AUTHORpreNEURship: The Vision

In my first 9 months with BookSurge I began to learn first hand of all the problems that authors were having with the publishing world. You don't really understand it until you experience it first hand. Many authors have worked hard and slaved over their manuscript for years but find themselves with no vision on where to go with their creation for fear of many things.

Should I keep sending it to a traditional publisher for rejection letters because this is my only way? Maybe 10 years ago this was a good strategy but not today. Now everyone can publish so it is important to understand your niche and how you can exploit it.

In early October I began to explore what I want my niche to be by researching on google: authorpreneurship. I have always wanted to be a resource for businesses and entrepreneurs on how to publish their content. Basically teach them how to tell their story digitally by empowering and engaging them.

It started with my first business, Rizzo Public Relations, where I acted as a liaison between struggling companies and graphic designers who could instruct on better internet practices and now has evolved into my current role as a publishing consultant because of new opportunities I see everyday.

When I saw that the domain authorpreneurship.com was available for sale I made an offer to the CEO of dream big domains. They countered with authorpreneuring.com and authorpreneurs.com which I couldn't believe was real. She agreed that the sites had great potential but for some reason no one had bought the domains yet.

I followed this with another step to build my online presence and protect myself. I trademarked the term authorpreneurship. author pre what? What the hell is that?

Don't worry I got ripped apart for it already Worst Word Mashup Trademark Filings The state of being an entrepreneur who also happens to be an author? Mork bets you can’t say “authorpreneurship” ten times fast.

Some incredible motivation right there. My point is that when you have a vision for something it is hard to block out the nay sayers. Whatever your vision is try your best to share it with others who you can trust.

I still am not sure how all of the sites will play out but I think that is the intriguing part about building a brand from the bottom of Google. I need the help of others to define it but most importantly need to dedicate myself to writing. My vision right now is to blog daily about the publishing industry and find innovative ways to help others market their content better. Yes it is broad for now but i need to start somewhere.

This blog will be updated on a weekly (hopefully daily) basis. Hold me to it and share any comments you have!

Here is a mini author biz plan I have been putting together to help new authors decipher what they need to do when taking a book to market. I am going to try and begin writing a series about each sector over the next few months to help:

Clearly Define your Mission
Evaluate Strengths and Weaknesses
Set Goals
Seek Empowerment to Professionalize
-Editing
-Interior and Cover Design
-Outline Strategy
Build Allies
Refer to Resources
Sustain and Evolve