The indie publishing journey: Business mechanics

If you’ve decided to indie publish your book, something you should look into early is setting up a “business” for it. But do you actually need one? How do you set one up if you do? What other business considerations should a new indie publisher make? Find the answers to these questions in today’s post about the business mechanics of indie publishing!! →

SERIES CONTENTS

Do I need a business to publish my book?

So you’ve looked into the what, why, and how of indie publishing and decided to go ahead and indie publish your book. What next? One of the first things I recommend you do is consider whether you need (or want) to set up a business. The reason I say do this early is because it can influence several other decisions as you embark on this publishing journey. For example:

Choice of platform: Whether you set up a business may dictate what platform you can use to produce and distribute your books. If you’re Australian and want to publish through IngramSpark, you need an Australian Business Number (ABN). You may not need an ABN to publish through Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), but I haven’t looked into this one in detail, so correct me if I’m wrong!

Managing your finances: An important thing think about is whether you want to keep your publishing expenses and income separate from your personal expenses and income. If so, it may be best to set up a separate business bank account for publishing—and to do that, you first need to set up the business!

Publishing imprint: Ever dreamed of having your own imprint logo on the spines of your books? It certainly makes you feel official, so if these things appeal to you, you may need to register your imprint name by setting up a business. This is what I’ve done with Southscript Press, and I must admit, it was a very exciting and enjoyable part of the journey!!

Setting up a publishing business

How do you actually go about setting up a publishing business? No differently to setting up any other business, really! Exactly how this works will depend on what country you’re in. Since I’m in Australia, the Australian process is what I’ll be focusing on here.

Choosing a business structure: In Australia, there are four main types of business structure, and if you’re starting out as an indie publisher by yourself, the simplest option is to be a sole trader. As a sole trader, you’re the only owner and controller of the business and you’re legally responsible for all aspects of it, including any debts. You use your individual tax file number (TFN) and report any business income in your individual tax return.

Applying for an ABN: An ABN is a number that identifies your business, but it doesn’t replace your TFN. Registering for an ABN through the Australian Government’s Business Registration Service is free, so don’t get sucked into paying for one through some other party. During the application, you need to identify your business structure (as per above), provide proof of identity, and confirm the details of your business activities (e.g. “Book publishing”).

Registering a business name: As a sole trader, your business name will be your personal legal name unless you register for a specific business name. Your business name is registered with the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) and it costs $39 for 1 year or $92 for 3 years. You can apply for an ABN and a business name at the same time. Note that this is not the same as registering for a trademark—that’s a separate process again (and costs more).

You’ll notice I didn’t talk a great deal about tax here, and that’s because it’s WAY beyond my area of expertise. There are many more reputable sources out there for that kind of advice. But one thing worth noting is that you only have to register your business for GST if your gross business income minus GST is $75,000 or more. If you’re earning that much from publishing your books…congratulations!! 😅

Before starting down the path of setting up your business, if you’re an Aussie I recommend you check out the following: Starting your own business (Australian Taxation Office); Starting a small business (ASIC); New business, Guide to starting a business, and Starting a business checklist (business.gov.au). If you’re elsewhere in the world, check out what resources your own government has available!

Other business considerations for indie publishers

Now that your business has been set up, is there anything else you should think about? Of course there is! The thinking never stops, really! But to keep things simple, here are some of the key considerations worth spending a bit of time on based on my own experience.

Business bank account(s): It’s not mandatory for your publishing business to have its own bank account if you’re a sole trader in Australia, but it’s still a good idea to get one. Come tax time, you need to be able to identify business expenses and income as opposed to personal expenses and income, so having these in separate accounts makes it much easier! It took me all of 5 minutes to apply for my business accounts through my bank.

Tracking business finances: How are you going to track what your publishing business is spending and earning? I’m no financial adviser, but my advice is not to overthink this. I already tracked my personal finances in one spreadsheet, and now I use a different spreadsheet for my business finances. I also input my business expenses and income into myDeductions on the ATO app, which helps with completing the business part of your tax return!

Imprint logo: If you’ve gone to the effort of setting up a business AND registering a name, why not go a step further a create a business logo for your publishing imprint? Then you can put it in your books and on their spines! You could create your own, or do what I did and hire someone to do it for you. I commissioned my logo through Fiverr; if you do something similar, just make sure the rights to the logo will belong with you and you get a copy of the source files.

Business website: Creating a good website is a lot of work, and may not be necessary for your publishing business, particularly if you already have an author website. Personally, I did go OTT and create a business website as well, because I wanted to keep the business side of things separate from the authoring side of things. I also had a vision of setting up an online store. But it’s something to think about anyway, depending on your own preferences and goals.

Social media accounts: Similarly, do you want to create separate social media account(s) for your publishing business? More accounts does equal more work, so consider how much time and effort you want to invest. However, unlike developing a good website, making a social media account is free and easy, so if you’ve gone to the trouble of setting up a business WITH a name, I’d recommend at least snatching up those handles before someone else does!

DISCLAIMER: I’m neither an expert in business nor publishing. The information compiled above was sourced from government websites I used while learning how to set up my own publishing business, and any additional advice is based on my own experiences. It may or may not suit your personal situation, so make sure you take the time to do your own research!!