The life of an Authorpreneur

A few short decades ago, the idea of being able to make a potentially lucrative income writing stories (in the comfort of your own home, by the beach, or pretty well anywhere you desire, for that matter) without the backing of a publisher would have seemed impossible, like something from a futuristic film.

The advent of the Internet, followed quickly by desktop publishing and subsequently E books, has led, over the past 15 years, to the creation of an entirely new industry, one where authors who in the past would have had to go through traditional publishing routes to get their works published, now have the ability to skip the middleman entirely.

This is the age of the authorpreneur.

Like the name implies, an authorpreneur is every bit an entrepreneur. Many of these creatives are skilled writers who have worked in related industries such as journalism, communications, professional editing, or as is common in the case of many science fiction and fantasy writers, built up a considerable following through writing fanfiction.

While authors who are traditionally published (meaning they have agents) those of us who have decided to strike out on our own – if we are to be successful – must be a Jack of all trades of sorts.

In addition to giving your readers what they want by delivering a well written, thoroughly edited product, as an authorpreneur, you must also be willing to take the time to devote to marketing your books as well as staying active – to a degree – at least on social media, engaging with your followers and friends, posting writing – related content, as well as promoting your new releases.

As your own boss, you must also learn how to collect and claim all your expenses for annual tax purposes. Typically, the expenses that will go into your business as an indie author include the cost of cover design, editing, paid marketing (such as Facebook and Amazon ads), as well as mailing lists and tools you purchase to help you with your daily tasks such as Publisher Rocket as well as your mailing list.

Although this may seem very obvious, one mistake many authorpreneurs make is that they are so caught up in the stories they write they don’t realize that there may not be an audience for their book.

Furthermore, it is a good idea to begin marketing a good six months before you launch your book.

Yes, the life of an authorpreneur is often time consuming as you (depending on your budget, of course) are not merely writing books, you are also your own marketing department.

In the beginning, self publishing was seen as inferior to traditional publishing.

Fortunately, that is no longer the case.

Many self-published authors around the world today easily take in six figures or more. others write books in their spare time to bring in extra income while they work at their regular nine to five jobs or hybrid careers, which is common in the gig economy.

Are you or have you been considering becoming an authorpreneur?

It’s a great life and a very rewarding career.