Goal Setting for the Self-Published Author

Keeping in mind that being a Self-Published Author is a business, I have a question for you. Do you have a business plan in place? If you do, has it been updated recently? If you don’t, get one. Why? I’m happy you asked. A business plan does several things for you, the first and most important, in my opinion, is goal setting. You should know where you are going before you start the journey. A business plan is a road map, of sort, to help you get to your destination. There will be twist and turns along the way and probably a few bumps and bruises, but you will still be on your way. Being on your way to becoming a successful self-published author is your goal. So take a moment to plan that journey. Who knows, you may end up with a few wonderful accolades along the way and a little money to help you get there.

How do you put together a business plan? Another good question. In this wonderful and freighting world of the internet, you can goggle and find just about anything you need to do whatever. Goggle “Business Plans”. You will get an array of sites that is dedicated to assisting you in putting together a business plan, if you would like to do it yourself. However, if you are like me I do not pretend to be a business guru. I’m an author, so I turned to professional to put together a business plan for me.

To those that are brave enough to try this on your own, here’s the short of what a business plan should include according to the Small Business Administration:

a)      Table of Content – give key sections of the plan

        b)      Executive Summary – Tell who you are, what you do and why

c)      Business description and vision – your company’s goal and objective (for your books)

d)      Definition of the market – who might buy your product

e)      Description of product and services – describe your product

f)        Organization and Management – describe who is responsible for what in your business

g)      Marketing and Sales Strategy- how you plan to reach your customers

h)      Financial Management- revenue and expenses

i)        Appendices- brochures, and/or copies of your book

That Small Business administration has a really simple and informative on-line course on creating a business plan. http://app1.sba.gov/training/sbabp/index.htm check it out.

I know, I went a little deep on this post and this is a very simplistic example, but the information is helpful. Besides, who said this journey was going to be fun all the time it creating wonderful characters and story lines. We have to put a little work into it somewhere along the road.

Until the next time.

Iris