How to Build a Book Business Plan

"The book is a product, and that product has its own business plan."

-Nina Amir

"The publisher becomes your venture capital partner... they're not just backing the project, they're backing you."

- Nina Amir

The Book Business Plan Questions Index

To help you navigate this episode's transcript and find instant answers for your writing business, here is a quick-reference breakdown of the core questions discussed.

Transcript: Episode 9 - How To Build A Business Book Plan with Nina Amir 

[00:00:00] Laura Williams: Welcome to The Writing Biz. Today I have Nina Amir as my guest. Nina Amir is known as the inspiration to creation coach. She's an international speaker, award-winning journalist and blogger, as well as a hybrid author who has self-published 18 books and had as many as 12 books on Amazon's top 100 lists, and six on the same bestseller list at the same time.

Nina, thank you so much for joining me today. 

[00:00:27] Nina Amir: Thank you so much for having me. I'm just honored to be here talking with you and excited about our conversation. 

[00:00:34] Laura Williams: You were a guest on the first iteration of The Writing Biz years ago, where we discussed how important it is for an author to create a business plan for their writing business.

It truly helps, as often an author does not have business experience. Having a business plan really helps an author to understand the path to successfully publish book, treating their book as a product, and then deciding on how to move forward. Can you elaborate [00:01:00] on what the key elements of an author's business plan should be?

[00:01:05] Nina Amir: Sure. So When you come up with the idea for a book, majority of writers, or aspiring authors, they come up with an idea and then they just dive in and they start to write. And I believe that's a mistake because whether you self-publish or you traditionally publish, you are become-- y- you're entering the business of publishing, and you need to be well aware of that.

And every traditional publisher is going to have a business plan for every single book. The book is a product, and that product has its own business plan. And I believe that too many writers don't take this step because they don't think they need to, or they're just thinking, "I just want to write a book," or they're a novelist and they [00:02:00] don't think they need anything like this.

But the fact is that a business plan for a book is how you determine the best way to make your book marketable, to make it something that will sell But it's also the way to make sure that you write the best book possible because the business plan forces you to look at the marketplace and what your competition is and who your audience is, and to structure your book in a way that it's unique in the marketplace and that it is targeting your audience.

So, you could have a good idea for a book, but if it's not on target for your audience or if it's not unique enough, it's not gonna sell. And so to me, if, wr- writers-- I believe writers ... A lot of people say writers write because they must. I think writers write because they wanna be read, and if you want your book read, it has to be marketable.

It has to [00:03:00] be a book that people will buy. And so the business plan helps you ensure that. And just for clarity's sake, the business plan for a book is basically a book proposal, and I know any novelists listening are gonna say, "I don't need a book proposal." But here's the thing. It's-- The nonfiction book proposal is a template for a business plan for any book because it requires that you summarize your book in a way, like create a pitch and have a marketing statement about your book.

It requires that you study the competition, so that you know what is selling and what isn't, and you can ensure your book is different, and unique. It requires that you, do this competitive analysis, that you define your audience, and that you sit down and plan out your book, that you have s- [00:04:00] chapter summaries which become your writing guide, and all-- That writing guide is tied into who is your audience because you have an audie-- you know, a, a market section which is your audience, and you have the competitive analysis, so you have what it is.

You've figured out what makes your book different. So now when you write your chapter summaries, you are drawing on all that information, and that goes into then maybe revising your pitch or anything like that. In addition, and this is the last thing I'll say about it 'cause I know I've been talking a long time.

But in addition, it requires that you, the business plan requires that you have your author bio, about the author, and a platform statement, as well as a marketing plan. So that's a plan within a plan. So you're, you're determining why you're the best person to write the book, which is most relevant for nonfiction.

Uh, but the platform statement is, your audience. Who is-- Who-- What kind of built-in audience do you have for your book in your target market right [00:05:00] now, and how can you continue building that? And so that's super important for you to also analyze yourself, because now might not be the perfect time to publish your book.

It might be in a year when your platform is bigger. And then, of course, tied into that is this marketing plan. How will-- you have your market, so this is different. This is the marketing and promotion of your book. You need to have a plan for how to do that. Like, how are you gonna get your book in people's hands?

And all of that goes into a business plan. If you self-publish, you'd also maybe have a profit and loss statement in there, so you know what your expenses are gonna be and how you're gonna recoup them. So yeah. So that was a lot on a business plan.

[00:05:43] Laura Williams: I don't think we talk enough about having a business plan. Whether an author writes fiction or nonfiction, a great plan will make all the difference. It helps tremendously to know where you will spend your time and your money. If you start marketing at the inception of [00:06:00] your book, building an audience as you go, you have that core audience ready for your book launch.

It doesn't matter if you're self-publishing, working with a hybrid publisher, or even a traditional publisher. Most of the marketing part of the experience falls on the author. It also helps to open your eyes to other income streams to help support your writing business. A well-thought-out business plan is really where it all starts 

[00:06:28] Nina Amir: Right.

And if you are an au- a novelist or a nonfiction writer, you can, i- if, especially if you're self-publishing, you can build that into your business plan. How am I gonna monetize my books? 'Cause you're right, the book itself rarely makes you money, and even if you traditionally publish, advances are small, if you get one at all, and, um- Right

you know, so that, that's not where your inc- a- and sale, you have to earn back that advance, which means you have to sell enough copies to give [00:07:00] the publisher back that amount of money. Like, they have to earn back the amount. Let's say they give you $2,000, they have to earn that back before you make any money.

And most works don't ever earn back their advance. So you have to have another plan and, for how to monetize. For nonfiction, in my mind, maybe not everyone will see it this way, but I think it's simple because, if you're an expert on something, you can coach, you can consult, you can create courses, podcasts, any number of pr- other products that you sell.

Novelists tends, and memoirists tend to get a little stumped and feel like, well, I don't know what I would, what else I would sell. But I ran into a novelist just this weekend. She was writing romance novels and said her parents were business people, and her father said to her, "You need to, to diversify beyond the book."

And she had candles for different characters, for different books, for, all these different candles she was [00:08:00] selling, in addition to some little prints, little pieces of art. And I just thought it was great because she had actually thought that through. And, memoirists can do the same.

Maybe there's something in your life story or in your background where you can maybe coach or consult or you could sell something, that goes along with the book. And so that's all about planning your career and planning your business as an author. 

[00:08:34] Laura Williams: I recently had a guest on the show, John DeDakis.

He's an author, a former journalist, and a former editor for CNN. One of the things he did to branch out is he goes around the country talking about grief. There's so much that you find out about yourself as you're going along with the journey of writing and publishing that can lead you to a lot of opportunities.

Another thing I want to mention [00:09:00] is that if you plan to do a Kickstarter campaign, you definitely need a business plan. You need to understand what you're trying to do and how you're gonna get to where you want to go. 

[00:09:13] Nina Amir: Right. And so if we elaborate on that a little bit, we have a self-published author who may not be thinking about this, but will if they do a business plan.

How much are they going to spend to publish this book? They need a designer, a cover designer and an interior designer, but they need editors, which is actually the most expensive part of self-publishing is, is hiring good editors and really allowing them to do their job well. And so you wanna figure out, okay, so how much am I gonna have to spend of my own money, and then how do I recoup it?

How long will it take to recoup it? H- how many books do I have to sell? All of that. If you're self pu- if you're traditionally publishing ... Well, and then [00:10:00] there's the marketing expense, because marketing costs money, no matter how you do it. Un- you know, unless you're just doing social media, but if you're gonna boost your social media posts or run ads or anything like that, it's gonna

Or I always do a virtual book tour, and I hire some help for the blog tour part of it, and so you- there's money spent on promotion. If you traditionally publish, in my mind, if I get an advance, that is my marketing budget. So I don't pocket the money. I might give myself a gift or something, just to say, "Yay."

I, to congratulate myself on the sale of my book to a publisher, but beyond that, that money goes towards marketing. And then you, you really have to realize that a traditional publisher is like your venture capital partner. So I lived in Silicon Valley for a long time, and my husband worked for startups, and I realized that [00:11:00] publishing is

The writer i- or aspiring author is looking for a backer for their project, which is the book. And so the publisher becomes your venture capital partner, which means they're putting up the money to produce your product, which is the book, and they're gonna distribute it, okay? So they don't just want a writer.

They wanna know that you have the capability to produce the product, to give them the manuscript, right? Beyond that, they wanna know that you're a good business partner, which means Maybe first that you'll turn in your manuscript on time, but beyond that, that you have this author platform we always talk about, which is this built-in audience in your target market, so that there are people waiting to buy your book.

And they want to know that you will market the [00:12:00] book, because they will do very little, if anything, to get the book in people's hands. They will distribute it. The biggest-- Maybe not the biggest benefit, but one, one of the big benefits of traditional publishing is distribution. They get your book in Barnes & Noble and into Amazon and, all the places, but it's in physical stores is what I was aiming for.

If you go into a Barnes & Noble, your book should be there. And so for all of that, they want to know that you're a good business partner, that you're gonna help market the book, that you'll go out and speak, that you'll do promotions and marketing and, that's being a good business partner, and that's because they're in business.

So when you self-publish, you have to say, "Am I a good business person? Do I want to-- Am I a good project manager?" 'Cause you gotta be the project manager. You don't have an acquisitions editor, excuse me, at the publishing house who's your-- who's the project manager. It's you. [00:13:00] And then beyond that, are you going to be able to fulfill the role of publisher?

Which means getting the book done. 

You can't get it into bookstores, really. I mean, you can do it on consignment to small bookstores, but, getting it on Amazon and on barnesandnoble.com and, getting it out there and then promoting and marketing it.

That's being a good business person. And so that all comes back to, you need a business plan

[00:13:30] Laura Williams: I like the idea of thinking of the publisher as a venture capitalist. Really makes a lot of sense to me. I love that 

[00:13:39] Nina Amir: They're not just backing the project, they're backing you. Right. So it's somebody investing in you and in your work

[00:13:51] Laura Williams: It's interesting when you look at how authors grow through this process and learn how to manage a business along the way. In your books, you always touch [00:14:00] on the opportunity for personal growth among authors and writers. Can we, uh, talk about that for a little bit?

[00:14:10] Nina Amir: Yeah. So, beyond being a writer and an author, I'm an author coach and a developmental editor, but beyond that, I'm a certified high-performance coach and I'm a transformational coach, and I've always been interested in psychology and sel- you know, that kind of thing, self-help. And what I have seen in working with writers in particular is that the things that stop them from succeeding can be avoided if they are working on their own personal growth or personal development.

So writers will say, "I have a, writer's block." Okay, well, that really comes down to fear. So fear, working through fear is a personal growth type [00:15:00] issue or challenge. They might say they procrastinate. That again is avoidance and fear of doing something that feels hard or scary. They may say that they have imposter syndrome, which is again a type of fear that comes down to, being found out that you don't really know what you're talking about or whatever, that you're not an expert.

And so-- and they may, be- have beliefs about themselves. Like they, they're, "Well, I started the book, but I didn't finish, but that's who I am. I always start things and I don't finish." That's a belief about yourself and who you are, your identity. "I'm someone who doesn't finish what I start." Well, that's a belief that needs to be changed then, right?

Because that's holding you back. I have a client who recently said to me, "I had a conversation with someone who looked at my book, and they told me how wonderful it was and how they really wanna see it published, and they told me, all these great things, and I finally get it, Nina, th- what [00:16:00] you've been telling me," which is the book is probably fine, and you're a g- you've been writing for a long time, so you're a good writer, and the book deserves to be out in the world, and so why aren't you doing the things like finding the beta readers or whatever that you need to, you know you need to do to get the book out into the world?

He's like, "Well, now I get it. I get it, that I'm holding myself back because I keep... I have these beliefs and fears that it's not good enough, I'm not good enough," whatever. So these are all issues that are addressed with personal growth or personal development, so this is where a different type of coaching, not author coaching, comes in.

Author coaching tends to be more like how do you get published? How do you write the book? How do you structure the b- what about the marketing? What about the business plan? How do I find a publisher? All those kinds of things. To me, that's author coaching. But personal growth coaching or transformational coaching is focused on you and how you need to get out of [00:17:00] your own way.

Like, let's figure out where you're in your own way and how to get you out of your own way. And so because I see that this is what stops people, is that they are in their own way, I always include a little bit of personal growth information in my books, or in most of my books. Because y- you know, I'm just redoing the whole Write Nonfiction Now series one by one very slowly.

They all now have a chapter on personal growth because they need it. A- and my last book, uh, one that released in January- Oh ... Change the World One Book at a Time, there's a whole section on change. And it's not just about how you get other people to change if you're writing a book that's meant to create change, but also how do you need to change to do that?

Like, who do you need to be? H- how do you become an author of change? Well, you have to... You might need to change some of your habits and beliefs to do that, right? Yeah 

[00:17:57] Laura Williams: When people decide to write and publish a book, that's [00:18:00] a major life change. It's hard. It will take up a lot of your time and energy, and I think that when you do that, you have to, uh, reinvent yourself to a certain point because you have to start to think differently about who you'll be going forward, how you'll present yourself.

You have to convince publishers and even readers to invest their time in you. I love that you're concentrating on the emotional side of this process. So many writers I've met over the years do struggle and worry if they're good enough. I think to have somebody to talk to, to help rid themselves of these limiting beliefs and to understand, um, where they're holding themselves back and how to move forward, um, as they grow is invaluable

[00:18:53] Nina Amir: Right. Because even something that you just said, where it's hard, they will come to me and say something [00:19:00] like that. It's hard. It's hard to get published, or it's hard to sit down and write every day. Well, that's a belief that needs to be changed. Doesn't have to be hard, but you've decided to believe that it is, right?

So these are the things that I look at, and we were talking about the business plan and being a business person. A lot of writers who are creatives don't see themselves as good businesspeople. I never did. That's my husband, not me. But what I teach, like I, I have a personal growth program, the Inspired Creator Community, and it's all about identity.

Like, who do you need to be to have the mindset and habits to create what you really want? So if you want to be a successful, let's just say, self-published author, who do you need to be? Like, what identity do you need to take on? And one of them is businessperson. I'm a good businessperson, or at least I'm a businessperson, because as soon as you [00:20:00] decide that's who you are and you choose to believe that's who you are, your habits and your mindset fall into line with that and help you make that true

[00:20:14] Laura Williams: Absolutely. If you believe you can do it, you can do it. It's wonderful how you look at both sides. You look at the business organization and the planning side, which is more technical, but then you're also able to address the emotional side that is keeping you from taking those steps. I think this is a really, uh, such a unique space to be in, and it must be fascinating for you to be able to look at both of these very different aspects of being a successful author.

[00:20:49] Nina Amir: Yeah, it's a lot of fun, and I learn because, what's stopping someone else might be just a mirror of what's stopping me. But yeah, I get to combine it all, and [00:21:00] even when I'm author coaching, people are talking to me about, whatever it is, finding an agent or whatever, and, the fear of being rejected will come up, and, we still talk about that.

And so yeah, it keeps all of it very present for me so that I'm always looking at it in myself, and if I see that I'm not doing something, then, I have to ask myself, "Well, how am I stopping myself? What belief do I have?" Or- Right ... "What identity do I need to take on right now?" And I can tell you that I went through a slump where, for a while I was publishing a book, traditional book every two years and a self-published book every year, and then it's a long story not worth going into, but I went into a slump, and I, for the first time in my career, doubted myself and my ability and, in order to get out of that slump, I had to change who I was being.

I had to decide. I had to look back and go, "But Nina, look what you already accomplished. Look at all the books you've already published. You can do that again because, you just need to step back into being that person who has the [00:22:00] confidence and, knows you can do it, and the person who has that history of doing it."

And, very quickly I released another-- I re-released one of my books, and I put together a book proposal and landed a literary agent, and yeah, not long after that, on my own, I landed the deal for Change the World One Book at a Time. And it was all because I worked on me, and I stepped into being a person who would go and do those things, right?

[00:22:35] Laura Williams: You really use your own experiences to bring these ideas to other people and to help them. So I really commend you for doing that. 

[00:22:43] Nina Amir: Oh, thank you. Thank you. Well, it is fun and fulfilling, and, I think y- you need to have a vision of where you're going, right? So that kind of goes back to the business plan.

If you wanna just be so- if you just wanna be a novelist, and you just wanna write your books and stick them up [00:23:00] on Amazon and hope for the best, then you can choose to be that, and that can be your vision. But you still has to have to be the person who does that, right? If you want to be a nonfiction writer and write books that impact lives in a different way, because novels do impact lives, but if you really want to be of service and you want to, write books that are helping people, then, you have to sit down and say, "Well, so what does that look like for me?

Does it mean I'm just writing my books and sticking them up on Amazon, or am I writing books and, using my credentials to help me land a traditional publishing deal? And am I building a business around my book? What is my vision?" And then, you can't just say, "I'll be the person who's realized that vision when I realize the vision."

You have to be the person who can realize the vision, right? Because then again, you have the habits and the mindset that help you do that. So having a vision of where you're going and then working towards [00:24:00] that and stopping along the way to ask yourself, "Well, how am I holding myself back, and how can I stop doing that?"

That all fits together. That all-- That's how the most successful people in the world become successful. They have a vision, and they step into being a person who can create the vision, and when they feel challenged to do that, they engage in personal growth

[00:24:27] Laura Williams: I feel that once you focus on where you wanna go, you'll find doors opening. You'll meet people and learn about opportunities at just the right time. It's this kind of mentorship that helps you see the world in a different and a better way. Does that make sense? 

[00:24:48] Nina Amir: Yeah, it does. And I think that if we have the belief that we're not, for instance, we're not good enough, then we're going to see that.

Like, we're gonna look for that evidence, and we're gonna find [00:25:00] that evidence, and so we may not have the opportunities, right? We-- Or see them. But when we change that to, "I'm perfectly good enough, and this is my vision, and I'm gonna step into being the person who can create that vision," then all kinds of opportunities and options become available to us, and we begin to see them.

We're more open to seeing them, and we're more able to take advantage of them, which is the main thing. Because a lot of times we are presented with opportunities or options, and we shoot them down or close the door on the opportunities because we don't think we're good enough or we don't-- that's for us

[00:25:43] Laura Williams: I don't wanna delve into this too much because this isn't what this show's about, but right now there's so much information opening up about ADHD and writing. When I was younger, that wasn't an issue that people talked about. But today it's out there in the open, and being [00:26:00] a- able to have it become more understood helps people to find the resources that can help them continue writing.

Understanding your neurodivergence helps you gain the tools you need to be a better writer and in running your writing business 

[00:26:19] Nina Amir: Right. And, and here's the thing, this is something I teach a lot in the personal growth realm, like in my Inspired Creator community, is about circumstances. So, ADHD, like any kind of neurodivergence, there, there are a lot of people on the spectrum, and, it, it's a real thing.

Not saying it's not a real thing. But it, kind of like I don't have time, neurodivergence can become an excuse, a reason why you're not doing stuff. In which case I would- Right ... also call it a circumstance. And when you feel powerless to change that, then you become a victim of it. And so what I hate [00:27:00] to see is people who say, "I have ADHD and I can't focus, and so I can't write a book," or, "I'm on the spectrum and I have this and that and whatever, and so, that circumstance or that fact, if you want, is the reason why I can't write a book."

That drives me crazy because what's happening is people are saying, "I'm powerless against this condition or circumstance." And you're never powerless, ever, unless you believe you are. And so there are so many tools that are out there to help people, along with medications, not that I'm promoting medications.

But there are tools that can help you. But as soon as you stop saying, "I can't do it because of ADHD," you become able to do it. But as long as that's your reason, "Well, I have ADHD, so I just can't focus long enough to write a book." Well, I know somebody who wrote a book [00:28:00] in 30-minute increments. I know somebody else who wasn't writing consistently, and we started with five minutes a day because he wouldn't commit to anything more than that, and he now has a published book.

[00:28:13] Laura Williams: I have severe ADHD and I'm medicated, but I wasn't medicated until I was in my 40s, so I spent a major part of my life unmedicated. But I still ran businesses and accomplished things. I consider ADHD to be my superpower on one hand, because I'm really good at multitasking, seeing patterns. I have excellent problem-solving skills, and I'm able to analyze things quickly.

On the other hand, I do get distracted easily. Sometimes when I multitask, I have to be careful because some of that multitasking may actually be distractions. So I find myself having to take a step back and reevaluate myself and my systems often. [00:29:00] I have to ask myself, what am I trying to do and what tools and resources do I need to be able to do that?

Like you said, someone understanding that they can't sit down and write for two to three hours at a time, they can find something that works for them. Maybe it's only writing for 10 minutes or 30 minutes, but don't say that you can't do it

[00:29:30] Nina Amir: Hey, we're gonna talk about ADHD.

[00:29:36] Laura Williams: I know, but here we are. But I, I think this can be applied to anything that's interfering with the way you wanna live your life. You can get past it. 

[00:29:48] Nina Amir: You have to step- Yeah ... into your power and say, "This, I'm not gonna allow this circumstance to hold me as a victim of it. I'm gonna take back my power, and I'm gonna make some decisions, and I'm [00:30:00] gonna move forward

[00:30:05] Laura Williams: I really appreciate the chance to talk to you about your transformational coaching. I just think that it's such a great program to help writers or anyone to grow. So where can we go to learn more about the transformational coaching that you do? 

[00:30:24] Nina Amir: Well, they can just go to ninaamir.com. We will be revamping the site to make things a little clearer, uh, hopefully this year.

But, it has tabs at the top that say personal growth or writing and publishing, and, uh, they can hire me one-on-one or when my Inspired Creator community is open, it runs about every six, seven months. And so when that's open, they can get in. I've just started in April as we're recording this in-- at the very end of April 2026, but they can get on the waiting list for that.

And I have a lot of writers in there because [00:31:00] I just have a lot of writers on my mailing list and follow me on social media. And so usually about 90% of the members of the Inspired Creator community are writers. I also give them for free premium access to the Nonfiction Writers University. And for those who are more interested in the author coaching, you can hire me one-on-one, but the most inexpensive way is to join the ins- the Nonfiction Writers University.

And there are two levels right now you can get in. Well, I don't know when this is gonna air, but anyway, there are two levels. You-- It doesn't cost that much, and you get author co- group author coaching, and you get my author training series, which is based on the author training manual, and you get expert interviews with, I can't remember, something like 70 plus people that I've interviewed.

So it's not just my expertise you get when you join the Nonfiction Writers University, you [00:32:00] get other people's expertise. So yeah, so those are the two main way-- the groups are the most cost-effective way to work with me or inexpensive ways to work with me, but everything is there at ninaamir.com or for the nonfiction writers, just go on over to writenonfictionnow.com and you'll find all the information.

[00:32:25] Laura Williams: You also mentioned you do developmental editing. Is that for nonfiction or fiction or both? 

[00:32:33] Nina Amir: It's for nonfiction. So for instance, somebody sent me a book that was supposedly nonfiction, but it was all stories, and so it read like fiction. And so I have a novel that needs help. When I was growing up and when I was in high school, I wanted to be a novelist, but my mom turned me towards something that she felt was more lucrative, which was nonfiction.

I chose magazine journalism. But anyway, so I have this novel that [00:33:00] needs fixing, so because of that, I don't edit memoir. I have edited memoir, but I don't anymore, and I don't edit fiction. I do ed- edit anything that is pretty much straight nonfiction, which doesn't mean it can't have anecdotes or stories, just that it's not overly focused on that.

And yeah, I do developmental editing. I usually do a little bit of line editing just to show the authors what they need to fix, but I no longer do that kind of editing. So big picture developmental editing I am happy to do

[00:33:35] Laura Williams: I'm a huge fan of developmental editors because I think this is the first place that you should start when you're thinking about publishing. Um, it helps you see the big picture. You don't wanna get further along in the publishing process and then find out that you have huge plot holes. Now you have to rewrite and refine your story, and maybe you'll have to pay for additional edits [00:34:00] again and get into that pattern.

I think that developmental editors are the key to success 

[00:34:11] Nina Amir: And I tell people, like I said earlier, this is the most e- expensive part of it, but the, it's the best investment you can make in your book. Start with a developmental editor who's gonna take a big picture view of your book and tell you where there are gaps, where there are redundancies, where you're leaving questions in your reader's mind, all that kind of stuff, which seems, like, "Oh, well, I got it handled," is what most people think.

Uh, it's okay, but you need some outside eyes to tell you. Because sometimes, people have given me books that, that needed to be totally restructured and rewritten. Right. And you wanna know that first, and then you can go on and get a line editor, or sometimes they're called copy editors, who are gonna work at, paragraph by paragraph, line by [00:35:00] line, sentence by sentence to make sure your writing is clear and concise and as strong as it can be.

That's a very painstaking process, which is why I don't do it anymore. I don't have a lot of time- Right ... for editing, so I'm picky about the books I take on, and I'm not fast, because usually I have lots of other things going on. And if you want ... a line editor has to be able to sit there and very meticulously go through your manuscript.

But that is invaluable. It makes it easy for your reader to actually read your prose. And then you still might need a proofreader. Usually- Right ... you still need a proofreader because editors make mistakes. Once upon a time I worked for a magazine editor full time. I was on staff full time, and she was one of those rare people who never missed a typo or a missed period or, a repeated word.

She was amazing, but she expected that of everybody, and that's just not how it works, especially when you're the [00:36:00] writer or you're the editor. You're going to make some mistakes, and you need somebody to come through afterwards and read the whole book again and find those small errors.

[00:36:19] Laura Williams: I think too, as a writer, you can really increase the value of hiring an editor by considering it a learning experience. Because if you're open to the process and really take to heart what the editor shares with you, you can take that forward into your next book and the next book. I think that it makes it worth every single penny to have a good editor give that type of attention to your writing.

It'll teach you so much about how you write and the story you're trying to tell. 

[00:36:49] Nina Amir: Yeah, I agree. I had a, a client long ago when I started editing books, Colin Tipping. He wrote a book called Radical Forgiveness, and we worked on [00:37:00] that book from the first chapter on, like I was working with him as he wrote and anyway, the book was quite successful, and after that he wrote a couple other ones and he never came back.

And I was like, "Why?" He said, "Well, you taught me how to do this, and now, I still need a line edit..." He believed he still just needed a line editor and a proofreader. I don't know if that's always true, but yeah, he felt like he learned so much just from the process. And I always think about, Grammarly is an AI program, but I've learned a lot from Grammarly because I put every one of my blog posts through Grammarly before I publish it.

I don't have an editor for those, and there are things that I ne- you know, grammar issues that I didn't know I had until I started using Grammarly, and now I'm very well aware of them and I rarely make those mistakes anymore. So yeah, I think any editor is going to help you become a better writer and write better books.

[00:37:58] Laura Williams: I do too. On [00:38:00] that note, we're gonna wrap up. Do you have anything coming up that you would like to tell the audience about? 

[00:38:07] Nina Amir: Well, I do have the Nonfiction Writers University , the basic level is being offered at a lower price, and so I'm probably gonna leave that up for another couple months.

I'm working on a new book proposal that was an u- unexpected project, and I have another project with a different agent, and so I have a lot going on, and I'm still promoting Change the World One Book at a Time. So, if people want to write books that are changing lives or changing the world, I would love for them to get a copy of Change the World One Book at a Time, and to get on my mailing list because that's where you'll always know what I'm doing next or what's coming up, and I share, on, on a regular basis.

So it's a great way to stay in touch with me- Great to do ... and be learning from me.

[00:38:58] Laura Williams: I'll make sure to put that information [00:39:00] in the show notes 

[00:39:03] Nina Amir: Great 

[00:39:06] Laura Williams: Thank you so much for coming on The Writing Biz. I really appreciate it 

[00:39:12] Nina Amir: Oh, it was my pleasure and my honor. 

[00:39:17] Laura Williams: Well

You're always a joy to talk to, Nina. To learn more about Nina, go to ninamir.com. I'll put all her information in the show notes. To learn more about this podcast, visit thewritingbiz.com, sign up for, uh, the newsletter, and be the first to learn when new episodes are up and much more. Until next time, take what you've learned and put it to work in your writing biz.

Thanks, Nina. 

[00:39:51] Nina Amir: Thank [00:40:00] you

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