Download My Ranks
As an author selling books on Amazon, one thing that really sucks is: Amazon has all my data and they won't give it to me! Well, okay, it's their data and I'm just a vendor, really, but still ... Anyway, one of the things I'd like to be able to do is download the...
Book Recommendation: The Sculpted Ship
Starship engineer Anailu Xindar dreamed of owning her own ship, but she didn't find the courage to actually go for it until she was forced out of her safe, comfortable job. She goes shopping for a cheap, practical freighter, but she ends up buying a rare,...
Business of Writing: Preorders
Presale periods are a surprisingly divisive issue for authors, with some swearing by them and others … well, there’s some swearing involved there, as well.
Business of Writing: Whether to Incorporate
This post is part of my Business of Writing series. As part of this series, I discuss law and taxes, so it's important for you to remember that I'm neither a lawyer nor a tax professional. This is not advice -- it's my understanding and, in many cases, what I do and...
Business of Writing: Picking a Tax Professional
This will be a short post, but an important one. Picking the right tax professional can save you or cost you — a lot of money.
Business of Writing: Hobby vs. Business – Why is it important?
Is your writing career a hobby or a business? And why does it matter?
Business of Writing: Do you have to send 1099s to your editor, cover artist, etc.?
I see more conflicting advice about 1099s every year than anything else. As an author, you’re going to get 1099 forms from those who’ve sent you royalties or other payments, but do you need to send them to those you’ve paid, such as your editor, cover artist, or other authors you might have split boxset royalties with?
Business of Writing: Quickbooks Self Employed
I’m going to be talking about Quickbooks Self Employed (QBSE) a lot in the series of posts on taxes, so figured it would be useful to have a full review post of it. Quickbooks has multiple offerings, so it’s important to understand that I use and recommend the Self Employed product, and this review isn’t of the Online or Desktop offerings. Those are good products too, I’m sure, but I think they’re overpowered for use by the typical author.
Business of Writing: Estimated Taxes
The IRS recommends you use their multipage worksheet (https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040es.pdf), which involves estimating your income and deductions, both personal and business – and, since writing is a pretty variable business, you should do that worksheet for each quarterly estimated tax payment …
Which is sort of like having to do you taxes five times a year, in my opinion.
Business of Writing: Taxes and Why Authors Are Surprised By Them
It’s Tax Season in the US, and throughout the land there echoes amongst the hills and valleys of writers’ forums the wailing cries of horror, disbelief, and pain, as writers who met some measure of success last year find out what it will cost them.