Author Marketing
Helpful hints from fellow authors
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5 Things Authors Miss on their Tax Returns @emlynley #RLFblog #taxes #authors
Tax Tips for Authors In my real life I’m a tax and finance professional and I’ve been
sharing my knowledge with other writers for the past three years. I find many people
have problems with the same issues year after year. Are you making these mistakes?
If so, you’ll find more ways to solve these problems (and more) in my book Tax Tips for Authors 2014. (Available from
Amazon, Barnes
and Noble, iTunes, Smashwords ARe/OmniLit
and in print)1. Calling your hobby
a business – or vice versaThe IRS has a pretty strict line between hobby and business,
because businesses get to write their losses off against other income (W-2 or investment
income) which lets them lower their taxes. To be considered a business you need
to have profits in 3 out of the past 5 years. It you’re having more years of losses
than profits, the IRS may want you to prove you’re a real business, which means
show that you are trying to make money. They look at the ratio of expenses to earnings
and the type of expenses you claim: advertising and other promo help you, but travel
to conventions may hurt you if you’re not earning enough to justify the expense.Businesses that claim to be a hobby are seen as avoiding self-employment
tax, so if you have increasing hobby income, the IRS may force you to file Schedule
C and pay SE tax. Make sure you classify your writing correctly.2. Not filing quarterly
estimated tax paymentsThis is one of the most confusing aspects of self-employment
and for authors it’s even more complicated: earnings and expenses fluctuate wildly
during the year. Some people just ignore it, then get both a big surprise balance
due in April, plus a penalty for not paying quarterly. There are ways to avoid this,
the easiest being to pay at least 110% of last year’s tax bill in quarterly installments.
If you overpay, you’ll get a refund, but you’ll definitely avoid a penalty. I go
over how to calculate the correct quarterly payments in my book, Tax Tips for Authors
2014.3. Paying too much self-employment
taxHow do you pay too much? By not taking all the deductions you
can, and by not keeping a careful running balance of profit and loss during the
year. You only pay SE tax when you have over $400 of profits, so if you can reduce
profits (by increasing legitimate spending during the tax year) you can save some
money. Make sure to do a tentative P and L calculation in early December. It may
make sense to register for expensive conventions then rather than waiting till January.
Buy a new computer or pre-pay for advertising. Shift only planned spending rather
than simply spending down your profits carelessly, so you can build your business
rather than just avoid taxes.4. Missing out on deductionsMost authors I work with don’t keep good records of their spending.
This includes mileage driven for “business.” Did you write down every
time you drove to the library, book store, airport, etc.? Get in the habit of writing
down your mileage and other expenses every day or two—before you forget—and you’ll
see how much more you are able to claim. Keep receipts for books, index cars, notebooks,
stock photos, domain names, lunch with your writing partner, swag, etc. This will
also help you keep a running P and L for filing quarterly payments and making good
year-end spending decisions. I have much more information on proper recordkeeping
and deductions in the book.5. Mixing business and
personal expensesAlong with the hobby/business issue, this is one of the things
IRS loves to investigate. The best way to keep everything separate—even for sole
proprietors—is to have separate bank accounts and debit or credit cards. It’s easy
to have a separate PayPal account just for your writing business, and you can get
a PayPal debit card. An Ally bank account is free and requires no minimum deposit
and they issue debit cards as well. Have all your payments made into the separate
accounts, and spend only from the business PayPal/Ally debit card. If you need to
use a credit card, ask for an additional card from your credit card company and
use the new one only for business. At the end of the year you can get a separate
statement of your business expenses, which makes recordkeeping and organizing deductions
a snap.Want even more information? Sign up for my Tax Tips Newsletter, or visit
the Tax Tips for Authors website. Best of all, pick up a copy of my book Tax Tips
for Authors 2014. It’s got new information for filing 2013 returns, a Schedule
C walkthrough, chapters on self-employment taxes and quarterly payments and a whole
lot more.Contest
Out of the Gate Ask a tax question and be entered to win a free registration
to an author-oriented Tax Workshop held by EM Lynley.About the Author
EM Lynley is a former investment analyst and White House economist.
Now she writes gay erotic romance. She loves books where the hero gets the guy and
the loving is 11 on a scale of 10. Her Precious Gems series is best described as
“Indiana Jones meets Romancing the Stone”—only gayer. The Delectable series
is Gay Romance with Taste. Her books are available in print and e-book from Amazon
& other book distributors.Author Social Media
Website: http://emlynley.comBlog: http://emlynley.com/blogLiveJournal: http://emlynley.livejournal.comTwitter: http://twitter.com/emlynley -
13 Tips for Sharing Links @vickibatman #RLFblog #authortips
Bug Stuff… and Other Stories As
authors, we write or create something, and we want to share with the BIG WIDE WORLD.
But how?I’ve collected
a few tips to ease your way:1. In each blog, there should be buttons for Facebook, Twitter, Goggle+ and
more to click on. When you do, an automatically generated blurb appears. Use this! Send our happy camper to Facebook
(you can send to multiple pages, too). And remember
on Facebook to intrigue readers by beginning
your post with a question. That gets more visibility.Don’t forget
to use other buttons and forward our camper to Google+ , LinkedIn, Stumble Upon,
Twitter, and a whole variety of others.Author and
fellow Plotting Princess, Michelle Miles, recommends a Jetpack
plugin called “Publicize” to have it go out to Google+, Twitter, and Facebook
when it’s published.2. Copy your post with link on your Facebook page. In most cases, a picture
from the blog will appear as well–which makes your post more desirable. Again,
remember to begin the post with that all important question.On Facebook,
you can share on other pages you are
an administrator on. This is very desirable.
Click share, find pages you manage from
the drop down menu, click on the appropriate page, and post.3. Take that just posted text, which includes the link and copy, and paste
onto your writer group pages on Facebook. You
do belong to other groups—right? They want to know your good news, and in a
lot of cases, they might share the link with their friends. Sharing is a good thing.4. Do you belong to a Tribe in Triberr? Consider signing up and have your RSS
feed automatically networked (check Networked Blogs) to the tribes where your
mates will share the twitter post.5. Do you have a Twitter manager like Tweetdeck or Hootsuite? If so, create
an @mentionyourname column. You can edit and retweet your tweets throughout the
day. Easy peasy. Just avoid being spammy.Have you considered
setting up columns for your friends and other organizations? Do it! You can retweet from there, too.
And I’m betting a lot will reciprocate. And while we’re at it, try saying thank
you to a new follower or someone who tweeted your tweet. Nice is always appreciated.One note about tweets: try to
tie it to reader emotion. You want the reader to respond to your tweet. A generic tweet is ignored.6. Still using Yahoo groups? I do, and whenever I blog, I share the post and
the relevant link with those groups. After all, you do want some commentors!It does help
to begin your subject line with your name
and an intriguing title for your post.
Even a post ending in a question can hook someone. Be fun and playful.7. Create a tweet and ask your friends to tweet for you. Be sure to include
relevant hashtags ( # ). Just don’t overdo.8. Join a tweet group which posts daily tweets and retweets for each other.
And if you do, abide by the rules.For example: via @VickiBatman Hate to squish bugs? Bug Stuff
and other stories coming soon. http://vickibatman.blogspot.com #agroup
#amwriting #indie #ebook.Remember: 140 character limit. So you might want to sign up with Bitly (https://bitly.com/ ) and make that
link smaller, thus having more characters for the tweet.Aside: I just
tweaked the above tweet and added my Bug Stuff cover and it looks fantastic!!!9. Are you a member of Google+ ? It’s becoming the newest thang! In Google+
you group your friends. Alisha Paige, writer and Plotting Princess, says to remember
to use the Public button so your post
goes out to new friends.10. Are you on Goodreads? If so, your blog can be RSS fed to your page.11. Are you on Author Central? If so, your blog can be linked to your page.12. Lots of your sites will allow you to set up your twitter stream. Go to Unstoppable Heroes to see Kayelle Allen’s:
http://kayelleallen.com/blog/13. Join Marketing for Romance Writers and
use their street team. It’s free to members!The cyber
world changes constantly, and just when you think you have it down, something new
will pop up. Perhaps, these tips will prove useful to you.Do you
have any tips you’d like to share?By the Author
Bug Stuff… and Other StoriesAmazon http://amazon.com/Stuff-other-stories-romantic-comedy-ebook/dp/B00HPA8PVY
About the Author
Vicki Batman has three men in the house and often muses why God
did that to her.Author Social Media
Website: http://vickibatman.blogspot.comTwitter: http://twitter.com/vickibatmanFacebook: http://facebook.com/pages/Vicki-Batman-sassy-writer-of-sexy-and-funny-fiction/133506590074451?ref=hlPinterest: http://pinterest.com/vickibatmanAmazon Author Central: http://amazon.com/Vicki-Batman/e/B005AY5ZN8 -
Tax Tips for Authors – 3rd Edition @emlynley #RLFblog #taxes
Tax Tips for Authors Bigger, longer, and more of what you really need.
EM Lynley is back sharing 2014 tax tips for authors.“If you make money from writing, you need this book!”
– Neil PlakcyStymied by Schedule C? Not sure if you should take the new home-office
deduction? Wondering just how many books you can deduct, how much of that trip to
RT, or even whether your writing is a business or a hobby according to IRS rules?The end of January means the 1099s are flying fast and furious
from publishers and distributors. Whether this is your first year filing a tax return
with writing income, or you’ve been doing it for years, chances are there’s something
you’re just not sure about and don’t know who to ask. You either guess and cross
your fingers, or decide not to deduct it, just in case.A few years ago I was in exactly the same boat. My first novel
was published five years, almost to the day (Feb 1, 2009) and I chewed a few fingernails
those first two years of filing my own returns. I didn’t want to pay anyone to do
it for me, so I actually enrolled in 90-hour Basic Tax Course at H&R Block so
I would have all the answers to do it myself.Now, from January to April I’m a tax preparer, and the rest of
the year I write (fiction and financial articles). I decided to meld my two halves
and write a book to help other writers get the answers you need to file your own
taxes, or at least keep better records to make the task easier for your accountant
or tax pro.Despite the name, Tax Tips for Authors packs much more than tips
to help you keep accurate records and your tax return. I have a full walkthrough
on Schedule C, show you how to calculate estimated quarterly payments, let you know
if you need to send 1099s to anyone else, and how to prove to the IRS you are running
a business rather than a hobby.If you self-publish, you have even more issues to think about.
If you haven’t gotten published yet, you may still have deductions coming to you.The book is filled with examples of every type of deduction and
various scenarios,The 3d edition (January 2014) is only available from Amazon or my website. (Smashwords and ARE and not yet the most
up-to-date version).A print edition is coming in mid-February. Here are the topics I cover:- General Legal Issues
- Hobby vs. Business
- Recordkeeping Basics
- Tackling the Schedule C
- Deducting Expenses on Schedule C
- Line-by-Line Walkthrough of Schedule C
- Home-office Deduction
- Self-employment Tax
- Quarterly Estimated Tax
- Self-published Authors
- Unpublished Authors
- FAQ
Contest
Ask a tax question and be entered to win a copy of Tax Tips for
Authors. (Please do not mention any personal financial information).DISCOUNT OFFER
Everyone here wins with a 10% off coupon for a future Tax Tips
class. We’ll cover everything in the book with extensive Q&A. Use coupon cone
RLF10FEB to register at my website: http://bit.ly/eml-taxclass.Stop by and like the Tax Tips for Authors page over on Facebook
for more tips and information. https://facebook.com/taxtipsforauthorsAuthor Social Media
Website: http://emlynley.comBlog: http://emlynley.com/blogLiveJournal: http://emlynley.livejournal.comTwitter: http://twitter.com/emlynley -
All About Street Teams @pendarielraye #RLFblog #MFRWauthor
Kaden’s Reprieve Dariel Raye and I have worked together on several projects,
so when she started a street team recently, I asked if I could tag along. She
soon outran me energy-wise, and I dropped back to admire from a distance. I
asked her to keep me posted on what was what. This is her report. — Kayelle
Allen- Street
teams are all the rage in the book market right now. Ideally, an awesome group
of loving fans sacrifice their time and effort to help get the word out about
our books. Realistically, though, it’s not quite that simple. After contemplating
the pros and cons of street teams, I finally started one a couple of months
ago. I’d been reading about them and asking questions from more experienced
marketers, but since I started working with Raye’s Ravers, quite a few more
things have been made clear to me. Here’s my take, along with a few suggestions. - Ongoing
point/reward system is too tedious, and even that doesn’t get everyone sharing/tweeting.
Also becomes impersonal, IMO. The golden rule for street teams is to find unique
ways to show appreciation. Never forget that these awesome individuals are
helping you for FREE, so personal thank yous are definitely a requirement.
I’ll talk more about this later in #6 and #11. Points/rewards for special campaigns/projects
works better. You can use Google or some other spreadsheet to help keep up
with points for each team member during the campaign. I started with a month
long campaign, but I don’t recommend that – too LONG. Two weeks is probably
a good maximum for special projects and campaigns. - Don’t accept
people onto the team who are on more than 5 street teams – there are exceptions
to every rule, of course, but generally speaking, they simply don’t have time
to keep up with all the boards, groups, and teams on a regular basis. Unless
your team quickly becomes a favorite, they’re seldom around to respond to tags
or any other messages you post. - Create
a private group for sharing and team files. - I’m sure
you know this, but very few writers have time to be on street teams. Like you,
they need to be writing. Any time they have left needs to be spent marketing
their OWN work. Cross promotion is always awesome, but it should never be just
about you and your work when working with another author. Enough said. - Team-ONLY
parties can be nice incentives for special campaigns, and this is another reason
for #7. - Let people
go nicely who never share. I call most of them “Friends of Raye’s Ravers”
because they cared enough to give the team a try, and they still help by sharing
occasionally. Occasional “house cleaning” is important though. Unless
a team member lets you know why they’re not around (vacation, family problems,
illness, etc.), set them free if they don’t respond to posts and never share. - Chatting
with team members as a group helps everyone get to know each other better –
strengthens the team and it really is nice to get to know people who like your
work. - Another
thing I’m planning is choosing a “Raver” of the week or something
to help get more consistent sharing. It’ll be random. - Playing
random games and asking questions helps with team building too. - Create
special prizes only given to team members to increase interest and pride. - All in
all, if you’re planning to start a street team, expect to spend the first few
weeks or so just getting your team up and rolling. In other words, don’t try
to start a street team in the midst of a big writing project. Your goal is
to keep the team moving and show appreciation without
constant hands-on involvement from you. Let’s face it – if your team needs
your constant attention, you still don’t have time to write! I don’t think
there’s a hard and fast rule as to what works or doesn’t work, but the beauty
of it is that the sky’s the limit in terms of fun things to try, and you get
to meet some awesome people along the way.
Heck, you might even get a little more marketing done than you
can on your own.Previous Books
Kaden’s Reprieve:Barnes and Noble http://barnesandnoble.com/w/untameable-heat-dariel-raye/1116022654?ean=2940148255086Dark Sentinels Book One: Sable:Amazon http://amzn.com/B008L87H0OJordan’s
Wings – The Alerians – Dark Progeny Series:Amazon http://amzn.com/B00AQBDTJWFind Me Here
Twitter: http://twitter.com/pendarielrayeFacebook: http://facebook.com/authordarielrayeAuthorgraph: http://authorgraph.com/authors/Pendarielraye - Street
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It’s Etsy Shop Day #Author Swag @Etsy @beth_caudill @CelticChick #RLFblog
Starlight Falls
(Beth Caudill)Etsy is an ecommerce site which features handmade and
vintage items, art, crafts, and also art and craft supplies. Store owners pay a
small fee to Etsy in exchange for the opportunity to sell. As of August 2013,
over 30 million users were registered on the site. Projections of up to one
million sellers are expected by the end of the year. (Gigaom)Healer’s Fate
(Beth Caudill)Many authors use Etsy as a place to purchase swag (giveaway
items) and material they can use to promote their books. Here are some Etsy
shops owned by authors. Searching “author swag” in the search bar on
Etsy will turn up a large list of sites.
Shop Name: Starlight Falls Designs
Shop Link: http://www.etsy.com/shop/StarlightFallsDesign
Type of Products: Chainmaille Jewelry
Website: http://starlightfallsdesigns.com/Author Name: Beth Caudill
Website: http://BethCaudill.net/
Latest Book: Healer’s Fate
Buy Link: Amazon – http://www.amazon.com/Healers-Fate-Paranormals-Arilase-ebook/dp/B00DR28SA2/—————–Theophilus Saxe’s Emporium
(AJ Matthews)Shop name: Theophilus Saxe’s Emporium
Shop Link: https://www.etsy.com/shop/TheophilusSaxeNinth Wave
(AJ Matthews)Type of Products: SF/Fantasy, steampunk, historical and fandom
inspired artworks–bookends, dioramas, peg dolls, steampunk engines, model scenery,
earrings, vintage items, whatever!Author Name: AJ MatthewsRegular web site: http://www.smilingassassin.com (for artworks)http://adrianjmatthews.blogspot.com (for books)Latest book: The Ninth WavePurchase URL: http://www.extasybooks.com/the-ninth-wave-6/————–Kel’s Cool Crosses
(Kelley Heckart)Shop Name: Kel’s Cool Crosses
Shop Link: https://www.etsy.com/shop/KelsCoolCrosses
Type of products: Decorative Wall CrossesDaughter of the Night
(Kelley Heckart)Author Name: Kelley Heckart
Website: http://kelleyheckart.com
Latest book: Daughter of Night
Buy link for book: http://kelleyheckart.com/daughter_of_night.html -
What I did during #MFRWorg Summer Camp @AuthorTinaGayle #RLFblog #MFRWcamp
MFRW Summer Camp Today Tina Gayle shares her take on Marketing for Romance Writers Summer Camp, held last weekend on the Coffee Time Romance forum.= = =I can’t tell you how excited I was
for MFRW summer camp to start. Not only had I signed up to give a class, but there
were so many wonderful classes to take. I love learning new things so I’ve been
biting at the bit to get started.I was blown away with the pre-camp
class by Kristyn Phipps. She explained how to use Buffer, had pictures and diagrams
and cyber popcorn…oh, my. Best of all, I was able to read it a day later. I couldn’t
attend the class on the day she posted it, but managed to learn it a day late. Man,
how I love internet classes.Now with the stage set for camp to
begin, I had to get my stuff up and going. My class of “Cut the Crap”
(on editing) needed to be ready to run with the rest of the classes by Friday. I
had the handout ready and then sat down to fill in all the things that weren’t in
the outline. It is amazing how a one page outline can morph into pages of explanation.
I broke the class up into several parts so as not to overwhelm my students and to
concentrate on one point at a time.I posted the new thread and watched
as the number of views when up. Silly, I know, but I was surprised by the number
of people who could relate to the points I was making. While I waited for comments
or questions, I ventured into the other classes.Wow, talk about finding useful information.
From discovering how to form a Street Team group to understanding POV, there were
classes on so many topics I struggled to read all the information in the time I
had allotted for camp.The best part is that even though
camp is officially over. I can still go back and read through the parts that I missed.
Check it out at http://coffeetimeromance.com/board/forumdisplay.php?f=1977&page=4&order=descI can also download all the handouts
so I can review them later. Check them out at http://marketingforromancewriters.org/camp.htmCoffee Time Romance did a wonderful
job of making this appear seamless. I know it wasn’t, but as an attendee, I had
no problems with viewing classes or leaving comments.Also, there were fun games on Pinterest.
I didn’t play, not because I didn’t want to, time became a factor for me. My husband
decided a round of golf was needed to round out his weekend so what can I say, I
indulged.For those of you who didn’t attend
the camp, I strongly recommend that you check out the above sites and gain what
you can from some excellent information. RWA is having their national convention
this week. I have to say summer camp was better. One, it isn’t as expensive (Free
for the camp.) Two, no crowds. Three, great information, and four, all while living
in the comfort of your home. What more could you ask for?Man, summer camp so rocks, I can’t
wait till next year.Thanks to everyone who made this happen.
You guys are the best.About the Author
Tina Gayle After years of working in
the business world doing a variety of jobs, she decided to try her hand at writing
and hope to incorporate the joy of being a mother into her books.Currently working on a series
about four executive wives, she is excited about combining elements of women fiction
with the passion of romance. The first three books have been released and the last
one is coming out in 2014.Married twenty-five years,
she and her husband love to travel and play golf. She can’t wait for Mike to retire
so they can do more of both.Read the first chapter of
any of her books by visiting her website.Find Me Here
Home http://tinagayle.netBlog http://tinagayle.blogspot.comFacebook http://facebook.com/tina.gayleLinkedIn http://linkedin.com/pub/tina-gayle/11/689/759