Stories from founders who become authors always reveal something powerful, like the way creativity and entrepreneurial thinking come together to shape a book. Edson E+I’s Authorpreneurship programming is designed to support founders and innovators exploring writing as part of their journey. Megan Crawford, a community member and active participant in the Authorpreneurship series, recently published her first book. In this guest post, she details her experience seeing her book go from idea to launch.
When people hear I published a novel, they usually picture quiet mornings, coffee and long writing sessions.
And yes, that was part of it.
But publishing a book—especially independently — isn’t just about creativity. It’s about strategy, execution and figuring out how to bring something meaningful into the world, and into the hands of the right people.
Finding the Right Problem to Solve
Before I could sell a single copy, I had to answer a few deceptively hard questions:
Who is this for?
How will they find it?
Why will they care?
One of my mentors, Robert Vera, says: “Don’t fall in love with the solution—fall in love with the problem.” That idea stuck with me as I considered what it meant to introduce yet another romance novel into an already saturated market.
Photo: Megan Crawford, Author
The writer in me wanted to write a book that could be enjoyed by all romance readers. The growing entrepreneur in me knew that trying to reach everyone is the fastest way to connect with no one.
So I stepped back and asked a different question: What problem am I solving by putting this story into the world? That question led me to my niche.
Instead of writing for all romance readers, I focused on a group I felt was often overlooked: single women over 30 who have built full, meaningful lives and still believe in finding love. Defining that audience shaped my story and it gave my work direction and clarity.
But I still had assumptions to test.
I expected my readers to be single women between 30 and 55. What early surveys and reader feedback revealed was far more nuanced. My audience extended beyond that — reaching married women as well as single readers well into their 70s, many of whom deeply connected with the story’s themes of love and starting over. Readers under 25, on the other hand, were less likely to resonate with the storyline.
I’m still refining who my ideal reader is and, just as importantly, who they’re not. Each round of feedback helps me sharpen that picture, turning a broad audience into a much more specific, defined community. It’ll be an ongoing process of testing, learning and adjusting until that fit becomes clear.
Building Before It’s Perfect
In the startup world, there’s the concept called an MVP: minimum viable product.
I was first introduced to this idea years ago through the book Sprint: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days, which makes a simple but powerful case: don’t wait for perfection. Launch, gather feedback, and improve.
That mindset shaped how I approached my book. I treated my story like a product in development. I gathered early feedback from beta readers to see what resonated. Then I used advance reader copies ahead of the book launch to confirm if the book was meeting expectations.
What came back was validation of that process: evidence that investing in early feedback had shaped the book into something readers were eager to finish, share and recommend.That feedback loop gave me confidence rooted in real data, not just instinct.
Going Where the Customers Already Are
One of the most impactful decisions I made was building my network years before my book was published.
Long before I had a finished product, I was building relationships — getting to know readers, connecting with local bookstores and becoming part of the community that I hoped would one day support my work. So when it came time to launch, I wasn’t starting from zero.
One particular community I immersed myself in was E+I’s Authorpreneurship program. It gave me something I didn’t know I needed: a place to learn not just the craft of writing, but also the business side of publishing. Through those networking opportunities, I connected with people who understood the intersection of storytelling and entrepreneurship in a way that few spaces do, and that community helped me grow both my confidence and my reach.
Every interaction became part of a larger ecosystem, one that made launching my book feel less like shouting into the void and more like joining an ongoing conversation.
Creative Work Is Still a Business
What started as a creative goal quickly became something more. I wasn’t just writing a story. I was building something. Testing it. Refining it. Figuring out how to connect it with the people it was meant for.
Whether you’re writing a book, launching a startup or bringing any idea to life, the same principles apply:
You need a strategy.
You need community.
And you need to be willing to ask hard questions (and adjust when the answers surprise you.)
Creative Entrepreneurship that Connects
I still love the creative side of writing. That’s what started all of this. But learning to think like an entrepreneur — to test ideas, gather feedback and adapt along the way — is what made it possible to bring a successful novel into the world.
This process starts with wanting to create something And it grows into wanting to build something that connects. And hopefully, something that lasts.
Explore the Edson E+I community
We love hearing stories from entrepreneurs in our community who are expanding their reach through a variety of creative mediums. If you’re interested in exploring how you can become an author, stay connected with upcoming Authorpereneurship events and other opportunities on our events page. We’d love to see you there.
This content was created in collaboration with Megan Crawford. Megan is the author of Dozen Dates, available on Amazon and independent bookshops across the valley. Follow her journey at megancrawfordwrites.com.
