If you believe the movies, writing a book involves going off to your âcaveââa cabin in the woods, or if youâre me, a nice hotel with room serviceâand emerging a few weeks later clutching your manuscript to your chest. Miraculously, itâs a winner and you get an agent, a book deal, and a brand new life. Youâre the new (insert super famous author).
Or, if you believe the dudes on social media, writing a book involves using AI to âstreamlineâ your process and give you a gameplan based on New York Times bestselling authors who wrote âlightning in a bottleâ books that only happen once in a lifetime. Itâs a formula and if you just follow it, youâll be golden.
When your author life inevitably doesnât feel like the movies or like the bros told you it would, you quit.Â
Maybe you shouldnât have bothered.
Maybe your idea just isnât good enough.
Maybe you just donât have what it takes.
These are the lies you tell yourself when the fantasy fails you.
Authorship is not like the movies and itâs not a formula.
TL;DR?
Authorship is a multi-lane highway you have to navigate, knowing when to shift lanes and when to slow down or pick up speed.
Â
And that highway is different for every author. Because before you figure out how to navigate it, you have to be sure youâre going to the right destination.
Â
Â
Many authors set arbitrary goals about when to publish, how to launch and market their book, and how many books they want to sell. Why do they do this? Because they donât know what they donât know! These arbitrary goals take authors to the wrong destination. Exhausted and disappointed, this is when many authors give up.Â
Sometimes, authors give up because they just canât figure out how to make room for all the tasks required of authors.Â
In my 21 years in publishing, Iâve seen authors quit more times than Iâve seen them succeed.Â
Quitting sometimes looks like giving up and putting the book in the drawer. Sometimes it looks like prioritizing other things. Often, quitting happens after you publish, when you stop pushing and promoting your book.
It happens to newbies and experienced career authors. It even happened to meâand I know better.
Â
Not. This. Year.
As a former ghostwriter and co-writer for all of Mike Michalowiczâs books (Profit First, Clockwork, The Pumpkin Plan, etc.), I am used to putting my own writing and book promo on the backburner. Not anymore.
Every year, I lead an Authorship Planning Mastercraft workshop. Itâs usually about four hours. We plan the next twelve months and I answer dozens of author questions about publishing paths and how long every single step takes. And then weâre off!
This year is different. This year, I have big stuff to do and I have a plan to pull it off. And I want to share it with you.
Here are the goals and questions I considered when making my plan:
- I want to write two books this year. One is ready to write and the other is still percolating. How will I prioritize the books throughout the year?
- How much time will I need to test my new ideas before I put pen to paper?Â
- I want to increase the sales of my first book (Write a Must-Read) in a big way. What strategies have the best ROI for a book like mine and donât make me want to gag? (Iâm so over the same old same old stuff.)
- I want to start expanding my community and influence to prepare for the 2027/2028 launch of my third book. How can I do that in harmony with my other authorship goalsâwithout burning myself out?
- Given my 2026-2028 goals, what is the best publishing path for my second book?
- And, last but certainly not least: How can I do all this and keep the other parts of my life running well? How can I still have time to rest and play, and do absolutely nothing but stare at the lake?
Â
Your goals for 2026 and beyond are surely different from mine. No matter what you want to achieve with your book(s) in the coming years, you are likely grappling with similar questions.Â
Which lane should you focus on now? When should you switch lanes? How will you pull all this off?
You may not even be sure how to set your goals in the first place. Whatâs realistic? Whatâs doable?
For AP26, Iâve expanded the workshop to 1.5 days so we can go deep and make a plan to do big things in 2026.Â
On January 16th and 17th, Iâll help you set customized writing, editing, publishing, and sales goals that fit YOU and YOUR book. Then, Iâll show you how to plan your year to meet those goals.
Â
On Day One You WillâŚ
- Learn about all the Authorship Highway lanes
- Find out if youâre ready to write your book or if you need to go back to the drawing board
- Determine your writing speed so you always know how much time you need to finish a project
- Develop a custom game plan to publish your book
- Hear from national bestselling authors about how they achieved their authorship goals and stayed sane
Â
On Day Two You WillâŚ
- Learn how to use a simple tool to discern which marketing ideas are doable for you and will bring you closer to your reader
- Determine how much time to focus on marketing each week
- Understand how to launch your book without losing your mind
- Discover my secret book sales formula that will change the way you think about book marketing
Â
Also new to this event, Iâve invited New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling authors to share how they manage authorshipâs multi-lane highway, manage their work and family obligations, and still love their life.
In case you missed it in the rundown above, in AP â26:
I will reveal my formula for figuring out your book sales goal, tailored to your book and your readership. This is a gamechanger that will help you make the most of your time and get results.
Â
