Why a publishing plan? Businesses of every type, including authors, need a business plan. Don’t think you can skip by on this important step because you are a creative. Every author can benefit from a publishing plan, your version of a business plan.

1. Focus

When you create a publishing plan you need to focus on the reasons for the writing your book. Who are your readers? What will they get out of your book? When do you want to start? Where will you sell your books? Why (so important) do you want to start publishing books? How will you meld all these things together to create a prosperous business?

These are the primary reasons why you’re creating a book and they should always be at the forefront of your mind when making decisions. This can be tricky. Creating a vision and setting tangible goals is hard, we know that. We've gone into some tips on how to do this in our article: Setting Publishing Goals – Your Roadmap to Success.

An important part of this is your big dream. The article above can help you articulate your vision. Everyone’s big dream will be different but it's essential that you should write it down as part of your plan. Ideally, stick it somewhere you can see it every day. I have mine on my login screen for my computer.

2. A plan

Think of your publishing plan as a quest map. Your "Why" is the start of the quest and your dream/your vision is the end (or at least the end of this stage). Everything in between is what you need to plan and these steps should also be incorporated into a publishing plan.

What books do you want to create? How often do you want to publish a new book? What formats will you create? And how will you sell these to readers? How can you add in some other income streams such as affiliate income into your publishing? Are there any speaking engagements or book event opportunities that will expand your audience? What can you add to your sales funnel to encourage readers to purchase and purchase again?

3. Action steps

This is where your planning steps are broken down into smaller, actionable steps. Instead of just saying I want to write a book, break the process down further. How much time can you dedicate each day to writing? Do you want to self-publish or find a publisher? You’ll need to hire an editor and someone to design the cover. These are actionable steps that can easily be crossed off your to do list once completed.

Don’t be thrown off here. You don’t need to plan 5 years’ worth of action steps at one time. Think broad brush plans for a year and then create a 90 day action plan. This will give you a solid set of jobs, keeping your focus in mind, so that the action steps become a pathway or a blueprint to your big dreams.

If this seems like a daunting task, book in a call to chat with me about your book and the best next steps. Publishing plans are my jam. We work closely with all our authors as they publish to keep them on the best path for successful publication, helping them realise their vision.

Where to next

Remember it's easy to get help with your publishing plan, by booking in to chat to me. You can find a good time on the calendar and we can talk over Zoom, Skype or the phone. This is just one of our ever growing list of Indie Author Guides. Do check them out, and let us know if there's a topic you would like covered. The best way to keep in touch with these, our latest news and any specials is to sign up to our author newsletter. You can also find us on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn, so do say hi.