The final section in the business plan for your book is the budget (in a standard business plan, this section is usually called “Financial Factors and Statements). The budget for your book may be simple or highly complex, depending on a number of factors, including your publishing path. Marketing and travel budgets are part of this section also, as are any other book-related costs the author will bear. Note: Traditionally published authors do not bear ANY of the costs of publishing, sales, or distribution, and do not pay the publisher’s editing costs. Self-published authors are responsible for all of the costs of publishing
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Author Email Marketing Rules, Part 1
Today’s post dives into the murky waters of author email marketing–and though it may initially seem a departure from the autumn scam avoidance series, we’re still within that realm. It’s just that today, we’re looking at how authors avoid crossing over to the scammers’ (or, in this case, spammers’) side of the street. In the United States, commercial email communications are regulated by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) under the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003. Note: “CAN-SPAM” is an acronym, not a grant of permission, and stands for “Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography And Marketing Act.” The CAN-SPAM Act applies to all “commercial email,” which
Read moreCreating Your Business Plan and Publishing Calendar
A guest post by Speculative Fiction author and editor Tammy Salyer: Treat your writing like a passion, but treat your novel like a business. Being an independently published author is extremely time intensive. Knowing that going in is the first consideration you need to include when evaluating your trajectory and goals. Much as you may outline your novel—with plot arcs, story goals, and finale outcomes—think of your business plan as the outline to your writing career. The following are the three universal steps (as I see them) to accomplish this. 1. Set realistic goals. The fact is, brand new unknown
Read morePublishing 101: Authors’ Release Phase Marketing
Today, the Publishing 101 series takes a look at release phase marketing in the author’s journey. As I mentioned last week, this series will look only briefly at author marketing, but we’ll come back to the issue. The next series, which will start in April or May (as soon as this one finishes) will focus on effective author marketing. In its most expansive definition, “release phase” starts when pre-orders go live, but you won’t start the heavy lifting that early. Release Phase Marketing starts, in its earliest sense when your book can be “purchased” (which includes pre-orders) and continues through the
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