6 min read
Updated: Apr 30
Being a published author is more than a hobby. Invest in your writing like you would your business.
Whether through traditional publishing or self-publishing, getting a quality book out is a big deal. It’s not easy, as any author can tell you. From the very first word on the page to the choice of mock-up covers to marketing before and after publication, publishing a book is a lot of work—enjoyable work, but work nonetheless. Which is why it’s imperative that you view your book not as a hobby, but as a business.
Too often, people approach publishing a book as a pastime rather than a profession. With this viewpoint, many writers take the misguided advice that publishing can (or even should) be done with little effort and no money. Some writers go into publishing believing that it could never pay their bills unless they hit the bestseller jackpot. And so they stay in their comfort zone, writing simply for fun and hoping that someone will read their book but not really expecting or investing much
Treating publishing books as merely a pastime, unfortunately, keeps authors away from a truly successful writing career. But don’t worry, it’s never too late to have a better mindset about publishing your writing.
After reading this tip, you won’t feel the need to quit your job, but you might think about your books quite differently. To give your published books the best outcome, the following are business and investment mindsets you can adopt.
1. Your authorship is a business venture.
When you publish a book, you are officially starting a business. Did you realize that? If not, you are not alone. It’s true, as a published author, you automatically graduate from “writing for fun” to “writing for business.” That is because when you publish a book, you simultaneously create a business.
Any time you sell goods or services—including ebooks or physical books—the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) considers you a small business, regardless of whether you officially register your business or not. Whether self-published or traditionally published, you as an author are considered by default to be self-employed by a sole proprietorship (a business structure in which one individual—aka you—runs the business). For tax purposes, the government views your authorship as a business and expects you to report income as such.
This information may come as a surprise, but according to the government, you are an entrepreneur! For some, that can be an exciting realization, while for others, it might seem daunting. But viewing yourself as a business owner can lead to greater financial awareness and entrepreneurial drive.
How does the mindset of “I am starting a business” change how you might approach your book? Let’s think about it with a different example. Imagine you’ve been making clothes as a fun hobby. Based on the positive feedback you’ve received, you decide that you want to start getting commissions and selling your clothing. What would the first steps be?
If you were really serious about it, you’d start researching the market and the legal requirements. Then you’d make a plan and determine starting costs. You’d decide what kind of business entity to register under for tax purposes and get a business license—maybe even a business loan. It might feel scary or risky, which is why there would be lots of consulting with professionals and reading business books.
If this is how you would approach opening a clothing shop, or a daycare, or a restaurant, then why not also how you approach publishing a book?
If you want your books to be as successful as they can be, then you must look at publishing as if you are starting your own company. Take all the same steps that you would if you were opening up any other business. Writing doesn’t need to be just a hobby anymore. You are a professional, and you have permission to act like one. Rather than viewing your book as a side hobby, approach it like a business venture—with research, investment, and commitment.
2. Your writing is an investment.
If you feel guilty for spending money on your writing, don’t. Building a successful business is never free. There are going to be costs, and your books are worth it. Your business is worth it. You are worth it.
Think in terms of another start-up. Let’s use a tree care company as an example this time. In order to get into tree care, there are quite a few things that need to happen first: training, obtaining a license, buying equipment, paying for insurance, etc. All of that costs money upfront, even before any clients are serviced.
Such costs are expected for a tree care company, and similarly, upfront costs are part of getting published. Paying for writing courses, editors, an illustrator, a cover designer, a typesetter—these are all part of the publishing process, and hiring professionals should be an expected cost. Even doing some things yourself will have costs, such as purchasing the necessary programs, image licensing, and ISBN numbers. Publishing will rarely get anywhere if it’s done for free. It must be approached with an investment mindset.
Think of it this way: Would you buy a share of your author company if you saw it on the stock market? If not, why not? Make the changes needed in order to get you excited enough about your book that you would invest in it, and then get to investing! Believe in your work and give it its worth.
3. Your author name is your brand.
Believe it or not, every author’s name, be it real or pen name, is a writer’s brand. Just like shoppers can know exactly what to expect from the Samsung or Apple brands, readers should be able to know exactly what kind of book they will get from you as an author. This means that you must define your niche genre and stick to it.
If you have multiple genres that you want to write in, it’s best to keep them under separate pen names. Not many people trust products that fall outside of what a brand is known for, and if that product is a flop, it hurts the brand’s overall image. Trust me, romance readers will not be happy if their trusted author’s highly anticipated new book is a tragedy.
Sure, there are the misnomer authors that successfully write in more than one genre, but even then, they have branding. For example, when you reach for a Stephen King book, you know exactly what you are getting. Of course, he has written science fiction, fantasy, and thriller, but Stephen King is still largely synonymous with horror.
The benefit to planning your brand’s genre is that you can immediately start marketing to your ideal customer—even before publishing your book! All it takes is knowing what your author name stands for. Define your brand, develop it, and then market it.
4. Your book is your product.
Have you thought about your book as a product before? Viewing your book as a sellable product clarifies why a book cannot just be written and immediately published.
Before any successful product is put on the market, it is developed with specific customers in mind and built to match their expectations. Then it is tested and revised, tested and revised, and tested and revised again until the product is proven to work. But it doesn’t stop there. After the main body of a product is developed, the packaging is designed to appeal to its target customers. Then the same process—test, revise, test, revise—is applied in marketing to make the product worth the price in the customer’s mind.
The same holds true for books. The best books have gone through many rounds of edits, draft after draft based on feedback from editors, alpha readers, and beta readers. The final manuscript then goes through the design process, applying the “packaging” of the product in a way that will sell. The final typeset book, or the final product, matches industry standards. It is then marketed to show how it gives value.
Without spending the necessary time and money to adequately test and market your book, it will ultimately fall short of expectations—both yours and the customer’s. But you don’t have to let that happen. Your book is your product—in fact, it’s the product—that represents your business brand.
For additional information on product testing, you can check out the business book The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss. He details the steps to creating a product, including coming up with an idea, researching the market; testing the design, functionality, and pricing; and revising, revising, revising.
The good news is that if you’ve already written a book, then you’ve accomplished the first step! Now give your literary product the time it deserves.
These four mindsets ultimately interconnect with each other. After all, a brand will flop if the product flops, and if the brand flops, the business flops. But adopt just one of these mindsets, and it can have a positive impact. If a product reaches its audience, then the author brand becomes solid, and the business starts rolling.
Changing your mindset from “I just write for fun” to “I have a writing business” can do a lot of good for your books and you as an author. When you invest in your books, your brand and products will capture enthusiastic readers who come back again and again.
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