I took a course in business planning last month. Since I live in Maine, and small local businesses abound here, I was in among those who were going to do roofing, massage therapy, dog washing, and a few people who weren’t sure what they were going to do. In short, we were a diverse group with one thing in common: we wanted to create a business plan that would help us succeed, instead of be one of the many small businesses that fail every year. Those of us with defined businesses were on top of the Mission Statement and the Business Description. When we got to The Market — the workshop instructor smiled as she asked, “So, who’s your customer?” The roofer volunteered, “Everyone.” And the instructor shook her head. “Not everyone. Some people do their own roof, some don’t own their house, some don’t have the money.” The roofer struggled to define his customer, refusing to let go of “everyone who needs a roof.” The rest of us struggled to peer into the customer base.

For a business owner, knowing the market is one of the most critical steps in being successful. It takes research, asking nosy questions of people who have done what you want to do, being honest about what you’re offering versus what your competition offers. Being as concrete and specific here as you can be means wasting less time in the long run. In fact, in the course of a 3 morning workshop, I saw other small business owners adjust the scope of their business expectations and see their way to making smarter decisions based on the market research portion of the business plan. The dog washer realized that she needed to stay with small dogs, and to make her service attractive offer a personal touch. Instantly, as she focused on the market she wanted to fit into, she saw her spot among her competition and how she could define it.

But writers are different, right? Wrong. There are some writers who just write what they want to read and are wildly successful. There are few of them and it is my belief that they are such strong-minded individuals that they are not capable of doing anything else. The kind of people who dove into uncharted wildernesses, took to the seas in rickety boats when they thought the world was flat and they might sail off the end. The kind of people who don’t make business plans. I envy those people who rarely doubt themselves and always know exactly what works for them. I’m not one of them. In the course of my life I’ve read hundreds of books a year: non-fiction, genre fiction, literary fiction, children’s books and classics. I’ve talked to hundreds of other writers (but I learned I don’t ask nearly enough nosy questions). I’ve listened to editors panels, agents roundtables and craft talk out the wazoo. I’ve spent hours at book stores looking at the books on the shelves, reading the dedications for hints of editors and agents involved, reading the summaries for story trends.

I’ve done lots of research. The marketing piece of the business plan showed me how to make sense of it all for my business by: defining the advantages/disadvantages, features and benefits of my products; defining my customer by age, income, gender, location, and needs; market size; competition; estimated market share; production and distribution; image packaging; advertising; pricing. This is what I came up with:

Product advantages/disadvantages, features and benefits: Kelly McClymer books offer readers a glimpse into the minds and hearts of people who skew just a little north of normal. Kelly McClymer articles offer clarity and insight into the issues that plague writers. Kelly McClymer speaking engagements offer open audience engagement, with a dash of humor.

Customers: Readers of Kelly McClymer YA novels are primarily 12-16 year old females, who are trying to find their place in a demanding world, without losing their individual sense of self. There is a secondary market for older women who are also in the process of recentering their identities. Readers of Kelly McClymer articles are genre writers who are serious about craft and career. Audiences for Kelly McClymer are readers who want insight into her characters and her process, and writers who want insight into her craft and process.

Market size: The juvenile market covers approximately half of the overall trade publishing (4,000,000 of 8,000,000 overall sales in 2008, as reported by Association of American Publishers). YA sales have grown 3% overall in 2009.

Competition: High concept YA authors like Scott Westerfield, Suzanne Collins, and Carrie Ryan are the top range of competition. Other high concept YA authors include Carrie Jones, Aprilynne Pike, and Marianne Mancusi. [Note: I don't want to put out the statistics for these authors, but I follow my "competition" based on three data points: B&N ranking, cover price, and #/distribution of Amazon reviews -- this is not scientific, and other data points may be more useful, if harder to get). I choose my "competition" based on writers whose work I drool over and aspire to match, as well as those I feel that I am comparable to in some way. I also deliberately choose a new writer who hits well with audiences to put in the bunch.]

Estimated Market Share: My estimated market share will be determined by the publisher who publishes my work, therefore one of the Big 6 publishers is the desirable target. Hardcover has more potential for library sales, so that is a secondary goal. [Note: For a writer, the reality is that your market share will be determined by your publisher. If you are not published in hardcover, your market share will be diminished, unless you are in a genre which has most of its sales in mass market paperback (romance dominates this category). It is not a reason to refuse a sale, because a good selling trade paperback can be reissued in hardback, or special issued for library sales. But it is a factor to be aware of when accepting a sale.]

Production and Distribution: Again, to be determined by publisher, so aim for Big Six, hardcover.

Image/Packaging: Again, to be determined by publisher, so aim for Big Six, hardcover.

Advertising: Owner will maintain website and blog. Will participate in social networking. A maximum of 10% of advance will be used for other promotion, such as book trailer, group ad in targeted magazine. [Research shows that the cost of advertising for an individual author does not have a good return ($1000s for ad vs. royalty of $1s per unit sold. The best advertising is low cost social networking that focuses on the author, not the book. There are some exceptions. For example, I am considering an iPhone app to promote my Salem Witch series. But I can do that for no upfront costs, most people can't.]

Pricing: This will be determined by the publisher. The Big Six have the most attractive pricing (bulk sales help with that). For e-reissues of out of print books, pricing varies wildly. It seems that $1.99 to $2.99 is optimum for most writers who have experimented, based on the data provided by those authors.