"Roundheads and Ramblings"
Business plan
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Posted on Tuesday, January 31, 2012 10:18 AM
Writers frequently compare the process of writing a book to giving birth. I know a lot of moms who would dispute that, but it is rue that the process can be almost as painful. Nevertheless, seeing a new book on the book shelves for the first time is terribly exciting. New authors are justifiably proud of their new "baby." They ssometimes forget one final point of comparison. The new book baby also comes with a tax deduction if the author is prepared to claim it. Here are some of the little things that are easy to overlook.
Be sure to keep track of all
expenses for office supplies—pens, pencils, notepads, printer cartridges,
diskettes, scotch tape, paper clips, file folders, labels, a calendar, an
appointment book, scissors, a rack to hold current file folders. You can even deduct
the cost of air, if you buy it in compressed form and use it to clean your
keyboard. (I use mine to chase the cat off the desk, but the principle is the
same.)
Think advertising. Anything you
have printed with the name of your company or the name of your next book can be
deducted as an advertising expense. Of course you’ll have a supply of business
cards, but you can also use the same size card to announce an upcoming book. (I
had some printed with a picture of “The Second Mouse” on them. I have a second
set of half-size business cards with photographs of Beaufort, SC, on them to
advertise my next novel, The Road to
Frogmore.) Both were deductible, as are bookmarks that match your book
covers or brochures telling dealers and bookstores how they can order your
books.
Much of your book budget will go
for travel—to research libraries, book signings, or writing conferences. If you
travel by car, you can deduct the exact mileage, as long as you keep a log or
record of the odometer. You’ll be asked for details of the car’s purchase price,
its year and model, its VIN, and its total mileage, so keep them handy. This year you’ll
be able to deduct 50 to 55 cents a mile if your travel is purely for business.
I bought a magnetic company sign for under $10.00. On business trips, I slap
that on the front door of the family sedan and turn the entire trip into a
business expense. You can also deduct hotel bills, parking fees, and bridge or
road tolls if you keep records.
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Posted on Friday, January 27, 2012 6:25 PM
Common explanation of the difference between a dog and a cat: Dogs have masters. Cats have staff. If you're going to run a home business, you'll need to start thinking like a cat.
 Self-publishing
is something of a misnomer. The process of taking a book from first idea to a
spot on someone’s bookshelf requires the help and talents of many people. The
work used to be done by huge publishing houses. When you decide to
self-publish, the responsibility for all the many tasks involved falls squarely
on your shoulders. You are already the author, the editor-in-chief, and the
business owner. You cannot hope to sit isolated in your little home office and
do everything yourself, no matter how talented you may be. The success of your
book will depend upon how well you assemble a team of assistants. Here’s a look
at the staff I have assembled. Perhaps it will give you some ideas.
My
most important hire was my husband. Of course he was already on board to give
me moral support, but as time went on, he took upon himself three important
roles. First, he is my travel agent. Once I decide on the need for a research
trip or agree to do a talk, a book signing, or a conference appearance, he
takes over. He plans the itinerary, books our accommodations, and provides the
transportation. Second, he is my mail clerk. He’s much better than I at packing
and wrapping, and he never seems to mind a quick trip to the post office. I can
count on him to mail single book purchases or handle large book shipments. And
third, he is my official photographer. Whether I need a special shot for an
illustration or some general pictures to help me set a scene, he is there with
his camera. You can see a sample of his work on the cover of Beyond All
Price. He also comes with the advantage of being inexpensive. His salary is
$1.00 a year, augmented by clean laundry, home-cooked meals, and endless
affection and gratitude.
My
business plan recognized that I would need to hire a design artist to create
the book cover and a layout expert to make sure that the final book meets the
exacting standards of the publishing world—page numbers, attractive fonts,
spacing, chapter titles, and flourishes all in place. Since both those areas are
way beyond my expertise, I hired both functions through the production company who
contracted to produce the physical book.
I
found another source of staff members at a company called Vistaprint. I got
started there by ordering my first business cards for Katzanhaus Books. From
that one order, I learned about their other great promotional items and ended
up buying a magnetic sign for the side of the car, postcards, brochures, a tote
bag, and several other items with my own logos on them. Then I found that they
also provided hosting for websites and blogs, as well as domain names and e-mail
addresses for companies. I was able to use their services for all my
promotional and web-based needs.
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Posted on Friday, January 20, 2012 5:46 PM
Establishing your own business has tax advantages. Once you have a plan and a named business, you can declare it as a “sole proprietorship” on your income tax and start taking deductions for all those expenses. The biggest deduction will come from establishing your home office as your principle, regular, and exclusive place of business. What does that mean? Well, basically, no more writing at one end of the dining room table and then shoving the papers out of the way to serve dinner. You must have a clearly defined space in which you conduct all the activities associated with your business—writing, researching, editing, advertising, shipping.
It does not have to be a large space. You can fit an office into a large closet, a cubbyhole under the stairs, in the basement or the attic, or into a section of a room that is clearly separated from all other activities there. It simply must be used for your business and for nothing else. You’ll need a desk, a filing cabinet, and—most important—a place to keep everything separate from the other parts of your life.
Now you have a place of business. Measure the space in square feet, determine the square footage of your entire house or apartment, and then figure out the percentage of the residence that is exclusively used for business. (A 10’ x 12’ office in a 1500 square foot house = 8% devoted to business use.) That percentage now applies to all of your housing expenses that affect the entire space—heating and lighting bills, rent or mortgage interest, insurance, homeowner association fees, security system, and termite protection are all common expenses. You can’t deduct painting the living room if you use the back bedroom as your office, but you can deduct 8% of the cost of a new roof, since that applies to the entire structure.
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Posted on Wednesday, December 14, 2011 11:53 AM
One of the blogs I follow asked a difficult question this morning: "Are you writing a blog or running a business?" The problem was actually aimed at businesses who promote themselves with a blog, but it still brought me up short for a moment. While I really think of myself as a writer, and I use this blog to talk about writing issues, I'm also starting to realize how much "business" is involved in what I do. Here are some of the things I'm involved with at the moment:
1. As most of you know by now, I'm getting ready to publish a little book entitled "The Second Mouse Gets the Cheese." It chronicles my experiences as I made the switch from academic publishing to self-publishing. By the time "Beyond All Price" hit the best-seller lists on Amazon, I had confronted various traps set for oblivious new writers who know little about the publishing world. Sometimes those traps snapped firmly on the neck I had stretched out; at other times the trap just clicked harmlessly behind me. But in every case, I learned my lessons. This book offers to help other new writers avoid the worst of the troubles, but in the process it sets me up as something of an expert on self-publishing. I'm just coming to realize that the appearance of the book will obligate me to my readers in on-going ways. It turns me into a consultant, and that in turn turns my writing into a business. Talk about unintentional consequences!
2. In the past few months I've had three different people approach me about my "publishing company" (which I set up only for my own convenience) and about the possibility of using that company to front for other self-publishing efforts. One wants to publish a family cookbook; another is planning a photography coffee-table book; the third has in mind a historical reference collection that would appeal to the customers of his own business. To make matters worse, these would-be writers have no experience in the book world or in writing, which means they would need a lot of coaching along the way. The teacher is me says, "Of course I'll help." The writer says, "Wait a minute here. I have my own books to write." And the business owner says, "Why is nobody asking what I would charge for such assistance? Am I a publishing company or not?" Of ourse, it's a good thing nobody asked that question, because I don't have any answers -- at least not yet. Is this something I want to get into? If so, I need to figure out things like consulting and editing fees.
3. I've already been trying to think in terms of a "business plan" for the coming year. "Beyond All Price" is still selling fairly steadily, and I have at least one speaking engagement scheduled to talk about it. I don't want to ignore it completely just because I have new books coming out, so I need to figure out a new approach to its promotional needs. I'll have a new book out by the first week in January, however, which will need lots of promotional efforts on its own behalf. I've already scheduled one book talk, but I should be contacting local writers' groups and arranging other speaking opportunities. At the same time, I'm trying to finish the first draft of an ambitious historical novel -- one that an important advocacy group would like to sponsor as part of their own major anniversary celebration next November. I've agreed in principle; now I need to make that happen.
So am I a writer or a business-owner? Obviously the "ivory-tower" image of a writer who sits in glorious seclusion day after day turning out eloquent prose is not happening. Being a writer and a self-publisher today means being a business-person, too. I just haven't quite figured out the balance between all the elements of this new career. In other words, the real answer to the question posed at the beginning of this blog is "Yes. All of the above."
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Posted on Saturday, November 19, 2011 4:11 PM
Still not convinced that Amazon and Kindle are the most important elements in the marketing plan for your book? Before you write them off, here are nine things you ought to know about Amazon. This is not original. I'm just passing it on from several other websites.
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