You are an author. You turn ideas into reality in the shape of a book.
You turn the thoughts in your head into valuable intellectual property assets. You understand how powerful the written word can be. Now it's time to use your words to create a business plan to take your writing career to the next level - whatever that means for your situation.


I'm Joanna Penn and I've been a full-time author-entrepreneur for almost a decade. In this book, I'll guide you through the process of creating a business plan that will help you achieve your creative and financial goals.


It's relevant for fiction and non-fiction authors, as well as those who want to include other products, services, and income streams. It's also applicable whether you're just starting out or if you already have a mature author business. A plan helps at any stage of the journey.

• Part 1 covers your business summary and author brand, taking you through the process of deciding the overall direction for what you want to achieve and who you want to serve.
• Part 2 goes into the production process around your writing, publishing and licensing, products and services.
• Part 3 covers your marketing strategy and author eco-system.
• Part 4 goes into the financial side of your business, from mindset to revenue and costs, as well as paying yourself now and into the future.

The final chapter will give you a framework for simplifying your plan and turning it into achievable stepsacross a chosen timeline.


In each section, I give examples from my own business plan and there are questions for you to answer, templates, and resources that might help along the way, as well as example business plans for different kinds of authors.


It's time to take your author career to the next level. Let's get started on your business plan.

Please note: This book doesn't go into detail on how to do the specific topics, for example, how to self-publish a book, or how to do content marketing. I cover those topics in my other Books for Authors.


If you already have my previous business book, Business for Authors, this is a rewritten and updated sub-set of that material, focusing on the specifics of a plan as opposed to everything involved in running a business. This book acts as a companion as well as a more recent update to my own author journey. It will help you bring it all together into a coherent plan that you can use to take your author business into the future.

Books for Authors by Joanna Penn

• How to Write Non-Fiction
• How to Market a Book
• How to Make a Living with your Writing
• Productivity for Authors
• Successful Self-Publishing
• Your Author Business Plan
• The Successful Author Mindset
• Public Speaking for Authors, Creatives and Other Introverts
• Audio for Authors: Audiobooks, Podcasting, and Voice Technologies
• The Healthy Writer
• Business for Authors: How to be an Author Entrepreneur
• Career Change