BC Writing Workshop #6 Business Plan-- Financials and Revisions

Business Plan Financials

This is the part that some of you who have been reading my advice have been waiting to see...and I get it.

There are several ways I could tackle this section, but I think probably the most practical and the most helpful would be a breakdown of actual indie costs.

So let's go down the rabbit hole, shall we?

Covers

The first thing people think about regarding book costs in the cover.  However, this is one example of how making money with writing is as much an art as a science.  I've made much more on books with $200 covers vs. $1500 covers, and vice versa.

Some of what you might be willing to pay for and accept quality-wise for a cover may boil down to your brand.  Do you want to "look" like an indie, or do you want your books to be indistinguishable from Brandon Sanderson's?

It's possible to even create a cover yourself, using art or photography skills.  However, if you are paying someone else to make a cover for you, expect to pay anywhere from $50 to $2000.  This is the most common range for cover art among indies.

My covers are most typically $500-$1000.

It's worth mentioning here that readers in different genres are attracted to different covers, all of which can be had at different price points.  Ironically, in the Romance genre (the most lucrative genre in the world), those stereotypical covers of some guy with his shirt off and a woman wearing a flowing dress, looking like she's constipated and tired are actually not that expensive to produce.

Meanwhile, in epic fantasy, readers tend to expect custom covers with a high level of art.   Trying to buck trends is fun, and a lot of authors like to entertain the thought of bending expectations... right up until it bites them in the ass.

TOR covers generally have a certain look for a reason.

The reality is that readers absolutely do judge a book by its cover, and as a writer, your business is based on however many books you can write a year.  If you can only write 3, and you make a decision that screws up one of your launches...BOOM!  You've lost 30% of your income for the year.

Editing

I don't think there is any cost involved with bringing a book to market that is more misunderstood than editing.

What some people fail to understand is that "editing" may mean several types of editing.  There's copy editing, line editing, and developmental editing, with the least invasive being copy editing.

As everyone subscribed to my Patreon page knows, my second drafts are pretty decent, which is to say legible and close to where I want the final draft to be.  Because of this, I get copy editing done.  Copy editing fixes my typos, corrects my grammar mistakes, etc.

Line editing is the next level of editing, which can include moving around parts of the story, addressing awkward portions, cutting things, etc.

Developmental editing is handing a mess over to an editor and saying, "Fix this."  This sort of editing might even require extensive rewrites, changing the direction of the story, adjusting characters, and even changing the overall genre!

What makes all of this even more confusing is that not everyone uses these same terms for the same levels of editing.  The understanding among some writers or editors might use different terms, or have the editing levels falling between the bullets I've just outlined.

I will address how to find an editor in another module.

The cost of editing for a 100k word book can vary all the way from $100 to $5000, depending on the level of editing being done, and the skill of the editor.  In some cases, the most expensive editing might be well worth it to the author.  However, while "you get what you pay for" is often true here, just like many other things, it's not always the case.  I've seen other authors pay hundreds of dollars for editing and get a worse edit copy than if they'd just asked readers to do it for free.

Like every other aspect of indie writing, the learning curve is steep regarding actual execution, and relationships are crucial as one progressing in their craft and career.

Typography and Layout

Typography is the lettering on the cover of a book.  Some authors spend more on the typography than they do on the art itself.

If an author elects to pay for typography, it can cost anywhere from $20 to $400.  It's possible to pay more too for really fancy stuff, but this is the most common range.

A book's layout can be the ebook, print version, or both.

Common price ranges for one or both can be anywhere from $20 to $200.

Audio Book

Audio books will be covered in a future module.  It's a heavy subject.  To give a little bit of context here for why the ranges are so extreme, deals with a publisher or a Royalty Share deal with a narrator will result in no money required from the author.  However, producing an audio book by yourself will be expensive, and you pay your audio book narrator by finished hour.

The range to have an audio book made is most commonly from $0 to $10,000.

Promotion

The subject of promotion will be covered in a later module.  Suffice to say, you can spend anywhere from $0 to $30k.

Patreon/Community

If you have a Patreon page, or some sort of pledge community, you will likely share chapters or offer rewards.

For me personally, Patreon is a time and money sink, but what I get out of it is a pool of readers that I trust.  The motivation I receive by way of guilt is actually really valuable for my process, too.

Patreon costs vary a ton, from $0 to $2000 a month.  I usually spend an average of $500 a month on Patreon stuff.
 
Time

This cost is really hard to quantify, but it's important to consider your time as a valuable resource when you're a business person.  Especially as an indie author, you will likely be working all day, so what you choose to spend your time on professionally is worth thinking about.

The more time you spend on Facebook talking to readers, or answering emails, or engaging on Twitter, the less time you will have to write.  None of this is exactly rocket science, but it's still good to keep in mind.

Totals

So let's recap.

Per book we have:

*Cover - 50-2000

*Editing - 100 - 5000

*Typography - 20 - 400

*Layout - 20 - 2000

*Audio Book - 0 - 10000

*Promotion - 0 - 30000

...for a total of

*$190 - $47,600

It's worth mentioning that someone may choose to use a free cover, and not get editing, but these sorts of decisions can impact a launch.  In my opinion, the least someone can expect to spend on a professional looking fantasy book  with a good launch is around $1000-$4000 for an ebook, with about $3-$5k cost for the audio book.

Costs can creep up fast.

*Note: The omission of ISBN costs in the previous section was intentional.


Revisions

The only sure thing about any plan is that at some point, it'll all go to hell, right?

Just like any other business, writing for a living is going to have its ups and downs.

It may happen in your first year, or it may happen after you've already gone full time, but at some point, you're going to need to reevaluate not only your business, but also your writing.  For right now, we're going to focus on the business side of writing.  Later modules will tackle some the creative challenges you might encounter.

Some of the reasons to revisit your business plans are changes in production, changes in costs, changes in sales, etc.

Some people feel a sense of failure if they have to adjust their expectations.  Do not fall into that trap.  Always try to be honest with yourself, and don't tie your self worth into numbers or how your business is performing.

Objectivity can be important to hold sometimes if we spend all day in fictional worlds, but that is honestly one reason why having a business plan can be so helpful in the first place.