Sherry D. Ficklin's Blog, page 6

Extracted: The Lost Imperials Book 1

It is with great joy that I announce that Extracted: The Lost Imperials Book 1 is now in its new home at Clean Teen Publishing, along with the rest of the Lost Imperials series. If you haven’t picked it up … Continue reading →

Author VS Vendor: Becoming an Indiepreneure.

I was lucky enough to hang out at The Novel Experience Event in Atlanta this month and I want to take a few minutes to discuss something I noticed there: the growing trend of authors as vendors. Here’s what I … Continue reading →

The Author Burn-Out Epidemic

Today I’d like to address something extremely concerning to me. I’ve seen no less than 6 authors, all indie authors, all successful in their own right, many on the cusp of what I’d consider mainstream notoriety, suddenly toss in the towel … Continue reading →

The (Hard) Truth About Book Signings

I had a friend, newly published, have her first book signing recently, at a major chain store. She came back so disappointed that it broke my heart. Yet her experience is not uncommon. So I want to share with you … Continue reading →

They Call Them Deadlines Because If you Miss Them, Your Editor Gets To Kill You

Hello interwebs! I’m popping in today for a quickie post about something currently on my mind. Deadlines. If you follow me online, you probably know I’m currently under a rapidly approaching deadline for my newest novel, The Canary Club. It’s … Continue reading →

Adventures in Sensory Deprevation

So today was my first float. For those of you who don’t know, I suffer from mild anxiety. So when a friend told me about the new Sensory Deprivation Float Center that just opened where I live, I was skeptical … Continue reading →

Convention-al Courtesy

If you travel a great deal like me, you are probably at least familiar with the basics of Con courtesy. If, however, you are fairly new to this rodeo, I’m going to offer some tips and advice for traveling as … Continue reading →

The Death Of Samhain Publishing And What It Means For Authors

As most of you in the book world already know, this week Samhain Publishing closed its doors. In the official letter which you can read here they cite reasons we are all familiar with such as “market decline” and having “no success in reaching the new customers we need to thrive”. As a publisher of both digital and traditional print books with over 600 authors and over 2200 titles (according to their website) it’s a terrifying notion that things could be so bad that they have opted to pack it in.

 

But what does this mean for us? For we authors, indie or traditional or hybrid, with publishers large, small, or mid-range, or self publishing?

Firstly, it should tell you that simply having a publisher does NOT guarantee sales or success. Publishers can not wave a magic wand and sell books any more than anyone else can. To be picked up by a publisher does not mean that they will sell your books. It means they will edit, print, and distribute them, and, to the best of their ability, HELP you market, promote, and sell books. But it’s not all on them. It can’t be. This is an attitude I see often especially in new authors. They assume the publisher will do all the heavy lifting, and that simply isn’t true. Publishers are your team, your partners. They will do what they can on their end, but authors, you have GOT to pick up the rest. Your job isn’t just to write books (nice as that would be). Your job is to market, promote, to build your audience and continually engage with that audience. Your publisher is simply there to help. (That said, if you are with a publisher who doesn’t help, who isn’t actively marketing and promoting, then you should rethink that relationship.) I realize this is tough love, but for real. Authors who expect to sit back and do nothing and still sell books are delusional and self sabotaging.

 

Secondly, the takeaway for authors who are struggling is this: you are not alone. The market is tough, especially for the up and coming authors. Sales are way down, the industry is in flux, everything is in chaos right now. This doesn’t mean you quit. It just means you get a little creative. Build your author brand, polish your social media skills, and most importantly, now is the time to try new things and think outside the box. It’s become increasingly hard to reach new readers, becasue sales are low and yet we are flooded with books in a way we never have been before. Right now the industry is favoring authors who write fast and can put out several titles in a short amount of time. And even so, the competition is absolutely mind boggling. This is the time to take a risk on something new while also looking at authors who are succeeding and learning from what they are doing.

Now, maybe more than ever, it’s an adapt or die industry. But that’s not something to be afraid of. It’s a chance to embrace new ideas and really set yourself apart. When I began publishing in the dark ages of ten years ago, things were very different. There were very few paths toward publishing success. But now, there is literally nothing holding us back. It’s exciting and terrifying all at the same time. So, in the immortal words of Inubus…

Author Event Anxiety

I’m gearing up for my first convention of 2016 this week, (it’s the Houston Author Bash in Katy Tx). On one hand it seems like forever since I’ve done this sort of thing, but on the other, it feels very old hat. I do anywhere from 5-7 conventions a year and so while I have lots of experience, somehow each time begins to feel like the first time. It’s pre-con anxiety. I get it before any public appearance, but even more so for the long distance events. Funny enough, I used to have a paralyzing fear of public speaking. I think that can be the case for many creative types, as so often we wind up sort of trapped inside our own heads. I’m an especially odd case because I’m an extrovert, only with pretty serious anxiety. Which means for me, these events are both the best and worst parts of my job.

What’s it like to be an extrovert with anxiety? Well, it’s sort of like really wanting to go to a concert. You get jazzed up, buy your tickets, stand in line, only to realize as you stand at the door that you can’t possibly go inside. What if it’s awful? What if you get mugged? What if the fireworks explode early and everyone dies in a blazing fireball? These thoughts, as silly as they may seem, somehow manage to feel like VALID concerns and perfectly acceptable reasons to turn around and just go home and hide under the covers.

That’s what happens to me. Only the voices sound more like, What if no one shows up? Or what if a BUNCH of people show up and they just ignore you? What if you forget your pens/books/swag? What if you get lost or your plane breaks down or accidentally eat mushrooms and go into anaphylactic shock? Or worse, what if you get there and everyone knows you are a NOBODY and a FRAUD and they boo you off the stage?

Those are my voices. They tell me I can’t. they tell me I shouldn’t.

And sometimes, it’s hard to ignore them.

But as my dear friend June always reminds me, once I get INTO the event, I’m fine. Truly. I blossom like a rose under pressure. Suddenly I go from weird, awkward necrotic loser to well spoken social butterfly. Most people I meet at events would never know I suffer with anxiety. I am able to feed of the energy of those around me and I always end up having a great time. But, that never stops that pesky voice from butting in, playing doubts and fears in my brain on repeat. So today I decided to help combat those voices by looking back on some of last year’s events. Now, I did a LOT of traveling and a lot of events, but I wanted to share just a few memories from my favorites. I’m hoping they help me in my ongoing battle and I hope, if any of you suffer with similar issues, maybe it will help to simply know that you aren’t alone. I know that having people in my corner, cheering me on, helps me immensely. So, today, I want to be that for you.

No matter what your voices say, I believe in you. You can do it. You will do it. And you will rock it!

 

Me and the steampunk X-Men Anomaly Con

Me and the squad, UtopYA, Nashville

Authors and Taxes

So you published your first book (or maybe more than one) last year! YAY! That’a amazing! Only now you’re getting unfamiliar things in the mail, either from your publisher or Amazon or what-have you. They are 1099’s.

Holy Shit.

You have to do taxes.

As an AUTHOR.

*heavy breathing*

Ok, let be begin by saying that I’m not a CPA or a tax professional at all. But I have been doing this a very long time and I can give you some tips to help you navigate this new part of your career.

Firstly, you can absolutely hire a CPA. For real. It’s smart, especially if you made buku bucks. I haven’t needed to yet. I always do my own taxes. Now, I buy the H&R Block box (the big one, that includes forms for business income because, guess what? 1099’s. You’re now self employed, woohoo) and I’ve never had any issues with it. I find it easy to use and it comes with audit protection, so cool.

What you need to have either way:

All your 1099’s (and W2s and any other income records you normally need)
All your expenses, listed by category (I will go over what you can and can’t claim as an expense below)
Receipts (keep receipts for EVERYTHING)
Booze (optional)

 

If you have a CPA or tax pro, you can just hand everything over and be done. Lucky you. CPA’s can also be expensive. If you’re using a DIY program, it will walk you through the process.

As an author, you are (unless you own a company or LLC) what’s called an Individual or Sole Proprietor. If you make less than about $35,000 this works great for you. Once you start making upwards of around $40,000 you will WANT to set up an LLC and ask the feds to treat it like an S corp. for tax purposes. Reason being, when your income fluctuates, you can end up in a higher tax bracket than someone with the same income, only steady. It’s complicated, but trust me, get a CPA at that point.

Also, bravo. That’s an amazing income for an author. Go get a cookie. You deserve it.

Below that 40K line? Great! Now, if you live in a state like Alaska, Florida, Nevada, Texas or Washington, then congrats. They don’t collect state income tax, so if you DON’T live there and want to save some bank, you might consider relocating. Though, none of that saves you from federal tax.

Note: Unless you have a physical store or sell physical items yourself (direct print sales), you don’t have to collect sales tax or worry about any of that. If you DO, you should see a CPA or tax pro for sure, because that gets into inventory and FIFO stuff and it’s kind of a mess unless you have really excellent books, so my advice is simply, avoid direct sales if you can.

First you need to ask yourself, Is your writing a business, or a hobby? That will be the first question you have to answer, because hobby income is treated very differently than business income. The main difference between these two, tax-wise, is that a hobby cannot generate a loss. So, if you spend a large sum of money on office equipment, rent, travel, and research for your hobby, your losses will not be carried over to a future year to offset profit for when you get that big advance. If, however, you have a business, losses can be generated.You can deduct expenses in either scenario; keep in mind though that if writing is your hobby, deductions cannot exceed income earned.

For example, my first two years, my business took a loss, meaning I spent more than I made and thus, I was able to claim that loss against the taxes I owed from my other income, as well as carry over some expenses into the next years. There are regulations about how many years, consecutively, your business can deduct that loss, but it was a nice cushion for me starting off. Ultimately, if it is a business, your tax goal is to negate as much income as possible with deductions.

The best way to keep track of your expenses is with either a program like Quickbooks, or even just a good Excel sheet (which is what I use). Record everything, whether you think you can deduct the expense or not. I mean EVERYTHING. Every notepad, light bulb, and virus software renewal.

What you have to claim:

Any money you made (that’s those 1099’s).

What you can deduct:

Travel expenses for work (ie traveling to signings, conventions, etc) such as flight costs, gas, booth fees, and hotel expenses.
Child care.
A percentage of your property taxes (if you have a dedicated home office only! And be careful with this one, it’s a big red flag to the IRS so only claim it if your office is used for work ONLY. If you work in the kitchen, for example,you can NOT claim the home office.)
Materials used in the creation of your books such as computers, printer ink, paper, pens etc. (but you better have receipts!)
Postage expenses (For example, mailing contracts to your publisher)
Marketing expenses (buying ads, printing banners, bookmarks, etc and any cost associated with mailing marketing materials to fans or bloggers)
Books given away for review (print only)
A percentage of your phone & internet bills monthly.
Any research materials you purchase
Office furniture (if you can claim the dedicated office ONLY)
Membership fees to professional organizations like RWA or SCBWI
Domain and hosting fees for your websites
Computer accessories/software

 

Things you can not deduct:

Clothing/shoes
Food (Business lunch? Nope, still can’t claim it, because, you’d have to eat anyway, you know? Though you can claim mileage to and from…)
Booze (sorry!)
Therapy (I’m trying to get this one changed, because FOR REAL)

 

Here’s hoping this helps you out, or at least gives you a place to start. I know it can sound complected, but it’s really not so bad. Happy Taxing!