The Indie Author’s Three Hats: Maker, Manager and Marketeer

Setting up and running a successful creative enterprise like an author business, is challenging, for lots of reasons. One reason is that we must balance the needs of three kinds of work: producing, processing and positioning–often without knowing that's what we need to do.

Or to put the work another way: making, managing and marketeering.

Or yet another way: being the creative crafter, the creative director and the creative promoter in your business.

The easiest way to think about this, as you go through your day's work, is to imagine yourself donning three different hats for the three different roles.

• We make our books and associated products and promotional content e.g. reader magnets, ads
• We manage our money, our time and our business processes e.g. banking, taxation, business plans
• We market ourselves and our books and develop our author platform  e.g. marketing plans, sales plans and programs

[Go here to join a Facebook group organized around these three principles where, each Monday, we set creative intentions wearing each hat. And each Friday we return to note our accomplishments that week.]

The Indie Author's Three Hats: Producing, Processing, Positioning

Success for an indie author results from good performance in three distinct areas: creative craft (producing), creative business practice (processing), creative enterprise (positioning).

The better we are at each of these, the more money and meaning we generate, for ourselves and everyone who is touched by our work.

I have never met a creative who wants to give away the Maker Hat but I've met many who ignore or denigrate the role of the Manager or the Marketeer. But creativity is not something we put to one side when we turn to process or positioning.

Creativity is core, whichever hat we're wearing.

The Indie Author's Three Hats: Perspectives

The Maker (Creative Crafter)'s perspective is focussed inwards. For the Maker, the business is primarily a system that allows making to continue. Wearing this hat, we have a list of tasks we need to do in order to make our books and other products: writing, editing, design.

• The Maker craves creativity itself and the solitude and space to create.
• Crafter Occupational Hazard: Blaming others, or outside factors, for poor productivity, instead of recognizing the role of the Manager and Marketeer

The Marketeer (Creative Promoter)'s perspective is focussed outwards. Wearing this hat, we see the business as a system for turning ideas into ever-expanding value. Our sights are on partnerships and projects that enable us to grow. Perhaps even, at a more advanced level, looking at how we might disrupt our genre.

• The Marketeer craves influence and impact, to be seen and heard.
• Promoter Occupational Hazard: Trying to do too much or grow too fast. Prioritizing other people's opinions 

The Manager (Creative Director)'s perspective is holistic. Wearing this hat, we see our business as a system that delivers profit and pleasure to ourselves as maker and marketeer, and our assistants, team members, readers– everyone touched by our author business.

• The Manager craves order and security, to be organized.
• Manager's Occupational Hazard: Rigidity. Forgetting to make it fun.

Let's look at four important aspects of an author business (customers, work, time, money) from the perspective of each of the  three hats.

If you'd like to attend a creative business planning workshop with me each month, find out more here