Hopefully by now you have reached out to your most inner circle of friends and family for the initial capital to self-publish your book. Maybe you have even posted your project on a crowd funding site like: www.kickstarter.com, www.indiegogo.com, www.rockethub.com, or www.startupaddict.com (there are many more but those are a few that tend to focus a bit more on creative projects). The good news is that in doing this you will expand your reach, grow awareness about your book and business, and raise money without giving up too much on your end, like royalties or equity in your business.
Self-publishing, marketing, and selling your book will not be cheap. Aside from the hard cost of creating and printing your book, the business side of things can get costly. To market and sell your book you may decide to have your own website with E-commerce capability, optimize your site, create marketing materials, purchase software like Quick Books, Sales Force, Constant Contact, or others like those. You will want to protect your intellectual property, pay vendors on time, ship products, and manage any additional overhead you may incur.
While it is true that obtaining institutional financing for a new business is much more difficult these days, it is not impossible. I would start by talking to someone at your bank who handles business loans etc. I know from experience that Chase bank has a strong relationship with the SBA (Small Business Administration) www.sba.gov which is a great resource. Even if you are not a candidate at that moment you will learn what you need to do to become one in the future.
If you are a homeowner it may not be out of the question to pull some equity out of your home to offset some of your business costs. Give your mortgage broker or banker a call to see if this is a viable option for you. To learn a little bit more about what that will mean check out the site; www.getsmart.com.
There are organizations, both private and government that, believe it or not, are still allocating funds to small businesses. It is up to us to find the right one for our needs. For example, as a female business owner you can apply to join the WBENC (Women's Business Enterprise National Council) www.wbenc.org. The same goes for other "minority" owned businesses, so take a look at; www.ethnicmajority.com to learn more.
Since we are writers we have an ability to effectively articulate our project, needs, and capabilities. There are grants being given around the world and knowing which one is right for you coupled with writing a great grant proposal could certainly give you an edge. To better familiarize yourself with the process and identify active organizations offering grants take a look at; www.businessgrants.org
YOU CAN DO IT! And remember to just WRITE, WRITE, WRITE!
JACI
While it is true that obtaining institutional financing for a new business is much more difficult these days, it is not impossible. I would start by talking to someone at your bank who handles business loans etc. I know from experience that Chase bank has a strong relationship with the SBA (Small Business Administration) www.sba.gov which is a great resource. Even if you are not a candidate at that moment you will learn what you need to do to become one in the future.
If you are a homeowner it may not be out of the question to pull some equity out of your home to offset some of your business costs. Give your mortgage broker or banker a call to see if this is a viable option for you. To learn a little bit more about what that will mean check out the site; www.getsmart.com.
There are organizations, both private and government that, believe it or not, are still allocating funds to small businesses. It is up to us to find the right one for our needs. For example, as a female business owner you can apply to join the WBENC (Women's Business Enterprise National Council) www.wbenc.org. The same goes for other "minority" owned businesses, so take a look at; www.ethnicmajority.com to learn more.
Since we are writers we have an ability to effectively articulate our project, needs, and capabilities. There are grants being given around the world and knowing which one is right for you coupled with writing a great grant proposal could certainly give you an edge. To better familiarize yourself with the process and identify active organizations offering grants take a look at; www.businessgrants.org
YOU CAN DO IT! And remember to just WRITE, WRITE, WRITE!
JACI
