Welcome to another Writer’s Digest! As authors and entrepreneurs, we are constantly researching and asking ourselves questions. Once a month, we ask our tribe at WWF to share their current thoughts craft and then bring their answers to you. Before we dive into this week’s topic, keep in mind that what works for one writer may not work for the next. Our hope is that you’re able to learn from our past experiences and mistakes and make your own. As we each have been working hard on our manuscripts, we thought you might be in the same boat. Here’s what our authors have to say:
“10 years sounds like way too much–maybe a kind of goal or outline, a “this is where I want to be in 10 years. I do make a 1 year business plan every year that’s fairly detailed.”
–Kate Avery Ellison, Author of The Frost Chronicles
“It’s always great to have goals, right? Marketing changes so much though that it would be hard to stick to a 5 and especially 10 year plan. Just in the last few years, we’ve seen the rise and fall of certain methods.”
–Belle Malory, Author of Electric Skies
“I don’t know if I’d go ten years out. The publishing business changes so rapidly, I want to be able to take advantage of those changes without having to completely alter my business plan. Right now I plan two years out because that’s about all my brain can handle, plus I don’t know what books I’ll have written five years from now. But a five year plan seems feasible.”
–Melissa McShane, Author of The Crown of Tremontane Series
“Trends and methods of marketing seem to change by the year (occasionally the month lol) and it’s tough keeping up with everything. I have some things in mind 10 years out, or books I think I’ll be ‘ready’ to write in ten years lol. Sometimes I think you need a certain amount of actual life experience to be able to tell certain types of stories. So I’m storing up all my ideas for the ‘heavy’ more lit-type books I want to eventually write. But as for business plans, it feels a bit like trying to build in the Inception dreamworld.”
–Jennifer Silverwood, Author of Silver Hollow
“I agree, you definitely need to be more flexible in this business. That said, I think if you’re comfortable with shifting deadlines and projects, and if having a plan helps focus your goals, then go for i! I work from a yearly planner and that suits my project schedule well.“
–Melissa Wright, Author of The Frey Saga
We hope you enjoyed this issue of Writer’s Digest. Feel free to share your own questions about writing and publishing in the comments below. If you have a dream, don’t give up on it. Pursue it, work it, make it happen one day at a time. Happy writing!
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