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Your Writer Platform

Build your platform. engage your fans. sell more books., your author business plan: a framework for the creative entrepreneur.

by Kimberley Grabas

Does the thought of writing a business plan make you wince?

You’ve been struggling valiantly through most of the non-writing, left-brained activities that have been thrust upon you as a modern writer – do you really need to go through the formality of crafting your “executive summary”, “sales forecasts” and “market analysis”?

Well…yes. (sorry)

But if you’d prefer to skip the spreadsheets in favour of a more “writer-friendly” planning process – because deep down you know you could use a bit more direction to move your writing career to the next level – you’re in luck!

I’ve designed this business plan framework with the creative entrepreneur in mind.

Yep, it’s still a business plan.

But I’ve tried to soften the corporate jargon, as well as give you ideas as to how you can use each section to grow your writing career.

I’ve also created a free downloadable workbook to guide you through the process and that you can complete at your own pace:

Click the image to download your free 30-page Author Business Plan workbook:

Prioritizing Your Business Plan To Get The Most Out Of Your Writing Career

It’s time to overcome your resistance to the idea that, as an author, your job is no longer just to write (if it ever was).

If you want to turn your passion for writing into a business, you’ll need to have a solid and strategic plan in place.

And a b usiness plan is simply a guide to what you hope to accomplish, how you plan to meet those objectives, and your financial projections based on these efforts.

It’s a field guide to your writing business – that you navigate with your readers in mind.

Here’s what you can expect a thorough business plan to help you accomplish:

It will help you to

• clarify and articulate a clear vision for your writing career, which will help guide your business actions and decisions
• nail down the specifics of what you need to get done to move your business forward
• share your strategies, priorities, and specific action points with others (agents, assistants, collaborators, or even your spouse)
• recognize and filter out the distractions, so you can concentrate only on those activities that will help you grow
• determine future needs ahead of time (software, skills, tech, or other resources) so that you can plan for the cost or time expenditure
• beat inertia and take confident action on those things you’ve determined will move your business forward
• notice opportunities to reward yourself for both small accomplishments and big wins

One of the most important (and often ignored) steps to effective goal setting and increased productivity, is to write your goals down and review them daily . This can be a game changer.

By dedicating the time to write your business plan – and review it frequently – you can change the trajectory of your writing career.

Developing Your Author Business Plan: The Key Components

Whether you are working toward a traditional publishing contract or self-publishing, a carefully crafted business plan will help you establish a plan of action, and guide how you will allocate your (often limited) resources.

A. BUSINESS VISION + AUTHOR BRAND

1. Mission Statement (Message)

Clarify your business values and vision. Define why you write and get very clear on the essence of your work–what problems are you solving or what desires are you satisfying? What is your promise to your reader and how will you deliver on that promise? (You can also include a “vision statement” that inspires you, and is a reminder of your purpose and your commitment to your writing career.)

2. Your Ideal Reader

Identify and define the group of people whom you wish to reach. How do they see themselves, and how does your work fit with that perception?  Who already ‘speaks your language’ or conversely, whom does your work speak to? We’ll be digging deeper into this in a later section of the business plan, so the information you gather will help to create a succinct description of your ideal reader here.

Related Content:  Identifying Your Target Audience: The Top 8 Mistakes Writers Make

3. Brand Personality and Culture

What is your brand story and personality? What do you want people to feel or experience when they read your book, a post on your blog, or see you speak at an event? What tone, colors, and visuals characterize your writing, and how does your branding reflect the purpose or message behind your work? What values, standards or best practices will you adhere to? What can your community of readers consistently expect from you in terms of your style, authenticity, voice, and professionalism? Make sure that your branding is relevant to the audience you seek, distinct and meaningful.

Related Content:  Discover and Build Your Author Brand

4. Career Goals, Objectives, and Expansion Plans

Many people do not even think of goals, and of those that do, very few write them down. Forbes reports a remarkable 10-year study about goal-setting carried out in the Harvard MBA Program.  Those students who wrote down their goals accomplished significantly more (i.e., earned on average, 10 times as much as the other 97 percent of the class combined). So write down your goals and objectives. Make sure they’re both S.M.A.R.T and what you really want. Are you willing–and able–to sacrifice the time and effort required to achieve what you’ve outlined? How will you determine your success?

B. BUSINESS DESCRIPTION + PUBLISHING PLAN

1. Your Difference

This is your secret sauce or unfair advantage. Describe who you are as a writer, and how you will portray that uniqueness to your audience. How do you solve their problem or desire and why is it valuable to your readers? The goal here is to answer the question in your reader’s mind, “Why you?”. What sets your work apart from others in your genre or niche? Develop your “brand story”.

Related Content: How to Build Your Brand From Scratch (And Why You Need To)

2. Who Do You Serve

Describe your target audience (demographics, psychographics), and how you can help meet the needs, wants, and desires of that specific group. Often writers make the mistake of working on their projects in a vacuum – with no feedback, input, or even acknowledgment of the reader. Another conundrum authors face, is writing in multiple genres, which makes building a community even more challenging. Note if either (or both) of these are concerns you face, and how you will address them going forward.

Related Content:  Thinking About Writing in Multiple Genres? Here’s What You Need to Know

3. Production

In this part of your business plan, include your writing, editing, and publishing schedule. How many words per day will you write, and at what times? If editing, how many hours per week will you devote? How many books do you plan to publish (and launch) this year? How often will you post new content to your blog or social media? Also note your genre focus, project lengths, and additional projects (workshops, courses, presentations, etc.) you plan to produce per year.

4. Business Structure

What is your writing business structure (sole proprietor, publishing company, or LLC, for example)?  Are you traditionally published, self-published, a hybrid author, or not yet published? Describe the components of your business, like books (digital, print, audio), courses, seminars, workshops (in-person/virtual), speaking, and so on. Is your business primarily online or offline?

5.   Business Tasks + Schedule

It’s important that you treat your writing business as a business . So make a list of regular tasks (everything from sales tracking and accounting, to editorial calendars and words written per day), and add them to your calendar, Asana , your day planner, or whatever system works for you.

6. Distribution Channels

You’ve defined your audience, so now you need to determine how they want to be reached. Where are they already and what are other ways that they will find you? Think social media, email, traditional media, video, podcasts, conferences and events, website, clubs, Amazon and other retailers, and so on.

Click to download your free 30-page Author Business Plan workbook :

C. MARKET ANALYSIS

1. Bestselling Authors/Comparable Titles in your Genre or Niche

Identify bestselling authors, top bloggers, and other influencers in your niche or genre. Look for those that already have the audience you want to reach (search through social media, relevant keywords, Facebook, and other groups). Who are the movers and shakers? The up-and-comers? Start making a list, including their contact info, website, and email. (These people may also become your partners and allies in the future.)

2. Pricing Models

What pricing model(s) are currently being used in your genre or niche? What are readers used to paying for books, products, or services similar to yours?

3. “Competitor” Strengths and Weaknesses

Choose 3-5 authors from the list you made in section C. 1., and break down their strengths and weaknesses. How do they reach and promote to their audience? Are there any strategies that many of your competitors seem to use (for example, are most of them using email marketing strategies)? What are they doing well and what can they improve? What can you add to the mix that draws upon your unique skill set and brand? Use this knowledge to craft your own, well-rounded strategy.

4. Trends and Opportunities

Note current events and what’s new and noteworthy in the publishing world. Note predictions and future trends that may impact your writing or bottom line. Are there any collaboration or partnership opportunities that you wish to pursue, both within your topic area and with industries or businesses that reach the same audience as you?

D. AUDIENCE RESEARCH

1. Identify Your Ideal Reader

Knowing your target audience has come up several times in this business plan–and for good reason. It is absolutely vital to the growth of your writing career to have a firm understanding of the audience you wish to reach. This section of your business plan informs the other sections, and it’s where you will get crystal clear on who your ideal readers are through research and data (not through guessing or assumptions). (Follow the link below for instructions on how to create an ideal reader persona.)

2. Understand Their Needs and Desires

Your goal is to understand and articulate your readers’ problems or desires better than they can themselves. But remember, this is their most pressing problem or desire, not yours.  Don’t try to create desire or interest where there is none. Outline how you will share your work in a way that encourages people who are already interested, to take action. (To gain a deeper understanding of your audience, spend time and ask questions of your “real” readers, engage in “social listening”, conduct surveys and examine your Google Analytics.)

3. Differentiate Yourself and Your Work

Given what you now know about your target audience, what is the intersection between your unique talents and your readers’ needs or desires? What can they get from you and your work that they can’t get anywhere else?

4. Determine How to Engage With Your Readers

It is much, much easier to create interesting, relevant, and valuable content for your audience now that you know exactly what they are searching for . You can’t possibly develop a marketing and book promotion plan when you have no idea who might be most receptive to your message. How will you learn (and continue to learn) about your readers, but still stay connected to the reasons for creating the work that you do?

E. COMMUNITY AND PLATFORM BUILDING

1. Social Media Plan

What are your (and your readers’) preferred platforms? Where will you place your emphasis and what strategies will you use to develop visibility and interest for your writing? What will you share, how will you create it, when will you share it, and where will you share it, to get the most engagement? (Create a specific plan for each social media platform you’ll engage on).

Related Content:  Social Media Strategy for Authors Plus 4 Tweets to Never Send

2. Email List Building Plan

Developing a responsive email list is one of the most important things you can do to grow your business and stay connected with your readers. What strategies will you implement to grow your list? How often will you communicate with your subscribers, what will you share and what opt-in incentive will you develop to encourage sign-ups? 

Related Content: The Writer’s Guide to Building an Email List

3. Content Strategy

A content strategy is your publishing plan of action for what to create , how to create it, when to create it, and for whom to create it. Develop an editorial or content calendar to map out and keep track of your content plan o’ action. Ensure your “brand story” is woven into the content you share.

4. Speaking, Appearances, and PR Plan

Keynote speeches, personal appearances, and other speaking opportunities all allow you to connect with your readers and fans in real life . Add presentations, interviews, and other appearances you have booked (or plan to book) into your business plan. What strategies will you implement to increase bookings?

5. Reviews, Testimonials, and Endorsements

What steps will you take to encourage reviews (ARCs, email requests, build relationships with influencers, and book bloggers)? How will you gather testimonials and endorsements for your work? Keep in mind that relationships take time to develop, so ensure you include steps to build these connections and goodwill before you ask for something in return.

Related Content: How to Get Reviews For Your Book (Without Begging, Bribing, or Resorting to Subterfuge)

6. Engagement + Exclusivity

How will you ensure your readers feel special? Will you offer special perks, bonuses, and a sneak peek behind the scenes? Or, create a street team or other type of “membership” for your most avid supporters? How is what you have to offer different from other authors in your niche, and how can you add more value? 

7. Networking and Relationship Building

Who are people talking about, sharing content from, and influenced by? What strategies will you use to develop relationships with industry influencers, advocates, and supporters of your work? How do you plan to build connections with organizations, institutions, schools, bloggers, reviewers, businesses, and media outlets? 

F. OFFERINGS + MONETIZATION

1. Your Products and Services

What will you offer to your audience? Books (digital, audio, print, series, bundles), services (speaking engagements, teaching at conferences, and hosting workshops) courses, freelance work, or other products and programs that relate to your work? How will your readers benefit? How will it impact their lives? Given what you’ve discovered about your target audience, will they want, need or desire what you have to offer?

2. Pricing Strategy

What pricing strategy will you employ? Premium, freemium (free + premium), permafree, or discount pricing? Given your goals for your business, will your pricing strategy help you meet your objectives? Does your pricing meet or challenge genre standards? How will your target audience view your pricing? Map out your pricing structure for your books, services, courses or workshops, series, and bundles.

Related Content: Pricing 

3. Collaboration and Partnerships

Affiliate marketing, book bundles, co-writing, and cross-promotion (via email lists) are all great ways to boost your business, visibility, and sales. What methods will you use to develop partnerships and encourage collaborations with other authors?

G. MARKETING STRATEGY

1. Marketing and Promotion

In this section, outline the methods you’ll employ to market and promote your books, products, content, and brand. You’ll want to develop a separate book marketing strategy for each book, as well as an overall strategy that ties current projects together with future plans for your writing career.  

Related Content: 71 Ways to Promote and Market Your Book

2. Resource Commitment

Finding time to write is difficult enough, but your business won’t run itself. You need to schedule time and resources for both the writing side of your business and the marketing side (and then squeeze in family and personal commitments, too 😉 ). How much time, money and other resources are you prepared to realistically commit? 

Related Content:  The Big Question: How Can I Build My Platform and Still Have Time to Write?

3. Launch Strategies

Designing, organizing, and implementing a book launch action plan is not easy. There are a lot of moving parts, so it requires the careful preparation (and execution) of just the right mix of launch activities to propel your new book out into the world. Layered launch strategies (where you use the momentum from one launch to boost the next) can create urgency and excitement, and further establish your brand, message, and authority. What actions will you take to leverage the assets and relationships you’ve established through your marketing activities to promote an upcoming book?

Related Content: Launch Strategy for Authors

H. FINANCIALS

1. Monthly Expenses

Make an itemized list of all the things you will need for your business to run monthly (website, hosting and domain name, email marketing service, business cards and other promotional items, office supplies, membership dues, etc.). If you are saving for some larger future expense (computer, software, cover design ), then note this in your budget, as well.

2. Monthly Revenue

Record your monthly income from all sources related to your writing business (royalties, freelance work, affiliate income, speaking, etc.). At first, this may seem like an exercise in futility, but with a solid business plan in place, you’ll soon start to see your revenue streams grow. 🙂

3. Production Budget (Per Book or Project)

Copyediting , line editing, proofreading, formatting for publishing, formatting for print, cover art, copyright registration, ISBNs, review copies, shipping, and research costs can all be budgeted on a per-book basis. These input costs will help you determine the potential viability (and profitability) of each project. If you also have a website and blog, there may also be production costs for blog posts, email newsletters, and other items (image or graphic fees, costs for giveaways, apps or software, etc.).

4. Sales + Income Projections

If you’re just starting out, creating sales projections may be difficult to do, but it’s certainly a good habit to develop if you’d like to ensure you’re making good business decisions. Forecasting is vital to planning sales, marketing, and spending. (For a free Amazon sales rank tracker, try NovelR ank.com  or SalesRankExpress.com .)

I. ADDITIONAL GROWTH + EXPANSION STRATEGIES

1. Professional Development

Your talent is your best asset. Continuing to improve upon both your writing AND your business skills, is a wise investment. Use this section of your business plan to note any classes, workshops, or conferences you plan to attend, if you plan to find a critique partner or writer’s group to join, or even add specific books you plan to read (for genre or topic research, or to gain additional skills).

Related Content: 39 Things to Remember When Struggling to Build Your Writing Career

2. Paid Advertising and Other Paid Options

Paid advertising, hiring a publicist, or anything else that requires cold hard cash upfront–without a guarantee of return–may not be on the top of your priority list. However, if you are considering some paid options, ensure you note your strategies here. Tracking your return on investment may be easier for some options than others, but it’s always wise to note your efforts and results.

3.   Repurposing

Continuously developing new content can take a lot of effort. Get more mileage out of the excellent content you produce (articles, newsletters, blog content, short stories, guides, updates, videos, etc.) by repurposing it into something fresh. You can change the format, share it on different mediums, turn a book or post into a course or workshop, and reach all new audiences. How will you stretch and repurpose each piece of content you create?

Related Content:  Create Great Content? How to Get More From It Through Repurposing

4. Outsourcing

Wise outsourcing can not only increase your efficiency and help level the playing field, but it allows you to focus on the core of your business–your writing. If you decide to outsource, determine what tasks you’ll pay someone else (editors, virtual assistants, designers, accountants, etc.) to handle.

Writing Your Author Business Plan Doesn’t Have to Be Hard

Kudos to you for making it this far! It may seem like a daunting task to compile your business plan, but I assure you it is well worth the effort.

Plus, your plan can be developed over a period of time and doesn’t have to be nailed down all in one sitting.

A business plan is fluid and ever-evolving. As new info comes in, circumstances change, or as results and analysis dictate, adjust your business plan accordingly. Remove sections from this plan that you feel don’t apply, and add sections that you feel are more relevant to your specific business needs.

Review and re-examine your plan on a regular basis to help keep yourself–and your writing career–on track.

And be sure to reward yourself when you’ve reached certain milestones and objectives. You’ll have most certainly earned it!

Questions? Comments? Please share your thoughts below.

Reading through your posts can be long and tedious, especially for people like me who always take notes. But in the end, it’s worth it. Thanks for another awesome post.

Yes, I’m nothing if not thorough… 😉

That’s why I’ve included the workbook – all the info, without the need to write it all down yourself.

This is just awesome .. Love it!!

Happy to hear it, Ashima. Hope you can put the plan to good use! 😉

Thanks so much, Kimberley! This is super helpful and so timely — my community of Queens, NY, is conducting a business plan competition with nice prize money. Glad to have your insights and guidance in the final days of preparation.

http://www.queensbooks.nyc

My pleasure John! 🙂

I was hoping to grab this fabulous download, but when I entered my email address and went through to the next page, the error message said the pdf could not be found. I thought this was because I was on mobile, but I tried several times on my PC and it still was appearing as not found.

My apologies Kieran – there is a bit of a glitch with the media file. Shoot me a quick email (Kim-at-YourWriterPlatform.com) and I’ll send it to you directly.

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How to Write a Business Plan: 11 Sections to Include, plus Tips for Authors

by Tom Corson-Knowles

Want to learn how to write a winning business plan?

In this post, we’ll cover the most important sections of a business plan and how to address them properly.

We’ll also cover some detailed steps and insights learned the hard way through trial and error that will help you avoid massive financial losses and make sure your business achieves profitability as fast as possible. This post will help you write a business plan that will be more effective in helping you get a commercial loan or raise money from private investors.

But even more than that, following the steps in this post will help you ask crucial questions about your business and dig deep to find the answers, so you can learn what you must do to make your business work (and the big mistakes you must avoid so your business doesn’t fail).

How to Write a Business Plan

As you go about the process of writing a business plan, keep these 5 key ideas in mind:

1. Keep It Short

Try not to exceed 25-30 pages for your business plan.

For the first draft of your plan, you’re welcome to write as many pages as you want. Your goal should be to simplify the business plan so that you only include the most important key elements that will make your business successful.

Remember the Pareto principle or 80/20 rule : 20% of what you do will produce 80% of the results. Keep your business plan to the 20% of action steps and items that will make the biggest difference.

If you write a super long business plan, readers will get bored and either skim through it or throw it away. You will get better results with a shorter business plan (assuming it is well-written and includes the most essential information about your business).

2. Keep It Professional

Keep your writing professional. Make sure to check for any typographical or grammatical errors. Most investors or bankers will say “no” immediately if they see your business plan is not written professionally.

Chances are if you can’t be bothered to fix typos in your business plan, you’ll likely gloss over important issues once the business is running, and that lack of attention to detail could cause your business to fail.

How you do anything is how you do everything. If you’re not acting professionally when you create your business plan, you likely won’t act professionally when you run your business.

3. Always Be Improving

Your business plan should be a living document. You should constantly be thinking of ways to improve it and revise it accordingly, especially when you get the same feedback about the business plan from multiple sources.

Once your business is running, you must always be improving the business and your current plans for the business. If done properly, your business plan will morph into a living document that will help you run your business better.

4. Be Meticulous in Citing Sources

Always cite sources for your statistics and figures (use footnotes). This will show investors that you did your research seriously and thoroughly.

Furthermore, by citing your sources you will look professional, you will be able to refer back to those sources for more information later on, and your investors will be able to look at those sources and verify your figures so they can learn more about the industry.

5. Use it Regularly

Your business plan is a marketing tool. You should be using it on a regular basis!

If you are working on a new start-up business, you should be sending that business plan to at least 100 people in the first year. Don’t spam random people.

Instead, make a concerted effort to send your plan to those people who may be able to help turn your dream into a reality by offering feedback, guidance, mentorship, introductions, or financial support.

Business Plan Sections: What Needs to Be in a Business Plan?

There are the key sections that are universal to almost all business plans.

Some sections may not apply to your particular business, so if it doesn’t make sense for you to include it, feel free to leave it out. Only include the sections necessary for your specific business.

1. Executive Summary

The Executive Summary is an overview. It should include all the high level / big picture details a potential investor would need to know to see if they’re interested. It should highlight only the most important aspects of the business plan. The Executive Summary should never exceed two pages!

I’ve seen some executive summaries that were more than 10 pages, which is the sign of an amateur. No one wants to read that much.

As Mark Twain said, “I would have written a shorter letter if I had more time.” Take the time to make your executive summary (and every section of your business plan) as concise and useful as possible.

You executive summary should include:

• A description of your business and industry
• A description of the management team
• Your operational strategy
• What makes the business unique (your competitive advantage)
• What the business needs to move to the next step (for example, if you’re looking to raise $100,000 in exchange for 10% ownership of the business, you should include that in the executive summary so that potential investors know right away what you’re looking for).

2. Business Description

The business description should include:

• Name of the business
• Nature of the business. What industry are you in?
• History of the business
• Stage of Development (If the business is a concept or a brand new start-up, let it be known here).
• Unique Features of the Business. List any patents, trademarks, intellectual property, or any other unique advantages or assets your business has.

3. Marketing

Your marketing segment is crucial. You must be able to show readers of your business plan that a large market exists, that your company can attain market share in that business, and that you will be profitable in doing so.

Your marketing section must include:

• Market Size
• Projected Market Share
• Projected Sales for one to three years
• Your Market Niche
• List of Potential Customers (if B2B)
• Market Trends (socioeconomic trends, demographic trends, sales trends, industry trends, etc.)
• Projected Industry and Company growth rates
• Pricing Strategy
• Marketing Strategies
• Advertising Plan

4. Competitive Analysis

You must objectively look at the industry and your competitors and be able to identify their strengths and weaknesses and where the opportunities in the industry lie. You must also show that your company will be able to take advantage of these opportunities.

You should compare competing products or services based on prices, performance, service, warranties, availability, and other pertinent features. You should especially note how competitors may not be meeting the current needs of the market and how you plan to meet those needs and capture market share.

5. Operations

Note the location of your business and, if applicable, explain how that location is favorable in terms of wages, availability of labor, taxes, zoning requirements, and proximity to suppliers and potential customers.

You should also list all the needs of your business including storage space, real estate needs, equipment, supplies, machinery, and any other operational or logistical details. You should also detail the costs of all operational expenses including shipping, production, purchasing, delivery, and other expenses.

Make sure to include the name of the person who will be managing the operations, or that you plan to hire someone with a certain type of background for that position.

Optional : If the business is a start-up, you may prefer to list your “milestone schedule” or operational plan in this section which will detail the necessary steps for starting the business and achieving profitability.

6. Management

Management is one of the most important and often overlooked sections of the business plan. You must be able to show how the management team will be able to take advantage of the opportunities in your industry.

If there are glaring holes in the skills and abilities of the management team, potential investors will be unwilling to lend money as this will be a huge risk. For example, if you’re starting an internet company and no one on the management team has experience in that industry, it’s unlikely you will be successful.

The key here is to let investors know

• Who the management team is
• What their experience is
• What their role will be in the business
• That they have the skills to perform that role well
• Any management positions you plan to hire or recruit for in the next one to three years

Your financial section must display the financial viability of the business. Show your business can make a healthy profit and can afford to pay interest or profits to investors or lenders.

Most business plans should include a full pro forma balance sheet, income statement, and statement of cash flows. Generally, creating projections for 3 years is acceptable. Don’t go over 3 years as it will take up too much space and it will be unbelievable (Who can accurately predict such things as the profitability of a start-up business 5 years from now?)

Hire an experienced business accountant to help you with your financial projections and financial statements, or be prepared to do some serious homework to study accounting and do it on your own or with the help of a mentor, advisor, or experienced friend.

In addition to financial statements, you should include some sort of assumptions section that lists all the major assumptions you have made about expenses, sales, and profits.

For example, if the industry is growing at 20% per year and you expect your business to grow that fast, simply list that assumption as well as a reliable source for the industry growth rate.

8. Critical Risks

This section is optional, but it should include the main risks involved in the business. This section is especially important for you as an entrepreneur to prepare, if not in your final business plan, at least for yourself to understand the risks of the business.

This section will force you to plan the “What ifs” of the business and to come up with potential problems ahead of time and strategies to overcome those problems before they come up. Critical thinking about the critical risks is key to growing and sustaining a business.

Most entrepreneurs don’t include this section, and that’s a huge mistake. It’s often the #1 section investors want to see because they need to know you understand what the risks are and have a plan in place to mitigate them.

9. Exit Strategy

This section is primarily for investors to let them know how they will be paid.

• Do you plan to go public?
• Do you expect to be acquired by a larger company?
• Or do you want to just grow the business and benefit from the future cash flows?
• What’s the plan for the business 3 years, 5 years, and 10 years down the road?

In other words, when and how will your investors earn back their profits?

You should also include management succession strategies and other business issues related to liquidity events and long-term company plans in this section.

For example, if your plan is to keep the company private and grow it steadily over the next twenty years, don’t say you’re planning to go public in 5-10 years. Be honest.

Nothing will make you more miserable in that situation than having an investor constantly working to help the company go public or achieve a milestone that directly conflicts with your goals for the company.

10. Milestone Schedule

Include a timeline of the business operations plan and profitability. If you’re starting a restaurant, you’ll want create at timeline that lists projected dates for initial funding, property selection, remodeling of the location, opening day, break-even, and so forth.

This section lets investors know the operational plan of the business in detail and helps them (and you) keep track of your progress.

If you fail to meet your milestones, investors should be concerned unless you give them fair warning ahead of time as soon as you notice there are issues, delays, or unexpected problems that come up. You should set reasonable milestones that you are reasonably confident you can hit.

If you fail to meet a milestone always remember to explain to investors what happened and how you’re taking the proper steps to get back on track to reaching profitability and moving the business forward.

11. Appendix

This section is optional. Personally, I rarely use an appendix because I find it simply adds too many pages to the plan and is unnecessary.

I put all my sources in footnotes and let investors know that if they wish to see more information, I can provide it to them (you can include all your additional research and cut material from the business plan in an additional document just in case).

However, if there are specific resources, charts, graphs, or documents that are necessary for investors to understand your business, you should include them in the appendix.

Business Plans for Writers

When they set out to become writers, most people just think about the book. They’re focused on the plot or the value proposition, not on all the other moving parts that are involved with becoming a professional writer. And that’s great!

The key to becoming a successful, profitable author, more than anything else, is writing a great book. If your book isn’t well-written,  well edited , and doesn’t have  a great cover , you’re not going to get far.

But setting yourself up for success as an author goes far beyond being a good writer. Being an author is a business, and so you have to think like a business to succeed.

That means you need a solid plan in place to make sure you’re taking advantage of opportunities and avoiding common mistakes that could sabotage your career.

Who Are Your Customers?

This is called audience or market research. In order to find and connect with readers, you need to know who you’re writing for—because the quickest way to connect with no one at all is to try to connect with everyone at the same time.

Start by being focused. Instead of writing a book for all parents everywhere, focus on writing a book targeted at working single dads of girls.

There’s a lot less competition in that niche, meaning you can stand out more easily, and odds are, if you’re thinking about working single dads of girls, you know something about the topic yourself and can offer some unique insights. Build your niche and grow from there.

Where Will You Put the Business?

Once you have a book, how will you get it to people? If you’re self-publishing, the most popular answer is “Kindle.” It’s not hard to  set up your ebook on Kindle in a few simple steps , and now you’re well on your way to making your first sales!

From there, you can consider where else it might make sense to sell your book. Nook and Kobo are good choices, as is Smashwords.

What about print copies? You can  sell those as a self-published author , too, or you can partner with a publisher like  TCK Publishing  to reach an even larger audience.

What Will You Charge?

When your book is published, you have to set the price. Think back to that coffee shop metaphor: will you charge $10 for a cup of coffee, or 99 cents?

It might be tempting to do either, but you have to keep in mind what it cost create that cup of coffee and also what people are willing to pay. 99 cents might be exactly right for a short story, but is it compensating you appropriately for a 600-page novel you spent three years writing, or for a business book that collects all your expertise from decades in your field?

At the same time, $10 is probably way too much to ask people to spend on a short ebook. The sweet spot is most likely somewhere in the middle: $1.99 and $2.99 are popular price points for novels, for instance, and you can always try running free or 99 cent promotions to boost sales later.

How Will You Let People Know You Exist?

Once your book is in the marketplace and priced to sell, you have to attract readers. This is often the scariest part of publishing for many folks, because not too many people have experience in marketing. Thankfully, it’s not as difficult as you might think!

Remember that target audience you came up with back when you were planning who your customers would be? Well, where do they hang out? What social media do they use? What groups do they hang out in on Facebook or LinkedIn?

Scope out some of those groups and get to know them, then start promoting your book through ads, guest blog posts,  email newsletters , and more.  It doesn’t have to cost a lot to market your book —you just need to be savvy about it and you have to be ready to put in the effort.

How Will You Keep People Coming Back?

Selling one book is great.  Selling ten thousand books is better!  So how do you get people to come back to you after you’ve sold them your book?

Write more!

This can be tricky to balance with the needs of marketing your existing book, but with some  smart scheduling , you can do it! The easiest place to start is with a niche that’s close to the one your current book is in. So if you wrote that book about working single dads of girls, maybe your next book is for working single dads of boys. You can build on a lot of the same expertise and similar audience targets, but now you’ve doubled your potential market.

How Will You Expand?

There’s more than one way to expand as an author. You can branch into new niches, like we just discussed, writing books that increase your scope and market. You can try writing something related but different, too, like adding children’s books to your lineup of parenting books.

But you can also expand into other products and services. What about a podcast for your fans? An online course to help those working dads streamline their lives and find more time to spend with their kids? You could even expand into selling tee shirts or coffee mugs with quotes or images from your brand.

The possibilities are endless!

Thinking like a business when you embark on your career as a professional author is a key way to set yourself up for success. By creating a strategic plan and thinking through what you’ll do to achieve your goals each step of the way, you can build your platform, connect with your audience, and reach heights you never even dreamed of.

And here you thought business planning was boring!

Create Your Business Plan

There you go! You now know the key sections you must include when you write your business plan.

Your job now is to continue researching and writing your business plan.

Got any questions? Post your comment below with any questions, suggestions, or ideas about writing a winning business plan.

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Tom Corson-Knowles is the founder of TCK Publishing, and the bestselling author of 27 books including Secrets of the Six-Figure author. He is also the host of the Publishing Profits Podcast show where we interview successful authors and publishing industry experts to share their tips for creating a successful writing career.

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Business Plan Template for Authors

• Great for beginners
• Ready-to-use, fully customizable Subcategory
• Get started in seconds

Are you an aspiring author looking to turn your passion for writing into a successful publishing career? Then you need a solid business plan to guide your journey! ClickUp's Business Plan Template for Authors is here to help you map out your path to literary success.

With this template, you can:

• Set clear goals and objectives for your publishing company or self-publishing venture
• Develop effective strategies to market and promote your books to the right audience
• Create detailed financial projections to attract investors and secure funding
• Track your progress and make adjustments along the way to ensure your success

Don't let your dreams of becoming a published author remain just that - turn them into a reality with ClickUp's Business Plan Template for Authors. Start planning your path to literary greatness today!

Business Plan Template for Authors Benefits

Writing a business plan is crucial for authors who want to turn their passion into a successful publishing venture. With the Business Plan Template for Authors, you can:

• Clearly define your publishing goals, strategies, and target audience
• Create a comprehensive marketing and promotion plan to reach readers
• Develop a realistic financial forecast and projections for your publishing business
• Assess the feasibility and profitability of your publishing venture
• Attract potential investors or partners by showcasing your strategic vision and growth opportunities

Main Elements of Authors Business Plan Template

When it comes to starting your own publishing company or self-publishing your book, ClickUp's Business Plan Template for Authors has got you covered!

Here are the main elements of this template:

• Custom Statuses: Keep track of your progress with statuses like Complete, In Progress, Needs Revision, and To Do, ensuring that you stay on top of your tasks and goals.
• Custom Fields: Use custom fields like Reference, Approved, and Section to add important details and metadata to your business plan, making it easy to organize and search for specific information.
• Custom Views: Access different views such as Topics, Status, Timeline, Business Plan, and Getting Started Guide to get a comprehensive overview of your entire business plan or focus on specific aspects of your publishing venture. These views help you stay organized and ensure that you don't miss any crucial details.

With ClickUp's Business Plan Template for Authors, you'll have all the tools and features you need to create a solid business plan for your publishing journey.

How To Use Business Plan Template for Authors

Planning your author business can be overwhelming, but with the Business Plan Template for Authors in ClickUp, you can break it down into manageable steps. Follow these six steps to create a solid foundation for your author business:

1. Define your goals and audience

Start by outlining your goals and identifying your target audience. Are you looking to write and publish a specific genre? Do you want to build a loyal fan base or land a book deal? Understanding your goals and audience will help you tailor your business plan accordingly.

Use custom fields in ClickUp to define your goals and create tasks to research and analyze your target audience.

2. Assess the competitive landscape

Take some time to research and analyze your competition. Look at successful authors in your genre and identify their strengths, weaknesses, and strategies. This will help you differentiate yourself and find unique opportunities within the market.

Use the Table view in ClickUp to create a competitive analysis and track key information about other authors in your genre.

3. Develop your branding and marketing strategy

Creating a strong author brand and marketing strategy is crucial for success. Define your author brand by determining your unique selling proposition and identifying your core values. Then, outline your marketing strategy, including social media, email marketing, book launches, and promotional activities.

Use the Board view in ClickUp to map out your marketing strategy and create tasks for each marketing activity.

4. Outline your publishing plan

Decide on your publishing approach and outline your publishing plan. Will you self-publish or pursue traditional publishing? Determine the steps you need to take, such as editing, cover design, formatting, and distribution. Consider the timeline and budget for each stage.

Use milestones in ClickUp to track the progress of each publishing stage and set due dates for important tasks.

5. Create a financial plan

Develop a financial plan to ensure the profitability and sustainability of your author business. Estimate your expenses, including editing services, cover design, marketing campaigns, and website maintenance. Calculate your expected revenue based on book sales and other income streams, such as speaking engagements or merchandise sales.

Use the Workload view in ClickUp to create a financial plan and allocate resources and budget to different aspects of your author business.

6. Monitor and adjust

Regularly review and update your business plan to reflect changes in the market, industry trends, and your own goals. Monitor your progress, track key metrics, and make adjustments as necessary. Stay flexible and open to new opportunities that may arise along the way.

Set recurring tasks and reminders in ClickUp to regularly review and update your business plan and track your progress towards your goals.

By following these steps and utilizing the Business Plan Template for Authors in ClickUp, you'll be well-equipped to navigate the author business landscape and achieve your goals. Happy writing!

Get Started with ClickUp’s Business Plan Template for Authors

Authors looking to start their own publishing company or self-publish their books can use the ClickUp Business Plan Template for Authors to outline their goals, strategies, and financial projections. This template will help them determine the feasibility of their publishing venture and attract potential investors or partners.

To get started with the Business Plan Template for Authors:

Hit “Add Template” to sign up for ClickUp and add the template to your Workspace. Make sure you designate which Space or location in your Workspace you’d like this template applied.

Next, invite relevant members or guests to your Workspace to start collaborating.

Now you can take advantage of the full potential of this template to create a comprehensive business plan:

• Use the Topics View to brainstorm and organize different sections of your business plan
• The Status View will help you track the progress of each section, whether it's complete, in progress, needs revision, or to do
• The Timeline View will allow you to set deadlines for each section and visualize the overall timeline of your business plan
• The Business Plan View will give you an overview of your entire plan, including goals, strategies, and financial projections
• The Getting Started Guide View will provide step-by-step instructions and tips to help you navigate the template and create an effective business plan

Customize the template by adding the custom fields: Reference, Approved, and Section. Use the Reference field to link supporting documents or resources, mark sections as Approved or Not Approved using the Approved field, and categorize sections using the Section field.

Update the statuses of each section as you progress through your business plan to keep team members informed of progress.

Monitor and analyze your business plan to ensure it aligns with your goals and attracts potential investors or partners.

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How to create a business plan for writers

Business plans for writers are valuable documents for setting, tracking and learning from goals and strategies for selling books. Read 9 steps for developing a thorough plan.

• Post author By Jordan
• 9 Comments on How to create a business plan for writers

The business of writing has as many moving parts as writing craft. This brief guide on how to create a business plan for writers will help you take steps to plan and adhere to SMART writing goals while keeping the business of writing (selling books and marketing your novels or non-fiction) firmly in mind.

What is a business plan for writers?

If you’ve ever watched a reality show about business investment such as the UK show Dragon’s Den (aired as Shark Tank in the US), you’ll know that start-ups that win big backing have one thing in common: a clear plan .

A classic business plan is:

• A comprehensive document stating future business objectives plus strategies for achieving them
• A guide to each stage of starting and/or managing a business over a future term used to record goals (and stay on track or rein in scope)
• A reference document to use towards measuring outcomes (for example, whether or not the goals in the plan were met, the strategies used, and how effective they were)

A good business plan goes hand in hand with other essentials: Knowing your niche, your value, and your target market . Make forming one an integral part of your story planning process .

Standard business plans vs business plans for writers

A business plan for writers differs from the type of plan a start-up would use to pitch investors:

• If you are an indie author (or hoping to become one), there will be less emphasis on proving your business case (its commercial viability). Your plan won’t need to convince investors to part with their cash in exchange for specific forecast returns (ROI)
• Your plan will feature aspects that are highly specific to the business of writing (such as book cover design and costs, editing, and other professional writing overheads)

Let’s explore 9 steps for building a business plan for a book or series:

9 steps to create a kickass writing plan for your business:

• Begin building your platform and audience.
• Brainstorm business-phase-specific writing goals.
• Prioritize goals by need, not wish.
• Create a living writing business plan.
• Itemize your planned expenses.
• Calculate what you need to sell to break even.
• Explore and choose strategies for selling.
• Create a compelling showcase for your brand.
• Measure results and adjust as you go.

Begin building your platform and audience

Why does building a platform/audience come first? Because it’s never too early to start connecting with others who may value, enjoy, and be willing to pay to further enjoy your voice.

Ways to build your writing platform:

• Create an author site that will be home to your future publications. To keep costs down you can use an all-in-one website design and hosting service such as Wix . Keep in mind that using designers and developers provides even more customization potential and design/functionality freedom, but may cost more.
• Blog about topics relevant to potential readers in your target audience.
• Create author pages on social media for sharing writing snippets, promo and news.
• Build a newsletter for your author site and offer giveaways (such as short stories or guides).
• Host or co-host webinars or lives on social media with other writers.

These are just some ideas.

Indie publishing expert Joanna Penn raises an important platform – building caveat . If you are in the early stages of writing a book, the types of platform available to you (and what is most popular with netizens) may have changed a lot by the time your book is out . (TikTok, for example, now hugely popular, was only started in 2016.)

Penn’s advice is to at least have a simple website with some form of email-gathering function. Email remains an effective way to spread the word about your newest and existing releases.

Brainstorm business-phase-specific writing goals

The first, proper step of creating a business plan for writers is to brainstorm goals specific to the phase of writing you’re in .

For example, if you’re working on your debut novel and are not yet published (traditionally or independently), your goals will likely look substantially different to a so-called ‘Midlist Author’ (an author who publishes consistently profitable books, but is not yet a publishing sensation landing seven-figure deals).

For midlist to top-tier authors, goals often focus on expansion oriented tasks such as speaking engagements or tapping new audiences by branching out into other genres or subgenres (for example, the way She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named moved into writing thrillers as Robert Galbraith after her fantasy success). Now Novel writing coach Romy Sommer discusses tailoring strategy to your professional phase in our writing webinar on building a writing career.

Examples of goals specific to the current phase of your professional writing life might be:

• Finding and hiring a fiction editor for a recently completed draft
• Shortlisting agents open for queries who are interested in your genre and/or subject matter niche
• Creating a website that will provide a showcase and selling tool for your future publications

FINISH YOUR BOOK IN 6 MONTHS

Stay accountable, in a structured program with writing sprints, coach Q&As, webinars and feedback in an intimate writing group.

Prioritize goals by need, not wish

Once you’ve brainstormed a list of specific goals that may be relevant to your writing business plan, it’s time to finesse these down to the most important, SMART goals.

SMART goals are goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-based.

Prioritize goals by their relevance to tangible objectives. For example, formatting your book for X platform by Y date.

These are more practical than ‘nice to haves’ that have hard-to-predict impact on finances. For example, ‘becoming a bestseller’ – a ‘bestseller’ after all may mean radically different sales numbers in different countries or genres.

Examples of SMART business plan goals for writers

‘Research and write a list of ten agents currently open to queries in my genre/subject matter and start querying next Monday’ is a SMART goal.

It’s relevant to a specific business phase (having a manuscript to publish, in this example, traditionally). It’s attainable, actionable, and time-based .

‘Become a bestselling author’ is not (there are too many variables and moving parts; it lacks specificity). This is not to say that big dreams are invalid or not worth holding! But … they’re the driving, desiring force behind a good business plan, not the main content.

What do you need to do most urgently to get to a point where you have books to sell to an audience that’s dying to read them?

Angela Ackerman, in a helpful article for Jane Friedman’s publishing blog on the first steps in creating a writing business plans, says:

Sometimes desire (wanting to be published right now, for example) can get in the way of what we actually need (to hone our craft further). To be objective, set emotion aside. Ask yourself hard questions about what your career really needs. Angela Ackerman, in ‘The 7-Step Business Plan for Writers’, via Jane Friedman’s blog.

Create a living writing business plan

So you’ve prioritized goals for the next six months to a year ahead. You’ve made sure they’re SMART and tailored to where you’re at now. The next step is to create a living business plan for your writing.

Why a ‘living’ plan? There are times in any strategic process such as selling your work where you may want to reflect on how things are going, what’s working, and what isn’t, and regroup.

Begin your plan with a mission statement. Try to keep this to a sentence or two at most. For example:

‘Hire a cover designer, editors and formatting professional for my urban fantasy debut, create author profiles on Goodreads, Amazon and Wattpad, and self-publish my book by next June.’

Create a checklist of action items or ‘jobs to be done’ for your plan, prioritized by urgency. The satisfaction of ticking off checklist items is great motivation.

Itemize your planned expenses

Whether you want to sell enough books in a year’s trade to quit your day job or just see how many copies you can sell if you are systematic, it’s important to tracks costs vs returns.

For example, for a typical 80,000 word genre fiction debut, you might create a table in your business plan that looks something like this:

Cover design and editing are essential if you want your book to stand out, and to do the utmost to win over first-time readers.

As in the table above, you may have expenses such as website hosting and design requiring further research, because there are just so many options. The same goes for turning your manuscript into an audiobook .

The promo spend of $150 above is based on the minimum daily spend for Instagram ads being $5 (assuming, for this example, that you wanted to pay to promote your indie book to a niche reader audience matching your genre on Instagram for 30 days).

The above example of costs is a rough example, of course. You may well find cover designers whose services cost less than a lower- mid-priced professional who has more experience. Ditto for editing (remember the caveat though: ‘You get what you pay for’). Having a good estimate of costs for your business plan (and replacing these with hard figures as quotes come in and you choose which to accept) will help you budget and work out what you need to sell to break even:

Calculate what you need to sell to break even

Going off the above table (which does only include copy-editing, and not a manuscript evaluation , developmental editing or proofreading, and leaves out other costs such as print copies), you would need to sell 2182 digital copies of your book at a promo price of $0.99 to earn back your (known) expenses, or 1086 copies at a launch/promo price of $1.99 per copy ($2160 of known expenses divided by your selling price and rounded up).

Having this figure is vital as it gives you an exact target for sales, as well as an idea of the sweet spot for promo pricing to at least recoup your expenses in the first push.

Will you sell your book cheaply to start for the sake of a lower barrier to entry for potential readers with whom you have not yet proven your entertainment value?

This is a particularly helpful strategy for selling a new series, as you can up your pricing for sequels.

As part of working out selling price and launch strategies, read publishing experts’ blogs and thoughts on the matter. Joanna Penn has a helpful article on the benefits of selling with platform exclusivity versus ‘going wide’ (selling on multiple platforms), for example.

Explore and choose strategies for selling

There are many platforms, models and strategies for selling your stories.

Long gone are the days of book chains, indie stores and physical libraries being the main way to find your favorite stories.

The mix of in-store and digital gives you many ways to promote your writing and find an audience that may be hungry for the exact themes, topics, and experiences your work explores.

Some selling strategies to explore and choose from to add to your growing business plan include:

• Platform-specific promo services (such as KDP Select , Amazon’s promotional program for authors willing to sign over exclusive publishing rights to their platform for 90 days)
• Book blog tours and giveaways (partnering with writing sites that have blogs to talk about your book – for example, we interview members who have new releases to share here on Now Novel)

If your marketing knowledge and experience is scant, it may be worth taking a book marketing course (remember to add this to the expenses portion of your writing business plan). Coursera is a fantastic resource for university-run short learning courses, and may help you grasp marketing fundamentals or how to use tools for understanding how to convert website visitors into customers/readers.

Create a compelling showcase for your brand

Many artists and writers are allergic to marketing terms such as ‘brand’. They tend to sound clinical, the kind of buzzwords that people throw out a mile a minute at conferences.

Yet branding is a helpful concept to think about as you create your writing business plan.

What is an author’s brand?

If you look at a major brand such as Nike’s advertising, a specific ‘brand persona’ becomes clear. Nike is all about the ‘mentor/coach’ archetype (from their slogan ‘Just Do It’ to their visual choices such as the tick-like swoosh logo), their brand is all about helping the customer reach their own potential.

An author brand differs in several ways (authors don’t have catchphrases or slogans, of course). Yet having a clear author brand can (like Nike) differentiate what is unique and wonderful about your work in a crowded bookshelf or marketplace. From cover design choices to titling, how you represent your work infers a certain tone and persona. In the podcast with Joanna Penn mentioned above, Penn shares that she’s interested in the spooky and how she shares pictures of eerie environs because she knows these appeal to a certain type of reader who would fall within her target audience – that’s a branding decision.

Ways to build showcasing your brand into your writing business plan

• Plan the language and tone of your newsletter and social media posts. If you write cozy mysteries, for example, what cozy language or mystery can you carry over into what you share?
• Plan how you’ll incorporate the emotion your writing intends to stir in readers into your visual design language , on your author site and social media. If you write bloodcurdling, violent fantasy, what color, typographical and other design choices will communicate what your writing is all about?
• Think about what types of promotions you could run that are on-brand . An author who writes ‘choose-your-own-adventure’ books like Goosebumps titles in this format could run a book giveaway contest where readers combine given elements to create their own flash fiction, for example, for a book giveaway.
• Create a calendar of images, quotes and videos to share that m atch the tone, mood, spirit and/or subjects of your stories.

Measure results and adjust as you go

In any business, it helps to be agile, able to pivot fast to let go of strategies not working or embrace newer methods or platforms that are well-aligned to your goals.

Make your business plan a living document that you review regularly and adjust as needed so that you factor in assessing, learning what worked and what didn’t, and coming back stronger.

Looking for professional fiction editing services or a writing coach to guide you through each stage of writing and querying? Now Novel offers companionship and a supportive network, every step of the way.

Further resources

Rick Lite has a helpful guide for IngramSpark for creating a book promo timeline.

Zara Altair at ProWritingAid provides helpful questions to ask in deciding your book’s value and price .

Are you making regular earnings on your books? What’s the one tip you’d give another writer on going pro? Let us know down below.

Related Posts:

• 10 useful apps for writers to help you create
• How to plan a story in scenes: 5 steps
• What is a plot point? Find and plan clear story events
• Tags book marketing , writing business , writing process

Jordan is a writer, editor, community manager and product developer. He received his BA Honours in English Literature and his undergraduate in English Literature and Music from the University of Cape Town.

9 replies on “How to create a business plan for writers”

Extremely helpful! Thank you, Jordan.

Hi Allorianna, thank you! I’m glad you found this helpful. See you in the next webinar 🙂

Jordan! Thanks a million! What a detailed and helpful post! I’ve bookmarked this!

Hi Michi, it’s a pleasure. Thanks for reading this and for sharing your feedback 🙂

Excellent follow-up to the webinar! Great tips. I will be printing out the 9 Steps graphic. Thanks for all your expertise.

Hi Billy, thank you for sharing your feedback – I’m glad you found this a helpful supplement to the webinar. It’s a pleasure, happy writing!

Thanks a lot for your work. Great article. Everything is very clear and understandable.

excellent writing and every thing is understandable

Dear Asif, I’m so pleased you found this useful! Thanks for writing in. All the best with your writing.

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Author Business Plan (Why You Need One & How to Write It)

Starting a author may sound like an easy thing to do. However, it's not the case since starting such a business involves a lot of things to settle. In general, there's so much more to starting a author that you need to have a business plan to be successful. Otherwise, you will end up being overwhelmed with so many things.

Now, if you're wondering about a business plan and how it's essential as you start your author, you've come to the right place!

A business plan for a author generally illustrates your goals, financial strategies, research, and everything else involved with your business. It contains the strategy for guiding and helping you start and run your business.

In this article, we'll talk more about the business plan for a author and every concern you may ask about, mainly how to write one.

Without further ado, let's get into it!

What is a author business plan?

A author business plan is a document that defines (in detail) a author' objectives and how it plans to achieve its goals.

For instance, a author typically needs an initial investment. As such, you need to include the said amount in your plan and how you can acquire such, either from your pocket or through a business loan or any other financing option (learn more about a author financing .

Profit and goal are other examples. It is also included in your business plan as a goal to achieve within a set period, usually within months.

Overall, the business plan is the document that lays out a written road map for the author from a marketing, financial, and operational standpoint. You should also have a basic idea about a author profitability .

Business plans are essential for startups and established businesses, and the author is no exception. Every business, regardless of the type, should have one.

Further, business plans are critical documents for internal and external audiences. For instance, you may use these plans to attract investors before establishing a track record. It can also help you secure loans from financial institutions.

Business plans can also help keep your author' leadership team on track for meeting established goals and on track with strategic action items.

Overall, business plans are particularly helpful for new businesses, including the author. Ideally, goals should be reviewed and updated periodically to reflect achievements or changes. When an established business changes direction, a new business plan is created.

Why do you need a author business plan?

You need a author business plan for several reasons. However, the main reasons are to help you establish your company, set the goals you want to achieve, and evaluate your author’ status after a specific timeframe.

As a general rule, your business plan serves as a guide. Revising and adjusting this plan may also be necessary as circumstances change throughout your actions.

You should know that if you plan to apply for a business loan (which any knowledgeable entrepreneur should do), lenders want to see a business plan.

For your author to succeed and meet your goals, you need a precise and robust business plan.

Learn more about starting an author :

Where to start?

-> How to finance an author? -> How much does it cost to start an author? -> Pros and cons of an author

Need inspiration?

-> Other author success stories -> Examples of established author -> Marketing ideas for an author -> Author slogans -> Author names -> Author Instagram bios -> Author Instagram captions

Other resources

-> Profitability of an author -> Author tips

How to write a author business plan?

When creating a business plan, you need to include more than just the steps on how you start. It also includes how you will sustain it and how you can develop it even further as you move forward. Simply put, it should include everything related to your author.

If you’re wondering how to write a business plan for your author, here are the things you need to include:

1. Executive summary

The executive summary in a business plan includes a gist of your entire author. Further, it includes the general reason why it will turn out successful.

2. Company description

The company description details every information about your author. As such, it includes your advantages over your potential competitors and the things that make your business stand out above other similar companies.

3. Organization and management

The organization and management are the part of your business plan that states the structure of your author.

It includes the entire staff, especially the ones who will run your author, whether you’re solo, with a partner, or with a group of people. Simply put, it shows what type of business you run and who is responsible for it.

4. Market analysis

The market analysis is the part of your business plan that shows your perspective on the industry where your author belongs.

Since it’s about marketing, it includes your target market or customers. Further, it includes your potential competitors since they can take away your potential customers.

5. Financial plan

The financial plan is the part that concerns everything related to your author finances. This document consists of a detailed financial statement and an analysis of your finances and the required funds .

6. Marketing strategy

The marketing strategy outlines the concerns about reaching out to potential customers . Moreover, it demonstrates how to expose the products and services your author offers.

Besides attracting customers, it also includes strategies for gaining new customers and keeping the regular ones from leaving. Finally, it outlines strategies for increasing sales for your author to grow.

What makes a good author business plan?

A good author business plan serves as a roadmap that outlines the strategies and actions required to achieve the goals and objectives of a business. It typically includes information about the business's products or services, target market, competition, marketing and sales strategies, operations, financial projections, and management team.

Here are some key elements that make up a good business plan:

• Executive summary : This is a brief overview of the entire business plan, summarizing the key points and objectives of the company.
• Company description : This section provides detailed information about author, including its history, mission statement, and legal structure.
• Market analysis : This section should describe the industry and market that author operates in, including target customers, competitors, and market trends.
• Products or services : This section should describe the products or services author offers, highlighting their unique features and benefits.
• Marketing and sales strategies : This section should detail the strategies that author will use to promote and sell its products or services, including pricing, distribution, and advertising.
• Operations : This section should outline the day-to-day operations of author, including manufacturing, production, and distribution.
• Financial projections : This section should provide detailed financial projections, including income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements.
• Management team : This section should introduce the key members of author's management team, highlighting their qualifications and experience.

Overall, a good author business plan should be well-researched, realistic, and focused on achieving specific goals and objectives. It should also be adaptable and able to evolve as the business grows and changes over time.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can i write a author business plan myself.

Yes, you can write a author business plan yourself. It requires a clear understanding of your goals, target audience, competition, financial projections, and marketing strategy. Research successful plans and use templates. Ensure it's comprehensive, realistic and seek help if needed. Ultimately, a good business plan sets you up for success.

How long should a author business plan be?

There is no standard length for a author business plan. It can range from a one-page summary to a comprehensive document of 50+ pages. The length depends on the complexity of the business, audience, and purpose. A concise plan that covers key elements is often more effective than a lengthy one.

In a nutshell, creating a business plan for a author is a bit complicated, but you still need to do it.

Overall, a business plan will help you make the right calls, obtain the funding you need, and strongly start your new author. As such, you must make a robust and precise one.

The six parts we included above should be handy throughout this process. With this information, you can begin writing your business plan and see what it takes to become a professional entrepreneur.

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In business for over a decade – know that you’re choosing a partner who’ll be around for years to come., the indie author business plan: a step-by-step outline, turgay birand.

November 28, 2016

The Indie Author Business Plan

1. Finalize Your Book Topic (Product)

2. write down goals and deadlines, 3. create a competitive analysis.

4. Create A Marketing Plan

• Target customer: age, gender, location, interests, etc.
• Marketing channels: social media, blog, in person events, etc.
• Pricing strategy: how much will you sell your paperback, hardcover and eBook for?
• Special offers: will you offer discounts or give away the first few chapters for free?

5. List Required Outside Help

6. identify financing needs.

7. Create A Strategic Sales Plan

8. create a formal business plan, how to self-publish and sell your ebook, oct 24, 2023, pros and cons of ebook drm, benefits of drm encryption, oct 23, 2023, securely sell ebooks online, sign up for a free 14-day trial to join editionguard and start selling your ebooks online., the ultimate guide to self publishing.

Learn how to successfully self publish your books online.

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How to Create a Business Plan for Your Indie Author Business

• January 13, 2020

The beginning of the year is a perfect time to set goals and plan actions, especially if you're an author. While most businesses write a business plan, it's not always a consideration writers make. Tetiana Bek, from ALLi partner member  MiblArt  is here to explain how to create one and as well as the goals in it.

What You Need to Know Before Creating a Business Plan

Indicate a Mission Statement for Your Business

You should try to consider every book as a product with its philosophy and goals. Initially, a mission statement is your vision of the final version of the book. 

Here is how you can create an effective mission statement:

• Establish your identity and state, who you are as a writer:

I'm a crafter of the new fantasy world with paranormal events occurring in the modern metropolis. 

• Try to point out the characteristics of readers interested in your writing: 

My readers are keen on diving into the unreal world and experience adventures, love, and loss with the characters of the novels.  

• Celebrate your originality and tell about your uniqueness:

I long for presenting readers exciting worlds created by my imagination and crafted with words. 

Try to be short and simple yet remain creative.

Analyze the parts of your mission statement and write down actions to complete each of them in order. Let’s create a roadmap for your writing career with the SMART goals technique.

How to create smart goals for your writing career.

SMART is an acronym, which stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-Bound. 

Make it as detailed as possible to avoid ambiguity. Instead of saying, “I want to write a book,” you should set a goal, “I want to write a 300-word mystery with a female protagonist.” 

The five W-questions technique endows your purpose with clarity and conciseness.   

• Who : Who is involved in this goal?
• What : What do I want to accomplish?
• Where : Where is this goal to be achieved?
• When : When do I want to achieve this goal?
• Why : Why do I want to achieve this goal?

Also, you may add the sixth question to be even more specific:

• How : How do I want to achieve this goal? 

Add numbers to track your results and know how close the finish is. Moreover, it’s good to divide the whole process into short sections and decide on the measurements. 

• How often? 

Reassure yourself that your goal is attainable. Plenty of people are trapped by their desire to reach impossible targets. 

To make sure that your goals are both achievable and challenging, ask yourself these questions: 

• How realistic is this goal?
• What should I do to accomplish it?

Take into account different factors, such as budget, competency, time, and others, that may influence your success. 

Think about the benefits you want to get accomplishing this goal. Is it worth your efforts and time spent on it? So, you should estimate how your goal is relevant to the overall business plan. 

• Is the aim worthwhile?
• Is it the right time to reach the target? 
• Does it match needs and efforts? 
• Is it applicable in the current situation?

If you've given definite yes-answers to all the questions, then go ahead accomplishing your goal.

Set a realistic deadline. If your target has no time frame, you're unlikely to achieve it. Time frames keep you motivated to complete your tasks. 

• When I want to finish the task?
• What is the deadline for each stage?

How to Use Smart Goals

As we’ve already discussed what the SMART goals are, let’s analyze it together . Imagine that you need book cover design services . Here’s how you can break the process into smart goals.

Now it’s your turn to write and track your SMART goal! 

Download MiblArt Template for SMART goals

Step by step process of business plan creation.

Now you’re all set and ready for creating a business plan. A business plan usually includes the following blocks: buyer persona portrait, competitor analysis, value proposition, revenue streams, key activities, distribution channels and partners.

Let’s review each of them in more detail. 

How to Create Your Ideal Reader Portrait

Always keep in mind your potential readers when writing a book. There is more chance that your writing will satisfy their expectations. Here is how you can analyze your target audience:

• Identify your genre to make the target audience aware of the concept of your writing. 
• Find out the demographics, reading habits, values, and challenges of the target audience. 
• Write down the reading preferences and interests of your ideal reader
• Select out your ideal and potential readers. Several persona profiles give you more opportunities for improvements in self-publishing. 

Now it’s time to analyze your competitors and find out how you can be different.

How to Conduct a Competitor Analysis

A competitor analysis helps you to know the strengths and weaknesses of other writers in your genre. 

Where to start?

• Define the top ten best-selling authors in your genre. You can find them on Amazon and other book-selling platforms. 
• Analyze their websites, social media profiles, and design of their books. 
• Pay attention to all types of content they provide (blogs, seminars, podcasts). 
• Learn how they engage with the audience. 
• Focus on their pricing, recommendations, and reviews

This information opens up opportunities for improvement and reinforces your positioning on the market. 

How to Create a Value Proposition

Value proposition is a promise you give your audience about your business. It is a statement that affirms your difference from competitors. 

If you’re an indie author, it may sound like:

“You’ll discover the world of fantasy unknown before,” or

“Follow breathtaking adventures in every book of the X series.”

Use your creativity to find the value proposition of your writing. 

How to Come up with Book Distribution Channels

There are two types of book distribution channels: ebook and print book. You may choose either one of them or both. It’s up to you. Yet, you have to understand their differences and principles of work. 

Regarding online distribution, you can work directly with:

• online retailers (Amazon KDP, Apple, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, etc.),
• ebook distribution services (Smashwords, Draft2Digital, and others). 

When you create your marketing strategy, you may include both types of book distribution or choose only one option. Test them to know what helps you enlarge sales and awareness of your writing.

How to Define Revenue Streams

Like any business, self-publishing has to bring in income. That's why you should compile the list of sources you want to distribute for money and free of charge. 

Public speaking, coaching, online courses, and corporate sponsorship are great ways of extra income. However, they require some knowledge and competency. 

Your Key Activities as an Author

It’s essential to track your progress. You should write down your plans and ideas — arrange your day, schedule your week, and organize your month. 

Check your plans and make corrections every day to make sure that you follow the desired direction. 

How to Build Partnerships in the Publishing Industry

A partnership allows an indie author to expand their audience and get new subscribers.  You can convert the list of your competitors into partners. Make sure that your audiences match, share similar interests, and possess common values. 

Here is how you can partner with other authors:

• Co-create books
• Organize different events
• Cross promote each other
• Write a guest post for their blog
• Write reviews for each other’s books 

Wrapping Up

All in all, a business plan is the key to success for an indie author. As you put everything to paper, you can control the process, improve the shortcomings, execute more tasks and reach your aims. 

As a bonus, we’ve created Business Canvas Template that will help you to create an effective business plan step-by-step. Use it to prosper in self-publishing and book marketing!

Find out more about MiblArt on their website , Facebook,  and Instagram .

OVER TO YOU

Have you written a business plan this year? What sections did you include?

If you enjoyed this post, you might like these from the ALLi archive:

https://selfpublishingadvice.org/ten-business-models-for-indie-authors/

Self-Publishing Trends for 2020 and the Next Decade with Orna Ross and Joanna Penn: Advanced Self-Publishing Podcast

Author: Tetiana Bak

MiblArt is a book cover design company for self-published authors. We believe that book cover design should target the right audience, sell your story and intrigue at the same time. Give people a reason to open your book.

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The Author's Guide: Writing Your Business Plan: Learn How to Publish a Book and What You Need to Know Before You Start Your Writing Career Paperback – March 28, 2024

Purchase options and add-ons.

• Chapter 1: What Will You Sell? Wherein we explore the wide world of book genres, BISAC codes, and formats.
• Chapter 2: Where Will You Sell It? Wherein we discuss the places people purchase books.
• Chapter 3: Who Are You? Wherein we call our therapists and discuss what makes us unique.
• Chapter 4: Business Setup Wherein we explore all the really boring but necessary stuff like LLCs and EINs and other alphabet soup of business ownership.
• Chapter 5: Staff Wherein we remind ourselves that "staff" can apply to anyone who helps us on our journey to publication.
• Chapter 6: Products Wherein we set SMART goals for publishing and define the content we will sell and the timeline in which we will produce and sell it. (Get your calculators out!)
• Chapter 7: Market Analysis Wherein we get to know our comp authors and our ideal reader.
• Chapter 8: Marketing/Sales Strategy Wherein we get some hard advice about the side of publishing that every author hates.
• Chapter 9: The Financials Wherein we put numbers on a page so we have real context for what we're trying to accomplish.
• Chapter 10: The Growth Plan Wherein we recognize that we can't do it all at once, so we set out some ideas to tackle later.
• Print length 97 pages
• Language English
• Publication date March 28, 2024
• Dimensions 5 x 0.22 x 8 inches
• ISBN-10 1733619984
• ISBN-13 978-1733619981
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• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Self-Publishing Services LLC (March 28, 2024)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 97 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1733619984
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1733619981
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 5.8 ounces
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Opinion Chronic truancy crisis requires a tough, not punitive, response

The country has a chronic school absenteeism crisis , and the District is only an exception in that D.C.’s numbers are far worse than the norm . The challenge facing Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D), who has developed a response plan, mirrors that of local leaders across America: how to get tough on truancy — but not so tough that it hurts.

Last year, 43 percent of students in the District’s public schools were chronically absent and 37 percent were chronically truant, a statistic that counts unexcused absences alone. These dispiriting figures marked an improvement on the previous school year, showing the devastating toll the covid-19 pandemic took on attendance. And though a midyear attendance report suggests continued progress, a reset is clearly required. Critics say the solution the mayor proposed last week is too punitive, and they’re right that the legal system isn’t the answer to truancy. But at the core of the proposal is more promising than they acknowledge.

Research suggests that there’s no one solution to chronic absenteeism, because there’s no single reason kids stop going to school . Rooting out systemic causes would be most effective: making the streets safer; the population healthier; the housing supply greater and so on. Changing the culture at schools, so that kids attend because they want to, is also key. D.C. is trying, but it is hard. The next-best thing is addressing troubled students’ individual problems.

D.C. tries to arrange meetings with support teams for every student who passes a certain threshold of days missed. Yet many of those meetings — as many as 25 percent — aren’t happening. At the next absenteeism threshold, fewer than half of cases are referred to child services per protocol. The process is overly cumbersome, and school officials are anxious about ending up on an adversarial footing with their students. This points to a larger issue: Many families regard child services with skepticism, or even fear. The agency’s specialty is spotting educational abuse or neglect, not working with kids and their parents to bring them back to the classroom.

Eventually, at child services’ discretion or if students reach 25 missed days of school, absenteeism cases are supposed to land at the Office of the Attorney General. But the rate at which that happens is also very low. And when cases reach the OAG, they often stop there; prosecutors follow a districtwide policy not to prosecute for “status offenses” such as truancy. The OAG might also send students to a diversion program, but that has happened only for about one-quarter of the 180-or-so cases that have reached the office.

A city study found that prosecuting truancy cases would likely send kids on a path ever-deeper into the criminal justice system. This finding matches other research; putting kids or their parents behind bars or even in front of a judge for skipping school tends to do more harm than good. So the mayor’s proposal pushes the OAG to compel students and parents to participate in a diversion program or other programming.

But the ideal approach would stop cases from reaching this point. The mayor’s plan would refer kids early in the process not to child services, but to D.C.’s Department of Human Services — whose employees will either connect the families to the resources they need (transportation vouchers, for instance, or reliable access to clean uniforms) or do hands-on work with them to overcome other barriers to better attendance.

Success would depend on good implementation, which is not guaranteed in local government: enough funding to ensure adequate staffing, for example, or close and consistent coordination between any involved agencies and the schools themselves. The District has improved, but not perfected, its collection and publishing of absenteeism data . Every school should be obligated to provide numbers not only on who is missing school but why they’re missing it. And the government should use those numbers to figure out where to direct what types of resources, as well as to evaluate which of the city’s many strategies are really helping reduce truancy rates .

The most alarming finding about D.C.’s absenteeism problem might not be the numbers themselves but the attitude that accompanies them. The mayor’s office conducted a survey last year in which one-third of families said they did not believe it mattered whether their children attended school every day. The task before the city is persuading them, with a firm but not too heavy hand, that they’re wrong.

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Chick-fil-a plan for gay-friendly palm springs sparks outrage: ‘i’d starve before i ate there’.

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Plans by Chick-fil-A to open an outpost in gay-friendly Palm Springs, Calif. sparked intense backlash from angry residents looking keep out the famously devout the company once known for donating to anti-LGBTQ causes.

Matt Robinson, a Palm Springs resident, posted an image on his Facebook account earlier this week showing a sign in front of a small shopping center.

“PROJECT UNDER CONSIDERATION,” read the sign posted in front of 5200 Ramon Road, where Chick-fil-A plans to set up a 5,635 square-foot location with a three-lane drive thru as well as an indoor and outdoor seating area.

Robinson’s post generated more than 460 comments — the overwhelming majority of them negative.

“I prefer my chicken without the side of homophobia,” wrote Facebook user Brown Aneka.

Byron Winward, another Facebook user, said Chick-fil-A was showing “a lot of nerve” to locate one of its restaurants in an area where “11 out of 10 people are queer.”

“As a straight ally I will have to pass,” commented Peggy Killion, who vowed: “I won’t spend one dime there.”

The backlash prompted the Palm Springs Mayor Jeffrey Bernstein, to write a note of his own on Facebook.

Bernstein said that while the critical comments “have been heard and noted,” he pointed out that Palm Springs “does welcome new businesses and economic development.”

“Any concerns about a particular business should not be generalized,” he wrote.

Bernstein said that Chick-fil-A’s plans to move into Palm Springs are “currently on hold” while “the new tenant and the shopping center owner finalize lease terms.”

Calls to the manager of the property at 5200 Ramon Road went unanswered.

The Post has sought comment from Chick-fil-A.

Palm Springs’ chicken kerfuffle comes on the heels of a former opinion editor for the New York Times revealing that colleagues at Gray Lady shamed him for saying he loved the spicy chicken sandwich from Chick-fil-A, with an HR rep claiming that owners of the fast-food chain “hate gay people.”

Adam Rubenstein, a New York City-based journalist who was hired in 2019 to work in the opinion section as a research assistant for columnists, said other Times staffers “started snapping their fingers” at him to show their displeasure.

Palm Springs, which is about a two-hour drive from Los Angeles, has one of the nation’s largest gay and lesbian communities.

Chick-fil-A, the successful Atlanta-based fast food chain, has been the frequent target of liberals who point out that the company’s chief executive publicly expressed his opposition to gay marriage.

The company’s charitable arm has also donated millions of dollars to groups who have lobbied against same-sex unions.

In 2017 and 2018, the Chick-fil-A Foundation gave $2.4 million to the Missouri-based Fellowship of Christian Athletes for sports camps for underserved youth and $165,000 to the Salvation Army to buy Christmas gifts for needy children.

In 2019, Chick-fil-A said it would no longer contribute to those organizations. In 2012, then-Chick-fil-A CEO Dan Cathy said in several interviews that he didn’t support gay marriage.

In more recent interviews, Cathy — the son of Chick-fil-A’s founder — reiterated his personal beliefs but said he treats all customers with respect.

In 2019, city-owned airports in San Antonio, Texas, and Buffalo, NY, deliberately excluded Chick-fil-A from concession contracts due to the company’s past stance on LGBTQ issues.

A year later, Chick-fil-A announced that it was no longer seeking to open a restaurant in the San Antonio airport despite the fact that the city eventually relented.

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FinCEN’s Anti-Money Laundering Plan Should Put Advisers on Alert

The Treasury Department may finally see success in its third attempt to extend anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism, or AML/CFT, requirements under the Bank Secrecy Act to investment advisers.

The protectionist political climate, coupled with the Treasury’s additional efforts in publishing the risk assessment, suggest persistence may pay off this time.

While some advisers already implement many AML/CFT requirements, either voluntarily or due to affiliations with banks and broker-dealers, all SEC-registered investment advisers and exempt reporting advisers may want to start evaluating risks and identifying steps to compliance.

They can start this process by reviewing extensive guidance already available to other entities already subject to AML/CFT. One such resource, an AML tool for broker-dealers, available on the SEC’s website , is full of practical lists, examples, FAQs, and other resources for compliance.

The Treasury had proposed a rule in February requiring registered investment and exempt reporting advisers to implement an AML/CFT program, including written policies, procedures, and internal controls reasonably designed to prevent money laundering, terrorist financing, and other illicit financing activities.

These intentionally include advisers to private funds, such as hedge funds, venture capital funds, and private equity funds. Investment advisers registered at the state level—generally meaning advisers with less than $100 million of assets under management—would be excluded.

In the notice, the Treasury reported that investment advisers are a major vulnerability in defenses against financial crimes, money laundering, and terrorism finance in its 2024 investment adviser risk assessment , asserting that lack of uniform applicability and compliance across the industry creates opportunities for illicit activity.

It cites examples such as Russian oligarchs obscuring wealth derived from corruption or other illicit activity, as well as governments, such as China, investing in venture capital funds as a back door to steal critical and emerging US technology.

Any AML/CFT program would have to be approved by the adviser’s board of directors or equivalent. A specific person would be designated as responsible for implementation. Affected advisers would be expected to tailor such programs to identify and mitigate specific risks for their unique business, clients, geographies, and strategies.

For now, the proposal doesn’t extend the Bank Secrecy Act’s customer identification program, nor related beneficial ownership information requirements, to registered investment and exempt reporting advisers—although the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network has indicated it may do so in the future.

FinCEN is accepting comments on the proposal through April 15 and has requested comments in areas that may change before finalization, such as whether other exclusions are warranted in lower risk areas. The compliance date would be 12 months after the effective date of any final rule, and enforcement would be largely delegated to the SEC.

AML/CFT rules already apply to other financial institutions, such as banks and broker-dealers. Attempts to expand the definition in 2003 and 2015 were withdrawn following stiff industry opposition.

As with any new, major proposed federal regulation, court challenges are possible. The presidential election in November also could impact implementing the proposed rule.

Despite this uncertainty, a prudent investment adviser will begin the internal review and preparation process to be ready for timely compliance. Keeping abreast of comments and any court challenges while the rule is pending may provide advance insight as to whether, and if so in what form, the rule will eventually be implemented.

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg Industry Group, Inc., the publisher of Bloomberg Law and Bloomberg Tax, or its owners.

Author Information

Eric Mikkelson is partner at Stinson, where he co-chairs its investment management practice group.

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To contact the editors responsible for this story: Rebecca Baker at [email protected] ; Daniel Xu at [email protected]

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Commercial EVs

Volta trucks, volta trucks bounces back from bankruptcy, resumes ‘sharpened’ commercial ev business plan.

Less than six months after a seemingly dooming bankruptcy filing, Volta Trucks has reemerged from the ashes, fresh with redemptive capital and a leaned-down business plan. The commercial EV startup can now resume its work in delivering its electric last-mile trucks to customers this year.

Volta Trucks is a UK-based  commercial EV  startup that spent nearly four years working toward initial deliveries of its flagship commercial truck, the  Volta Zero . We reported on much of that journey, from a mere  vehicle design sketch in 2019  to a prototype launch less than a year later.

We saw  several rounds of funding  bolstered by a number of pre-orders for its expanding lineup of the Zero Trucks, as well as plans to  expand into the US . By 2023, Volta appeared poised to hit the European market following more purchase commitments and necessary certification in place to  begin official sales .

Volta  began series production  in Austria ahead of those planned deliveries in Q3 2023, but things started to go south once its battery supplier Proterra filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last summer.

By October 2023, Volta Trucks announced that it, too, was filing for bankruptcy, citing tight capital markets. A month later, however, we reported that Luxor Capital Group – a shareholder in Volta Trucks and one of its largest lenders – was  finalizing a deal to purchase the startup  from bankruptcy and keep the operation going.

Today, as we enter Q2 of 2024, Volta Trucks has confirmed the acquisition by Luxor Capital, giving the commercial EV startup the financial runway to continue its work, albeit under a more focused, leaned-down business strategy.

Volta Trucks hones in on EV deliveries in Europe

Volta reemerged today with details of its 2.0 business , led by new owner Luxor Capital with a honed-in focus on providing its Zero commercial trucks to fleet customers in Europe. The revived company is now called Volta Commercial Vehicles Ltd and remains registered in the UK with a team of around 150 employees, down from over 750 working globally in its previous iteration.

The funding from Luxor has enabled the startup to resume development of its 16t and 18t Volta Zero trucks ahead of plans for series production in Austria later this year with contract manufacturer Steyr Automotive. Volta CEO Essa Al-Saleh spoke about the company’s second life and restructured business plan:

We’re looking to confirm orders with existing customers, reassemble the supply chain, complete a crucial fundraising round, and ensure series vehicles are ready for delivery. Right now, we are in the midst of discussions with all our suppliers and partners to enable these objectives. We have learned a lot from our challenging journey and are emerging stronger and more focused than ever. During the last couple of months, we have analyzed our original business plan and worked hard to simplify our business model with a strong focus on speed to market, capital efficiency and profitability. The new Volta Trucks will provide an innovative “chassis-cab” product, supported by a tailored Maintenance and Service offering andcpartnerships with certified Body Builders. We believe this will best support ourccustomers’ immediate needs and facilitate the electrification transition

Volta shared that customer trials in live Zero trucks operations are once again underway in the UK ahead of compliance toward GSR-2 (General Safety Regulation) standards that will go into effect in July. Beyond the UK, Volta Trucks says its customer trials will expand in Q2 to customers in Germany, France, Nordics, and Austria.

Luxor Capital’s funding of the revived startup includes an initial round of convertible financing over the next month, followed by a Series-A round for investors scheduled for the middle of 2024. Volta expects the Series-A round to deliver enough capital to begin Zero Truck series production and deliver its first EVs to customers.

With a pending presence in France in the works, the commercial EV startup also shared intentions to establish customer partnerships that will enable distinctive Zero trucks to navigate roads during this summer’s 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

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Scooter Doll is a writer, designer and tech enthusiast born in Chicago and based on the West Coast. When he’s not offering the latest tech how tos or insights, he’s probably watching Chicago sports. Please send any tips or suggestions, or dog photos to him at [email protected]

Michael Pollan says broccoli is better than any supplement — here's why

• Michael Pollan has been studying America's unhealthy food system for nearly two decades.
• Vegetables are some of his favorite foods. 
• He loves brassicas like broccoli, which scientists suspect have anti-cancer properties. 

It's no secret that Michael Pollan loves plants . He's been encouraging folks to eat more real food — and especially veggies — for basically two decades.

The author of "The Omnivore's Dilemma" and "In Defense of Food" knows that vegetables aren't just great diet staples. In the right quantities and forms, they can be like preventative medicine, and may perform better at keeping people healthy than pricey supplements.

"It's much better to get your vitamins from food ," Pollan told Business Insider, ahead of the release of his latest food system documentary, Food, Inc. 2 (out Friday, April 12).

"Our bodies evolved to get nutrients from food, not from pills," he said. "So it's no wonder that supplements generally don't work , unless you have a very specific deficiency ."

His stance, while perhaps a bit simplistic , is also a pragmatic one that many doctors, nutritionists, independent supplement researchers, and leading longevity experts generally endorse .

Itching to add a new supplement to your diet? Try broccoli.

Top of mind for Pollan when he thinks about the health-boosting benefits of eating more plants is a family of cruciferous vegetables called brassicas, or cole crops.

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These are some of the stockiest, crunchiest plants you can find in the grocery store. They include cabbage, collard greens, kale, cauliflower, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts, and they're great for improving circulation and blood flow, as well as fighting off many age-related diseases.

Scientists suspect that a key reason broccoli eaters tend to have lower rates of certain forms of cancer comes down to a group of sulfur-based chemicals inside the brassicas called glucosinolates , which give these veggies their bitter flavor. When we chop, chew, and digest cruciferous veggies, these potent chemicals break down into bioactive compounds that are thought to help prevent, and maybe even kill some cancer. But, like with so many other nutrients, squeezing this compound into a pill just isn't the same as consuming it in a whole food.

"When they identified this compound," Pollan said, "and then they put it in a supplement, it did not have the same effect."

Studies have consistently shown that the bioavailability of nutritional supplements (that is, how much of the nutrients our bodies can actually use) can vary widely, from basically zilch to toxic . Because supplements aren't well-regulated , it's often hard to know what you're getting, and it can be near impossible to recognize whether or not the supplements you're taking are helping you out, or just causing more problems for your body.

But we already know that the long-term benefits of eating more vegetables and whole grains can include fewer strokes, healthier hearts, less belly fat , lower odds of developing type 2 diabetes, and less cognitive decline too.

"There are things we don't understand about the structure of food and the relationship of the chemicals within the food that is very important," Pollan said.

Pollan pops one supplement: a multivitamin

In addition to his veggie-rich diet, Pollan does take a multivitamin, "but that's it," he said.

Recent research has suggested that a daily multivitamin might be marginally beneficial for working memory in older adults, but it's not essential.

Scientists still generally agree that no supplement can match what a good diet and exercise routine can do, helping prevent and treat lots of chronic diseases all at once .

Watch: We compared all the differences between the Pizza Hut menus in the US and India

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