You may have daydreamed about establishing your own business if you’ve ever watched the reality show Shark Tank. If you’re a self-published author learning the ropes, you might be thinking that you should instead of doing everything under your name, you should start your own publishing company.
So, before we get into the specifics of how to start a publishing company, let’s first address the topic of whether or not you should create one.
- Are you planning to publish a series of books (creating a firm may not be worth it if you only want to publish one title)?
- Are you operating in a field where there is a higher risk of liability (for example, health-related or technical books) — or simply want to safeguard your assets more?
- Are you curious about working as a “professional” writer or a “hobbyist” writer?
- Have a distinct brand that you’d like to broaden to include works by other authors?
If you’re ready to start your own business in the United States, here are the next steps to take:
1) Solidify Your Goals
Before you start working on the technical components of your business, you need to figure out exactly what you want to achieve.
- Do you want to get into business on your own or with a partner?
- Will you publish books written by yourself or by others?
- What format will you use for your publication (print, digital, audio, or a combination)?
- What type of profit do you think you’ll make? What do you think the most challenging difficulty will be?
- Will you concentrate on a certain aspect of publishing?
The answers to these questions will help you make better decisions about your business plan in the future.
2) Create Your Brand
When you’ve decided on your goals, it’s time to start building your brand. Branding includes things like coming up with a business name, crafting a mission statement, deciding what types of books to publish, and so on. Think about how you might make the name and brand of your publishing business more approachable, memorable, and appealing to readers, authors, and booksellers.
3) Select a Business Structure
While there are many various types of organizations, from corporations to nonprofits, sole proprietorships, partnerships, and limited liability companies are the only ones that pertain to a small publishing company (LLC). Which one is the best, you can determine by the following factors:
- A sole proprietorship is the most basic business structure, as it is run by you alone
- A partnership is formed by you and at least one other person, and a limited liability company combines elements of a sole proprietorship
- A corporation offers greater liability protection than other business structures
4) Register for an Employer Identification Number (EIN)
To start a business in the United States, you’ll need an Employer Identification Number (or EIN), which enables the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to identify and monitor your company. An EIN can be obtained by mail, or by fax.
5) Set Up Your Infrastructure
Now is the time to set up the administrative parts of your company, such as a domain name and website, a logo, an email address, a business bank account, an accounting system, and a print structure, among other things. Hiring is yet another aspect of putting your infrastructure in place. If you don’t have the time or talents to create book covers or edit manuscripts, your publishing company will need to engage freelancers. Look for small-run book publishers or print-on-demand services if you want to publish a print book. You’ll need to address every issue during this phase of setup, from getting the text to ISBNs (International Standard Book Numbers) to selling to clients, to guarantee that your infrastructure is robust before you begin publishing.
6) Start Publishing
It’s time to start publishing books once your new company is up and running. It’s time to put all of your resources into action once you have a manuscript ready to publish (whether it’s your own or someone else’s), including having the book created and getting ready to upload it online or send it to the printer.
