Most writers write because they want their words to be read. Even if they say they don’t do it for the money, most if not all dream of making a living from their words. This means that eventually, those words have to be packaged in some kind of format that can be sold to someone, somewhere.
This is true whether you are writing books or freelance articles, blogs or your memoir. Even if you already have a large audience, eventually you will run out of friends and family who will buy your work (in fact, they are the least likely to buy it) and you will need others to sell your work for you. You will need to adopt a no-nonsense approach to creating an online presence.
All that to say that writing is a business, and a business needs several elements to succeed. Jeff Bezos did not just sell his books out of his garage to friends and family. He built a worldwide empire. Bill Gates and Steve Jobs went through the same process I am about to outline for you in a series of blog posts, and they did not stop at any one of them. In fact, they repeated the process over and over again.
The business of writing and publishing has three unique steps. Each of these is made up of several parts as well. Most writers get stuck in one of these steps, often never even completing the first one. As a result, it is impossible for them to make a living writing.
In fact, every writer who has even sold one book has followed every one of these steps. Some have done it better than others, and successful writers who make a living from their words do all of these well.
Production
This is the process of creating a book. It is not just writing, it involves rewriting, editing, proofreading, formatting, and packaging (i.e. a book cover). In the next number of weeks, we will examine all the aspects of production from the beginning. When you type “The End” of your manuscript, your journey has just begun.
Distribution
Where and how will people find your book? You have to put it somewhere for it to sell. Amazon is just the beginning. What about your local bookstore, your library, or other websites? For people to read your work, it has to be available to them in a format they can consume: a book, a magazine, a website, blog post, or other form of communication you can sell.
Marketing
It is good to have your book available. However, you need to make people aware of where it is, or that it even exists, before you can sell any at all. This is called marketing, and depending on what kind of book or writing you are selling will depend on how you market it and make people aware that it exists.
Social media will certainly play a role in that. Along with your own website. But you must build a brand and brand awareness, just as any new brand or business would. Freelance writers use many creative means to market themselves. Many types of advertising are essential to this, but for writers, content marketing is an essential one.
It sounds so basic. Business 101 type stuff. To sell your writing, you must first produce a product, then make it available through distribution, and finally, you must advertise your work using the same marketing techniques any business would.
This series will be designed to get you unstuck and get you into the mindset that writing is a business, and if you are going to get paid, you need to act like any other businessman.