You want to be an author… but everybody knows what happens to authors.
They end up living under a bridge with piles of unsold books, unable to afford food or clothing or rent. They never amount to much, remaining poor, starving writers who can’t put food on the table. Truly, a fate worse than death.
The archetype of the starving artist is a popular one in our culture. And while my description of it is a definite exaggeration, there’s a grain of truth hidden in there.
Because even though it absolutely is possible to make a living as an author, it’s hard. And many authors fail at it. They may be the best writers in the world—but that doesn’t mean their books will sell.
How can you avoid this? The answer is simple: learn business skills.
Why Most Authors Fail
The fact is, most authors have that wrong mindset: they believe that writing is all they need to be doing in order to succeed. And as a result, most books fail.
Recent statistics show that most traditionally published books don’t sell as well as many people think they do. According to Kristen McLean of the data tracking company BookScan, roughly 66% of books from major publishers sell less than 1000 copies in the first year. (More information can be found here.)
To put that in perspective, if you’re making 25% royalties on a $15 book (a typical number in most publishing houses), selling 1000 copies will earn you about $2500, depending on printing costs. That doesn’t even come close to earning you a living.
Publishers won’t sell your books for you. And most authors never develop the business skills necessary to sell their books and support themselves enough to write more.
That doesn’t have to be you.
While you may think it’s okay to neglect the business side of writing—after all, your book is totally good enough to sell lots of copies without all that “marketing” headache!—that’s not how it works. Don’t make that mistake.
In an ideal world, writers would be able to just write. But this is the real world, and we need to learn how to sell.
Why Authors Need Business Skills
You could go on without learning these business skills, hoping your book is good enough to become the next Harry Potter. But chances are, that will only lead to your book launch being a flop. And you’ll go back to your day job, unable to support yourself by your writing, convinced that your dream of being an author was just that—a dream.
OR…
If you spent time developing those business skills ahead of time, you’d be way more likely to succeed in publishing.
You’d have tangible ways to prove to publishers and agents that you know how to sell, making it easier to get a contract in the first place.
You’d be able to sell more copies of your book when it comes out, leading to more revenue and more visibility for your writing.
You’d be able to build additional revenue streams around your books, making it possible to support yourself without being a mega-bestseller (which is only available for the very few).
And, you’ll be able to support yourself in the interim period when you haven’t got that book contract yet. You’ll be able to make more money with less time by working hard and working smart, and you’ll have the flexibility that leads to more time to write.
But while those are all huge benefits—and while they’ll drastically improve your chance of having a sustainable career as an author—potentially the biggest benefit of all is the mindset shift that getting good at business will give you.
You’ll be more confident. Good business is all about exchanging something of value for money, being a blessing to others and providing for yourself at the same time. If you learn to do that, you’ll recognize that something you have is valuable, and you won’t be afraid of sharing that with people.
That confidence will help you in all other areas of your life, not just your bank account.
How to Develop Business Skills
One word: Practice!
The first step to learning how to excel at business is to try it. Don’t be shy! Put yourself out there, try something new, and don’t be afraid of failure.
Learning by doing is the quickest way to success. Don’t wait around to take a class in business and marketing—jump in and get started!
Entrepreneurship is more than a job; it’s a mindset. Entrepreneurs take initiative. They’re creative. They take risks, and they fail, and they learn from their mistakes and try something new next time.
If you start practicing business skills now, you’ll gain the actual experience you need. You’ll see firsthand what works and what doesn’t, and you’ll have a chance to iterate and experiment to find a better strategy.
That’s a lot better than a class that teaches you a couple valuable principles but not much about how to apply them!
It’s often hard to figure out an idea to start practicing with, though. To find one, think about your talents. What are you good at? What could you do that would be valuable to someone else? And how can you exchange that for money?
Here are some ideas to get you started:
- Be a tutor.
- Run a summer camp.
- If you’re musical, teach music lessons.
- If you’re artistic, start an Etsy shop.
- Mow lawns during the summer.
These ideas are all fairly simple to execute. It’s good to keep it simple at first since more complex businesses have a high chance of failure—at least until you have more experience, or unless you have access to high-quality mentorship and coaching.
Which brings us to our next point:
Find a Business Mentor
Mentorship—learning from people who have done the things you want to do—is the best way to learn.
Classroom teaching has its place, but it’s not as helpful when you’re trying to accomplish something quickly. It’s not individualized, and there’s no pressure to apply what you’re taught. You’ll learn principles and best practices, but you might leave the class having made little to no progress toward your goal. While a dedicated student can put classroom experience to good use, it’s harder than it seems.
But when you’re learning from a mentor, you’re taking action. You’re doing the thing you always wanted to do. You’re getting advice from people who learned what they know from hard-won experience, and who will have a much better sense of what you need to know now.
One benefit of the Young Writer program is that we have regular office hours with instructors who have professional experience in the fields we want to go into—business and entrepreneurship, but also writing excellent books. And the Author Conservatory provides regular individual coaching designed to help students start a business that supports their writing career. Students in the Conservatory often achieve things they never could have dreamed of before they got this professional training and encouragement.
There’s a reason our instructors use this model. It works.
Mentorship is the most effective way to learn business skills. But how do you actually find a mentor?
First, you need to know what to look for. An effective business mentor is someone who:
- has done what you want to do (start a small business, run a blog for profit)
- has time to give you advice and help you through the process of starting your own business.
That second one is particularly important. Many small business owners are very busy, so make sure to respect their time.
It’s also a good idea to offer something in return for their mentorship. Professional business coaches will charge for the time they spend with you—but even if your mentor doesn’t charge, they’re still providing you a service. Their time is valuable, and they’re giving it to you—so recognize that!
There are many ways to support your mentor. Maybe you could provide a service like proofreading to them for free in exchange for mentorship, thus saving them time and money. Brainstorm ways to “bless their socks off,” in the words of Brett Harris, and you’ll be much more likely to have a good relationship with your mentor.
Mentors are people, too. They want to help. So, if you want to bless them, implement the advice they give you—and thank them for it! That way, you aren’t wasting their time and effort.
For more information, check out this article on how to find a mentor.
But Business Is Intimidating…
Maybe you like the idea of entrepreneurship already. Maybe the idea of starting a business and learning marketing and promotion inspires you to new heights of excitement and energy.
Or maybe it doesn’t. Maybe the idea of learning a whole new skill set beyond the writing you already have to do feels like a crushing burden that, in a perfect world, you shouldn’t have to bear.
There’s a lot to consider when it comes to learning business skills, and it’s natural to feel overwhelmed. However, don’t let that stop you! Everyone—every author, every marketer, and every businessperson—started out as a beginner. They used to know nothing, but over time they grew in knowledge and experience, and eventually accomplished great things.
You don’t have to do this all at once. In fact, you shouldn’t try. It’s far better to start small and build up your skills than it is to jump into the deep end and fill your mind with dictionaries of jargon without applying any of it.
A good idea would be to make a simple plan, then implement it. Get your hands dirty with a little real-world business experience and build on that.
Don’t feel as though you have to have it all figured out before you get started. Nobody does. And waiting until you’re “ready” will paralyze you and make it so that you never reach your dreams at all.
Never fear, writer friend: you don’t have to do this all at once. You can take it one step at a time.
And eventually, you’ll look back at your progress and be glad you took that first step when you did.
But I’m A Creative!
Even if you believe you can learn business skills, you may still be wondering if you should.
“Business” can feel like a taboo topic in the creative community. Writers aren’t business people—we’re artists. We spin worlds out of words and weave tales like tapestries from the warp and woof of our imagination. Asking us to enter the dull world of entrepreneurship would be like asking Rembrandt to paint the walls of your house because you feel like remodeling!
While that may be a slight exaggeration—I doubt most of us consider ourselves on par with Rembrandt—the fact remains that writing is a creative act. And we feel that business and creativity just don’t go together.
Or, maybe all this talk of marketing and sales is just making you feel icky. You just want to write great books, after all; you want to bless people with your words. You don’t want to be that sleazy telemarketer or the door-to-door salesperson everyone likes to ignore.
Here’s the thing: Business and creativity do go together. And being an entrepreneur is a great way to bless people.
Many of the skills you’ve learned on your writing journey—communicating clearly, telling a great story and keeping your reader in suspense—are necessary skills for marketing, too.
In fact, if you’re able to write a great novel, those skills can be the first step to learning how to market. You’re on the right path.
Entrepreneurs have to be creative. They have to think outside the box and come up with inventive ways to talk to their audience—something that’s very important for writers to be able to do!
Learning business skills won’t detract from your art. In fact, learning to communicate the value of your product to others is a great way to make sure your writing is clear, concise, and effective.
But that’s not the only problem you may have with business. What about the ethical side? Marketing and entrepreneurship feel so self-serving, like it’s all about the money. And you don’t want that.
First of all, it’s good that you care about this enough to wonder if it’s self-serving. Serving others is important, and we shouldn’t focus only on ourselves—that isn’t a good way to love your neighbor at all!
However, business and service aren’t opposites either. In fact, service is what business is all about.
Fundamentally, business is the act of exchanging a product or service for money. In order to be successful at it, people have to value whatever product or service you’re offering—and value it enough that they actually want to pay you for it.
How do you find a product or service that people value? You identify a problem they have, and you find a way to fix it.
Doesn’t that sound like a good thing?
You’re solving problems for people. You’re blessing them. Asking for money in return isn’t selfish; it’s simply making sure your time is compensated enough so that you can continue. (After all, nobody thinks doctors shouldn’t be paid for their services!)
This definitely requires a mindset shift—but if you learn to see entrepreneurship as a service to others instead of just a selfish money-grab, you’ll be able to see the value of it.
Entrepreneurship only works if what you’re offering is actually valuable. So, the people you serve will be glad you took the time to offer it, even if it costs them something.
The same applies to your writing, as well. If you’ve written a good story, and you think people would be blessed by reading it, then using business skills to tell as many people as possible about it is not bad! In fact, it’s good. It’s a way to bless those people.
Just think about all the books you’ve enjoyed. Imagine if those authors had decided that telling people about their book was too “sales-y,” so they didn’t do it. You’d never have gotten to read that book!
Learning to see business skills as a way to serve your customer is a key part of being able to glorify God with your business. The same holds true for marketing a book. If you can make something that blesses others, then you’ll have succeeded—but only if you tell them about it. And they’ll be grateful you did.
Does this really work?
Does all this sound a little far-fetched? It’s not. Young people can do this, and many of them already have—young people who are dedicated and willing to work hard to achieve their goals.
Like Zoe, who grew her Etsy shop to earn thousands of dollars of sales selling sword bookmarks and protective book sleeves. Or Kasumi, who earned over $20,000 in her first year teaching Latin classes.
These outcomes are possible. And they’ve changed the lives of many young writers already.
You could be one of them—but not if you never take the plunge and try.
Your Next Steps
To have a writing career, you need to be able to write. But you also need to be able to sell what you write and provide for yourself. Learning both is essential to being an author in a sustainable way.
So, get out there! Start practicing!
But it’s a little more difficult than that, isn’t it?
It’s easy to get overwhelmed by all the different things out there. Fortunately, you don’t have to waste time without a clear direction forward. If you can take one or both of these two steps, you’ll be on the right track to becoming a successful author and entrepreneur.
- Find a mentor. Think of someone with business experience who you can reach out to for help.
- Get real-world experience. Try to come up with one simple business idea you can start with, just to gain practice and experience with entrepreneurship. The simpler the better—you want this to be something you can realistically do without having much experience already.
If you need help coming up with ideas to practice with, download the freebie below! It’s full of example businesses that are completely feasible for a teenager to start and includes brainstorming questions to help you plan your business.
