…As authors, we solve a lot of problems. Our books send a reader to a new world – we’re getting rid of boredom, maybe our story inspires someone, maybe if it’s a nonfiction we’re teaching.
So we have a product that we probably spent a bit of money on and we manage it with ads, or going out to events just like any other entrepreneur. And just like an entrepreneur we struggle each day wondering if our product is good enough; to thinking it’s amazing; to worrying again if anyone will like it.
We have the same struggles. I know because I’ve mentored entrepreneurs in other businesses as well as authors.
Let’s examine the entrepreneurial mindset –
An entrepreneur takes a risk at starting business – you take a risk writing a book and hoping people will like it.
An entrepreneur has a creative mind – let’s see if you’re writing a creative book, you probably have a creative mind.
An entrepreneur has motivation and tenacity to keep moving forward – Writing a book definitely takes motivation.
An entrepreneur responds to changes – like we as authors will have to respond to Amazon adding Goodreads reviews to your book page. I know They’re just testing that out, but if it stays that means we might have to change our processes to get reviews on Goodreads.
I’d also add that an entrepreneur is not expecting everyone to be your ideal client – we know everyone’s not going to be our reader.
An entrepreneur is also not married to their business idea so that they can pivot when necessary to meet the needs of their client. As authors we need to be ready to pivot when we realize something needs to change. That could be our cover or our description or maybe we need to fix up our book.
So, you belong in startup rooms and entrepreneurial events just as much as anyone else.