If You Want To Own A Writing Business, You Have To Do More Than Write

It’s one of the first things they tell you when you become a writer: you need to write a lot. You can’t just write when the muse strikes you, or when the stars align; you need to create a writing practice so you’re able to consistently write, day after day, regardless of whether you feel like it.

The goal of this writing practice is, of course, words. Lots of words. Why? Because most of the words you write will not make it into your second draft. Even those that do will probably be cut out by an editor. Only a small percentage of the words you write will make it out into the world. So you need to write a lot of words.

And of course writing a lot of words important. I recently wrote a story about why you need to be able to write faster so that you’re able to write even more words. But writing a lot of words isn’t the only thing it takes to be a successful writer, and I’d be remiss to pretend it is.

Every writer’s business is just that: a business. And every business has many departments. There’s the product department, where they design and produce the product — in this case, your writing. Writers focus a lot on this department, but there are many others, like:

• The Marketing Department. This department is responsible for making sure your self-owned writing has a great headline/title, photo, and SEO. This department is also responsible for managing the newsletter, social media, public relations, and reaching out to find new freelancing work. This department is also the one responsible for finding an agent or a publishing contract.
• The Financial Department. This department is responsible for both making sure the business is meeting its financial goals (whether that’s a full-time income or just some side money) as well as making sure there is money available to invest in the business (writing classes, editorial services, etc). If you get a publishing contract, your advance is handled by the financial department.
• The Legal Department. This department is responsible for making sure all facts are cited, all media is copyrighted, all publishing contract obligations are being met, all company documents are filed and incorporated properly, all editors/producers are being paid properly, and all income is taxed properly.

There are more departments than these, but you get the picture. Every writer isn’t just a writer, but an entrepreneur as well.

Most writers don’t understand they are entrepreneurs. They see themselves as beautiful little artists, misunderstood and overlooked, Van Gogh before his paintings were discovered. The truth is that they’re entrepreneurs who are hustling, and they have to hustle at all these areas of their business if they hope to find success as a writer. (This was true of Van Gogh as well).

Of course, for solo writers, the department metaphor is an abstraction. A solo writer is just as responsible for managing media copyrights as she is for writing and producing first drafts. If she’s lucky, she has a publishing house or magazine editor to help her with final edits — but for the most part, she’s on her own.

So how can you, as a solo writer, make sure you’re taking care of all of your business, not just your product department?

Start reading about what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur. Read about what it takes to start small online businesses. Read about the nitty-gritty of managing finances and marketing responsibilities, and read about the mindset successful entrepreneurs have. Just as there is a world of writing advice out there, there is a world of online entrepreneurship advice out there. (Links to resources will be at the end of this article).

To start you off, here’s a brief questionnaire to assess how ready you are as an entrepreneur.

1. Do you have a one-year plan for your writing business? A three-year plan? A five-year plan?
2. Do you have a goal for your current line of business? Do you have plans to open up a second line of business?
3. Do you have a way to track income and expenses and classify them as deductible for taxes? (Do you even file your writing income?)*
4. Are you following industry trends so you are prepared for changes when they come?
5. Are you tracking your conversion rates, response rates, or other metrics of marketing success?

If you answered no to these questions (or aren’t sure what they mean), it might be time for you to take a break from reading writing advice and start learning about entrepreneurship instead.

Not every writer wants to make a business out of it. For many people, writing is a hobby. But if you ever want to get published, get viewers for your blog, get into a magazine, or get your writing anywhere it’s likely to be read, you need to treat your writing like it’s a business. Because it is.

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Resources

• The Writing Cooperative: The very publication you’re reading, The Writing Cooperative features plenty of articles that are aimed at the business of writing.
• The Entrepreneur’s Handbook: A top-tier Medium publication aimed at helping entrepreneurs be better at what they do.
• Better Marketing: Another top-tier Medium publication that helps anyone responsible for marketing get the results they want.
• Smart From Scratch: Entrepreneur Pat Flynn’s award-winning online entrepreneurship course. Normally $249, it’s free for a limited time because of the pandemic.
• Smart Blogger: A website for writers that focuses on the business of writing (and especially how to make money).
• Kindlepreneur: A website aimed specifically at writers who are hoping to make money via self-published books.

Footnotes

1. This is a fantastic thing to do because once you start classifying things as deductible, you can deduct all kinds of ordinary purchases. For instance, I deduct both of my computers, my tablet, my computer accessories, and my phone because I use all of them regularly in the course of my writing business. I also deduct every book I buy, every notebook, every set of pens and pencils, my desk and office chair purchases, so on and so forth. Best of all, I get a tax break for having a home office. Filing taxes as a writer can save you a lot of money, even if your writing business doesn’t make all that much.