Career Planning Template

Over the last couple of weeks, while preparing for my career plan talk with my agent (which went fantastic, by the way!), I consulted several different resources that all stressed the importance of having a writing career plan and treating writing like a business. Stephanie Bond, a writer who also does workshops on the career aspects of writing, presented a fantastic discussion on career planning at my local chapter's writer's conference.

Spurred by her handouts and discussion, I created a career plan template using some of her points, as well as other general career planning points I found on the Internet. FYI--I highly recommend checking out Stephanie's articles about career planning! You can find a whole bunch of them on Amazon for 50 cents, and you get a few articles with each bundle!

So, without further ado, here's the template I filled out and discussed with my agent this week. She loved how organized I was, so I wanted to pay it forward and share with anyone looking to do a little career planning of your own, whether you're starting your first book or your 50th.

I hope some of you find it helpful--feel free to add, delete, or change however suits you to fit YOUR goals! And keep in mind, this template will change as time goes on and you revise your goals. But it's good to take regular inventory of what you write in here!


1. GENRES OF BOOKS I WANT TO WRITE:

a. A genre

b. B genre


2. MY PRODUCTIVITY IN A YEAR:

a. # new proposals a year (I can write a proposal in # months)
---# proposals in A genre
---# proposals in B genre

b. write whatever novels I contract:
---I can write a #-page novel in # months (I write # pages a day, # days a week)


3. WHICH PUBLISHER(S) IS/ARE APPROPRIATE FOR YOUR WRITING:

a.

b.


4. GOALS:

a. 1-year goals: ...

b. 5-year goals: ...

c. 10-year goals: ...


5. OBJECTIVES:

a. to have # books a year coming out

b. to supplement my income, but within # years, fully produce my income from writing

c. to hit the NYT bestseller list within # years (hey, let's dream big!)


6. BRANDING:

a. for A genre, ....

b. for B genre, ....


7. MARKET ANALYSIS:

a. for A genre, ....

b. for B genre, ....


8. STRATEGY WITH SUB-RIGHTS:

a. production companies (film/TV rights): ...

b. rights currently held by publisher: ...

c. rights not held by publisher: ...


9. MARKETING PLAN:

a. I will draft within # months and share with agent