LESSON 1: Gather Your Supplies

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It doesn't matter if you are independently (self) or traditionally published. The hard truth is that you need money to make money. Regardless if it comes out of your advance, side hustle, or savings account, you will need to amass a treasure chest before you begin. How much do you need, though? That depends. Even if you are traditionally published, YOU will be paying for the following things:

• Professional headshots
• Your website and all the domain fees, hosting fees, SSL certificates, and other associated fees
• Postcards, bookmarks, swag, and other promotional materials

If you are just starting out on this journey and need to bootstrap, I would budget a minimum of $1000 to get your business off the ground. If you are rebooting a stalled career, you need more—maybe even a couple thousand more.

Why? If you've had rights revert back to you, you may want to update, recover, and rerelease your previous books or turn them into audiobooks. These are not cheap projects, but they can have an exponential payoff in the long run.

If you are going to be an authorpreneur, you will definitely need a dedicated checking account for your business. The IRS frowns upon the co-mingling of personal and business money. That said, you can pay yourself or your family back from your business checking account. There just needs to be a clear paper trail about who, when, how much, and why. 

As your authorpreneurial business grows, you might want to start a business savings account for taxes. Maybe even a second one for future big-ticket items like hiring a voice actor to narrate your audiobooks. 

A business credit card can be helpful as your business grows. Again, the co-mingling of funds is a giant IRS no-no. However, keeping your business's recurring expenses (yearly website hosting fees, monthly KDP ads, etc.) connected to your designated business credit card can significantly speed up your monthly accounting and annual tax preparation.  

If you are hand-selling books and accompanying products (prints, T-shirts, stickers, etc.), you need a non-cash way for customers to pay you. One more time—no co-mingling of money! Attach your card reader/PayPal/Zelle to your business checking account to keep things transparent with the IRS. 

You will need a cache of books to accompany your Treasure Chest. How many do you need? It depends on several factors:

• How many events do you have scheduled this quarter?
• Are readers buying directly from you via an online store or at in-person events or both?
• Do you have a safe, weather-controlled place to store your surplus books?
• How big of a hit can your budget take right now? 

A good rule of thumb is to always have at least ten copies of each book on hand. If you are indie-published, give yourself at least a month (even longer if it's during the holiday season) before you will  need more books. 

Here are some additional "tools" you might need for your business:

• A new, higher-powered laptop
• A new cell phone with more memory
• A printer with scanning capabilities
• Accounting and tax preparation support
• Marketing materials (postcards, bookmarks, swag, etc.)
• A professional website
• Legal assistance to create an LLC and get a business license in your state