This book overwhelmed me with all of the information needed to become a successful writer. It's not just the writing process itself that is discussed, but also marketing the book, layouts for ebooks, income taxes related to your new career and more. This book is pretty much an all-in-one guide for a new writer. Really interesting.

Stands true to it's name, the book changed my way of looking at writing. As a writer, I realized that I am into the business of writing. Just like in business, you have profits and losses in writing. This books help you understand exactly if your writing business is in profit or not.

Thanks to NetGalley and to Pendragon Cove Press for an advance copy of The Business of Writing: Practical Insights for Independent, Hybrid, and Traditionally Published Authors by Kim Iverson Headlee.

First of all, this is not strictly a book on the business of *writing* per se. It's actually a book on the business of *publishing*, with a lean towards independent publishing.

The book is packed full of nuggets of information telling readers the quickest and easiest road to publishing their own works, or what's involved when someone else does it for them. If the book itself isn't enough reading for you, there are also plenty of links supporting or illustrating what the author is trying to express.

It starts with the nuts and bolts of taxes, bookkeeping and expenses, mostly from the point of view of a small business rather than a freelancer. It's also US-biased with some of the finance advice, but that can only be expected when the author lives in America.

Saying that, I picked up lots of useful stuff about blogging, SEO, marketing, book packaging, the importance of hiring contractors to edit or design covers, and I even went in and tweaked my own website using some of the tips here.

The first section is all about organising your finances, sorting out things like publication plans, arranging a book launch.

The second section is entitled "packaging" and includes hints for writing book jacket blurb (although the author hates to use the word "blurb", but tells us why), hiring professional editors and book cover designers, print books, ebooks, audiobooks - even production of audiobooks.

The next section is about presentation, but not how to layout a manuscript when submitting to traditional publishing houses. This part discusses branding, pen names, meeting deadlines. It covers presenting yourself as a professional author.

And the last bit is all about marketing - promotion plans, advance reader copies, media kits, blog tours, blogging,

Basically, everything to do with producing a book.

I really enjoyed the blog-style approach and believe individual chapters started out in the blogosphere. I liked the author telling me what she likes to see when she's visiting other authors' social media sites, and what turns her off. She opened my eyes regarding paid for reviews or email advertising. And she doesn't just stick to Amazon and Kindle. In fact, she tells us exactly why we should stick to just Amazon and only Amazon.

I'll be trying out a few more of her suggestions in the coming months. If you're thinking of venturing into self-publishing yourself, or even if you're already there, there should be something for you in this book. And you never know, even the US-specific information is exactly what you're looking for as well.

The chapters in this were far too short to go into enough detail to be of any use to aspiring writers. It simply tries to do too much in too few words. There was nothing that a cursory Google search couldn't tell you. A book like this needs to give the detail that you can't get elsewhere, and I simply didn't feel that it provided enough to actually satisfy myself that I knew more after finishing it than I did before.

This will certainly be another aspiring author's bible but, for me, this too briefly touched upon the areas I was interested in discovering more about. The short chapters seemed far too brief for me to garner much from and I was left with more questions than answers, as terms and statements were dropped and swiftly moved on from.

#TheBusinessOfWriting:PracticalInsightsForIndependent,Hybrid,AndTraditionallyPublishedAuthors #NetGalley


publisher synopsis: 2018 Edition
Have you written a book but don’t know how to go about getting it published? Have you published a book but are hunting for more ways to improve your bottom line? Are you looking to distribute it in additional editions or sales channels?
The Business of Writing: Practical Insights for Independent, Hybrid, and Traditionally Published Authors is the go-to guide for everyone wishing to start—or jump-start—their writing careers.
Whether you write fiction or nonfiction, discover the answers to such questions as:
—Do I really need to incorporate, what “flavor” of company should I set up, and how do I take the plunge?
—How do I manage my writing expenses and taxes?
—What is an ISBN, where do I get one, and how many will I need?
—What is an imprint and how do I establish one for my books?
—What decisions must I face in the prepublication phase?
—Do I need to register my book’s copyright and how do I accomplish it? What about using other copyrighted materials?
—How on earth do I condense my 100K-word book to a 300-word description, let alone a 20-word tagline?
—How do I select the best keywords for my book?
—What makes for a great cover and how can I get one?
—What do I need to know about book formatting, print as well as digital?
—How can I turn my book into an audiobook?
—How do I develop and refine my author brand?
—How can I land invitations to speak at conferences and conventions?
—I use several pseudonymns. How do I manage them all?
—What’s an ARC? A media kit? A book trailer? A blog tour?
—Do I really need to start a blog? Send out a newsletter? Dive into social media? Give away my books?
—How do I price my book? Should I pick one price or vary it? Where are the best places to advertise my sale events?
—How much is all of this going to cost me??
If you’re feeling overwhelmed by the publication and promotion process, let award-winning, critically acclaimed author Kim Iverson Headlee give you the practical wisdom you need to stay on task and perhaps even come out ahead.
Table of Contents
PREFACE
1. ORGANIZING
1A. Lawyers, Incorporating Accountants
1B. Writing Expenses
1C. Corporate Taxes for Authors
1D. Individual Taxes for Authors
1E. The Publication Plan
1E1. Prepublication Decisions to Consider
1E2. The Book Launch
1F. Copyrighting Your Book
2. PACKAGING
2A. ISBNs and Imprints Demystified
2B. Professional Editing
2C. Using Photographs and Other Copyrighted Materials in Your Book
2D. Crafting the Book Description
2E. The Book Cover
2E1. What Makes for a Great Cover Design?
2E2. E-book Cover Specifics
2E3. The Print Edition’s Cover
2E4. The Audiobook Cover
2F. E-book and Print Book Layouts
2G. The Audiobook
2G1. The ACX Audiobook Production Process
2G2. Choosing the Right Producer for Your Audiobook
2G3. Getting Audiobook Reviews
3. PRESENTING
3A. Author Branding
3B. Pen Names
3C. On Being a Professional Writer
3C1. Correspondence
3C2. Deadlines
3C3. Personal Appearances
3D. On Labeling Yourself a Best-Selling Author
4. MARKETING
4A. The Promotion Plan
4A1. The ARC
4A2. Media Kit Overview
4A3. Social Media Overview
4A4. Blog Tours, Facebook Parties, and the Like 4A5. In-Person Events
4A6. Print Media
4A7. Audio/Visual Media (Podcasts, Radio, TV)
4A8. Book Trailers
4A9. Promotional Materials
4A10. Overview of Promotional Opportunities
4A11. Blogging Overview
4A12. Promotional Content
4B. The Author Blog
4C. Search Engine Optimization for Author-Bloggers
4D. Introduction to Amazon’s Kindle Book Previewe
4E. The Author Newsletter
4F. Email Marketing for Books
4G. How to Create a Permafree Title
4H. Using Giveaways to Market Your Book
4I. Your Book’s Media Kit
4J. On the Hunt for Book Reviews
4K. Defining Subject Headings and Keywords
4K1. BISAC Basics
4K2. Keyword Conundrum
4L. Twitter Marketing for Authors
4M. Creating and Using QR Codes for Your Book
4N. Book Pricing Strategies
4O. Digital Distribution Strategies for E-books


To say the least, this book has a wealth of knowledge. I did not know all the legal ramifications for writing a book. This book was very knowledgable and very eye opening.

I received this copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

* I was sent a earc from netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I found this book very helpful as a new writing. I feel as if it would be a huge benefit to new authors and know that I will be referencing it as I continue the process of writing