This month my affirmation is all about being in business as a writer. This month my focus is on treating my writing as my vocation rather than just a hobby.. This month (and next month too) my goal is to create a comprehensive, living, breathing document called a business plan.

The Many Hats of A Self-published Author

A self-published author wears many hats. First, I am the author of four books and am writing more as we speak. Second, I am a publisher. I am a business owner.
I am a researcher, and I am one of the editors of my work. I used to be the only editor, but I changed all that when I realized that if I didn’t own my company, I could be fired for having done such a poor job! So I now have someone else handle the final edits. I format my own books and picked out the designs for the covers. Again, I probably would do better if I hired someone else to do that. I am also handling the marketing and most of the sales. In addition, I am currently my own PR person and my own secretary. Due to precious little money coming into my business at this point, I handle my finances as well. Finally, I am the president and CEO of my company. I am the boss.

Hats That I Do Not To Wear

One hat I do not wear as a self-published author is that I do not do my own final editing. I leave that to my beta readers. In addition, I do not take my own photographs nor do I design or create my own flyers. I actually have someone else do it who does a far better job than I do.

Letting Others Wear My Hats

Though I do wear many hats, there are certain hats that do not fit me very well and eventually I intend to let someone else wear those hats. I would like to focus most of my time and attention toward producing books and being featured at speaking or book signing events. I would also like to have someone else drive me to those events. A girl can dream; can’t she?

What Does This Have To Do With Business Planning?

Knowing what I do well, and what I do not do so well is an important part of business planning. A business owner needs to realize that he or she cannot do everything alone. As a self-published author, I want to have creative control over my work which I have, however, that doesn’t mean that I should make it a one woman show even if I was good at all of those things, but I am not.
Therefore, it is important that I understand what I am doing, what I am allowing others to do and what I should be allowing others to do. This gives me a human relations goal for my business. I begin to create job descriptions for future employees or contractors. This shows me what it is that I do so that when the time comes for me to share the load, I can tell exactly what I am doing so that I can tell the person that I am relinquishing the hat to what it is that I want that person to do with that hat and to know whether that hat is a good fit after all.

Donna Brown is an ordained minister. As Author Cygnet Brown, she  has recently published her first nonfiction book: Simply Vegetable Gardening: Simple Organic Gardening Tips for the Beginning Gardener

She is also the author of historical fiction series The Locket Saga. which includes When God Turned His Head and Soldiers Don’t Cry, the Locket Saga Continues, and most recently, A Coward’s Solace, Book III of the Locket Saga.For more information about Cygnet Brown and her book, check out her website at http://www.cygnetbrow.com .