What Are Some of The Challenges for Creatives Who Become Entrepreneurs?

Artists and creatives face unique challenges with being entrepreneurs.

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I used to think my ability to write rather easily wasn’t all that unique. I thought everyone was able to formulate ideas and translate them to text and put them on a page or screen in the same way that I could.

But over the years, I learned this talent wasn’t as common as I thought. Or, more specifically, the ease with which it comes to me. For example, when I worked for my best friend years ago – who was herself quite an excellent writer – she frequently asked me to compose things for the local Chamber of Commerce (she was the president of it at that time).

While she could create what she’d asked of me, I soon understood why she’d passed it on: What would have taken her a couple of hours took me 20 minutes. In the time it would have taken her to begin to set down the words in the way she wanted them ordered, I’d produced them, run them past her for an edit, cleaned them up, and was done. It was a similar quality to what she’d have produced – but with far greater efficiency.

I take great joy in writing – fiction, nonfiction, blog articles, press releases, or whatever. The creation aspect is (mostly) the easy part.

Desiring to share my fiction with the world, I began down the road of self-publishing.

The creative turns pro

For many years, I attempted to get an agent or get my work traditionally published via one of the known, larger publishing houses.

For years, my dream was to have an agent take me on, present my work to a publishing house that would offer me a large advance, and my books would then be on shelves in Barnes and Noble and other bookstores. From there – Hollywood would come calling, and I’d join the likes of Tolkien, Gaiman, and George RR Martin as a known quantity.

I can’t prove this because I’m not a numbers guy – but as far as I can tell, the odds of getting traditionally published are nearly the same as winning a multi-million-dollar lottery or inheriting a fortune from a hitherto unknown wealthy uncle. Somewhere between slim and none, really.

Now, over the past 15 years or so, the tools for self-publishing have evolved. Amazon changed the game, and other online book-publishing options followed suit. Wholly independently – or via numerous online services – the creative can turn pro and self-publish.

Overall, the tools for self-publishing are easy to use. Anyone can create, upload, hit publish, and put a book out into the world. Some people do this for reasons of vanity. Others, like me, do it to turn pro and share our work with the world.

That’s when the challenges begin.

The challenges for would-be creative entrepreneurs

I’m going to presume that authors like me find the writing to be the (mostly) easy part. Mostly, because sometimes the act of sitting down to write isn’t easily regimented. For a much better treatise on this notion, please read Steven Pressfield’s The War of Art.

When the writing is done and you have a whole book on the page or screen – and you intend to self-publish – things get more challenging.

Here I need to clarify something. Indie authors of this ilk are professional authors. We write because that’s our calling, our love, our passion. Then, we believe in our work sufficiently to warrant the effort to share it. It’s seldom a one-time, vanity work. And that’s part of the challenges creative entrepreneurs face.

Any work you share with the world needs professional editing. An editor will not only find errors of grammar, typos, and punctuation mistakes. They’ll also find continuity errors, messed-up sentence structures, and other matters we authors are too close to see.

Despite the popular metaphor suggesting you “don’t judge a book by its cover”, cover art is important. Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) offers tools for making your own cover. But the covers are not anything special, and they will be judged as “lacking” or otherwise negatively. Hence, unless you’re a capable graphic designer, you need to hire a cover artist.

Before and after self-publishing, you must do marketing. There are many options for this – and I’m still learning them myself. But if you just self-publish, without marketing your work will go unnoticed.

These are some of the challenges for the would-be creative entrepreneurs. Why bother?

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Authors + Entrepreneurs = Authorpreneurs

I’ve self-published a dozen works of fiction now. These include fantasy, Steampunk, and mostly sci-fi. I’ve got one complete 4-book sci-fi series (Forgotten Fodder), and before the end of 2023 will finally finish my Void Incursion series (book 5 is at the editor as of this writing).

Along with all of this, I’ve been through multiple editors (not due to problems between us, but life changes for them), multiple cover artists, and have spent more money than I’ve made (so far). I’ve also created, recreated, and maintained my author website, a newsletter, and a social media presence.

I’ve moved from author to entrepreneur to authorpreneur. Entrepreneurs who are authorpreneurs have turned pro and have taken on the business of self-publishing.

While there are many challenges, there are also lots of resources available to us. Many before have taken this path – and then shared their process in blogs, books, podcasts, and the like. One reason I share my ongoing process is to help other creatives with their processes.

Other indie artists also become entrepreneurs – and face their own challenges. Just because we put our works out to the world for purchase doesn’t mean they magically appear to be easily found. Do you know how many indie authors publish on Amazon and other online platforms? A quick Google search says more than a million.

New tools are always evolving

Fortunately, new tools are being developed for our use. Yes, I’m writing about Generative AI. That scares many creative entrepreneurs (the loudest naysayers fear AI will take their jobs).

While Generative AI can and will change the landscape – it’s also a tool we can utilize to expand our businesses in some creative and inventive ways. For example, generative AI can be helpful for promotional image generation, advertising and blurb copy, and other places where the author-turned-entrepreneur could use some assistance.

For a more detailed look at this topic, and deeper thoughts on it, please visit my previous blog here.

Artists and creatives face unique challenges with being entrepreneurs. But professional, independent creatives choose to face them head-on. We are not alone on this crazy, wild journey.

Thanks for reading. As I share my creative journey with you, I conclude with this – how are you inspired to be your own creator – whatever form that takes?

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