Not for the newbie author but well worth the read

WRITE-LIVELIHOOD: How to Craft a Writer's Business Plan by Ryan Petty

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


First, I fully concur with Petty on the need for self-publishers to create a business plan. Second, I’m a self-confessed “How to …” book junky – I’m very happy to ride on the back of others shared experiences. There is always too much to do and too little time to do it in. Any shortcuts are welcome. With a book of this type I always pick up a nugget or two or three. Third, much of what Petty says in his book resonated with me.
Petty shows great commitment, enthusiasm and self-belief to his idea, and is truly passionate about his proposal. But for me the book didn’t really start until chapter 5. I had the feeling he was spending along time packing for a journey before actually setting off. Most of what was said in chapters 1 to 4 inclusive were, in my mind, the background thought processes he need to go through before being able to put pen to paper. He chose to share them with his audience which to me felt a bit unnecessary. This book is not for the fainted hearted, newbie indie-author but for the more seasoned self-published writer who needs to move their career forward. A good example of know your audience.
The split between writer, self-publisher and business strategist is useful and allows you to look at what you’re doing with three different heads on. I do question Petty’s maths when he suggests, as an author, 80% of your time should be spent writing and then talks about 15 hours per week. Remember this book is aimed at the professional writer who is looking to earn a living from his/her outpourings. I’m in that position and spend at least 45 hours or more per week writing, editing and promoting. Actual writing for me is about one third -15 hours or 33% of my time.
Petty does believe in writing more content – books in all their guises – short stories, novellas, full novels- finished to a professional standard and not striving for perfection. I’m fully behind him since perfection doesn’t exist. As he says “you need clarity in your writing not luminosity,” so stop polishing and move on to your next book.
He does include a couple of useful exercises; in particular the Relative Merits Review, to get you thinking around which book you should be writing and deciding where to focus your efforts. What’s more, the tool is available to download from his website: very useful.
Chapter 19 on Financial Scenarios is very misleading. I wish what Petty is saying was even half true but his starting point – Amazon pay 70% royalty on eBooks just isn’t the case unless you are selling to Brazil, Japan, Mexico, and India (for more info look here: https://kdp.amazon.com/help?topicId=A... ) The truth is royalty payments are closer to 35% or half of what he is basing his financial scenarios on.
In conclusion, his style is evangelical and too wordy for me but he is on to a useful thing looking at the future direction of self-publishing and what “professional” writers need to become. Yes worth a read, yes worth following him and his ideas but they need distilling/refining for his intended audience.




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