Author Entrepreneurship: The Art of Weaving Stories and Making Money

When we talk about authors, all that comes to our head first are writing, words, or books, only a nerdy figure sitting behind a clumsy desk of papers in a claustrophobic space. But when you are asked to picture a smart person in all formal attire, perfectly combed hair, with specs sitting by a laptop constantly running his/her fingers over the keyboard, you would think he/she is an entrepreneur or businessman but an author.

Let me gently burst your thought bubble, with the introduction of a newly recognized category of entrepreneurs, the author entrepreneurs.

India has emerged as the third largest start-up base and such ventures are poised to grow 2.2 times to reach 10,500 by 2020 despite a perception that the ecosystem in the country has slowed down in the last year, says a report.

India is in the third position just behind US and UK, and nearly 1,400 new startups are expected by end of 2016, up by 8-10% from last year, revealed the "Indian Startup Ecosystem Maturing - 2016" report by Nasscom-ZINNOV.

To make the term a little more familiar, here are the points to identify author entrepreneurship as a scope of business and how words are saleable:

Identify:

Many fail to identify the author or writer in them, when they become entrepreneur, because for most of the entrepreneurs think that their hobby and profession converge when they start working in their idea.

There are entrepreneurs who have succeeded in their business and some have miserably failed. In both the cases they have learnt something or the other about the craft, that craft will help them in becoming author entrepreneurs.

Make a list of your achievements, failure, trials and everything in between. Start connecting the dots or narrating your journey in words, this can be your first venture in the entrepreneurship and fodder for all the budding entrepreneurs.

Platforms:

There are various options for trying your skills in this particular field, once you make up your mind. One can start with online blogging in any particular genre, which he/she thinks he/she is an expert in.

Or one can start with reviewing the upcoming gadgets, books, fashion or designs in various subjects. One can also be a guest author and narrate his/her experiences through various business websites.

One can start weaving magic with their way of using words and dramatics, write a book or novel instead. There are entrepreneurial websites where short stories are being celebrated and many poets are launched through their platforms.

Usage of Platforms:

There are a lot of platforms available but the online world thrives on such stories. There is Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Tumblr, to name a few, where authors have found their haven. One who can use the platform smartly will make it big.

For example terribly tiny tales, humans of New York or Humans of Bombay have successfully established their brand.

 One can begin with a crisp short tweet-length story, which will be easy for the authors to write as well as the consumers to consume, while on their way to work or college.

Long forms have its own audience, so if you think short writing is not your cup of tea, then switch to longer formats and start spreading your magic through online magazines for kids or newspaper columns.

A journey of thousand miles in business will begin from your one word, that is acceptance and purely creative words.