Hello Author Friends,
Happy Boxing Day. Happy Final Days of 2025. Happy Looking Forward to 2026.
You've worked hard all year. Writing. Book marketing. Book selling. Website finessing. Email list growing. Event hawking. Pushing yourself to your creative limits.
One question: Do you have some of the basics for an author business in place? Is 2026 your year to take care of those things? All at once or one at a time?
HERE'S YOUR LIST
Whether all at once or one at a time. Whether in steady succession or spread out. Can you implement these things for yourself and your author life over the course of next year?
This article covers 8 things:
- Determine your business structure.
- Get an EIN.
- Separate your money.
- Put profit first.
- Prepare for quarterly tax paying.
- Track everything.
- Protect yourself.
- Know when to get help.
Do yourself a favor.
Even if you don’t need to make money on your author activities, consider establishing yourself as a sole proprietor at the very least:
- Your author and publishing expenses will be tax deductible.
- It establishes your professionalism and could make you feel more like a “real” author.
- You will learn and experience a whole new, wonderful world of small business.
- It just might lay the foundation for greater income, increased exposure, and unexpected opportunities.
OUR NEXT FREE ZOOM POWER HOUR FOR ALL AUTHORS
We just finished month three of our new monthly series that combines a little bit of business know-how with a whole lot of community support and brainstorming for YOUR particular questions and challenges. Engagement has been high...it's already working as we'd hoped. Will you join us for the next one?
Topic: New Year, New Revenue Streams: Practical strategies to diversify your author income in 2026
When: Thursday, January 15, 12pm-1pm CT
RSVP here.
BIZ ACCELERATOR
Did you read the opening of this newsletter and think, yes, that's me, I want to get my author business on solid foundations and off to a soaring new start this year?
My next Author's Business Accelerator may be for you. It's a combination of group and personal coaching that goes far beyond that short list of eight things mentioned above. In ten weeks time we dive into those basics, plus business mindsets, finding your business model, revenue streams, outreach, marketing, branding, sales, pricing, and more.
Early Bird Special!
Accelerate your business...with discounts
Take an additional 10% off our next Author's Business Accelerator cohort that begins in February, 2026, when you pay in full between Dec. 26 and Dec. 31. Join with a friend in this window and you each take another 10% off the total price.
FAVORITE REVIEW
Widens what an author can become; practical advice with grounded optimism; 5 stars
"The Profitable Author lays out a huge and lively roadmap for turning a writing life into a real business. The book moves through mindset, marketing, sales, income streams, and the day-to-day actions that keep an author afloat and happy. It mixes tough love with encouragement, and it shows how an author can build a long game instead of hoping for sudden fame....I found myself flipping pages and feeling the book widen the definition of what an author can become.
The writing is direct and warm. It never hides how hard this business can be, yet it never slips into cynicism....I liked how she blends practical advice with a kind of grounded optimism...
What struck me most was the emotional undercurrent. The book believes in authors. Not in a cheesy way. More like a steady voice saying you can do this if you show up and keep showing up. I loved how she reframes marketing as something flexible and personal....The mix of stories, checklists, and bite-sized reflections creates an easy rhythm....It feels like a mentor talking at the right speed for someone who wants change but does not want to burn out.
I think this book is a strong fit for authors who want to treat their writing as a real business without losing their soul in the process....It left me energized and surprisingly hopeful."—Literary Titan
Get a print copy of The Profitable Author mailed to you free when you buy a year's subscription to The Profitable Author / An Author Business You Love Substack by January 7, 2026. It's $97 or less than twenty-seven cents a day. A small investment in your author business! And, if at any time, you don't think you are getting a sufficient multiple of that investment back, simply email me and request a refund. I am confident of the value the content delivers.
All the best,
Sharon
Sharon Woodhouse, owner, Conspire Creative
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