February, 2009

Publishing / Writing — 2 Comments
19
Feb 09

Next Book: The Unfortunate Expiration of Mr. David S. Sparks

My debut novel, The Trouble With Being God, has been out for a few months now and, while I am spending some of my time promoting it, I’m also busy with writing my next book. The Trouble With Being God was absolutely a great learning experience. In total, it took me nearly eight years to create, from inception to final publication. During that time I learned a lot about people, life, and writing – but in the time since publishing it I’ve learned a lot more about how to write a great book.  Mostly this is due to the feedback I’ve been receiving from readers and fellow authors (in particular, Monica Valentinelli), and although I feel The Trouble With Being God was by no means a bad book, I am absolutely certain I can do better.

This brings us to what I’m doing now. As you may recall, back in November I mentioned that I was working on a book called The Grabbing Hands as a project for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). Well, that project has grown a lot from where it originally started, and has since morphed into something I am extremely excited about: The Unfortunate Expiration of Mr. David S. Sparks. This new book is definitely a departure from the dark gore that spattered the pages of TTWBG, but it still very much feels like a “me” kind of story – heavy with philosophical questions (in particular environmental and biological ethics, as well as my usual themes of questions of self, soul and purpose), and in its current state falls quite firmly in the realm of cyberpunk fiction.

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Publishing — 1 Comment
10
Feb 09

The Shack by William P. Young: A Self-Publishing Success Story

The ShackWilliam P. Young’s sensation, ‘The Shack,’ is surely one of the best examples of a self-publishing success story. Originally written as a Christmas gift for his six children, the story was also shared with additional family and friends… who in turn shared the story with their friends, leading to the suggestion that Young publish the book via traditional publishing channels, thereby making it available to the world.

As one can surmise, Young was met with trepidation by the major publishing houses  – both religious and secular. So, Young, along with two business partners (former pastors fom Los Angeles), decided to create their own imprint, Wind Blown Media, and publish the book themselves.

So, how does one go from self-publishing something that no traditional publisher will touch to becoming a New York Times #1 Best Seller for 35 continuous weeks? The answer was not a large advertising spend, as according to sources, only about $300 was spent on promotion of the book through its web site. The answer, as is very often the case in the Internet Age is this: Word-of-Mouth.

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Life / Money — 2 Comments
4
Feb 09

Plan to Sell Your Creation? Then Be a Business and Claim Your Tax Deductions.

Dollar in Your PocketWhether you’re an author, musician, artist or any other kind of content creator, one important thing you need to think about is whether you create as purely a hobby, or if you intend (or hope) to someday make money off of your creations. For many creators, this intent becomes obvious once you’ve decided to go beyond creating for yourself, friends and family and taking the big step into offering your creations to the rest of the world (with an intent to make some money while you’re at it.)rec

If you’ve taken this step, you’re a business – and you need to start acting like one.

To be a creator doesn’t mean you have to be creating a tangible item either. You could be running your own blog, review website, etc. – and if you are doing it with the intent to make money – and even if you’re not currently making a profit or doing it full-time – you need to treat it as a business.  And, during this time of the year, that means claiming all of your expenses in your tax return.

During my college days I launched and ran Music-Critic.com (I sold it years ago now) – and I ran it as a business. The fact of the matter is that if you’re going to make any money from a venture, you have to pay income tax on that money. This is why you are required to supply your tax ID or Social Security number when you sign up for affiliate programs, Google AdSense, publishing through sites like Lulu.com, and any other instance where an entity is going to be sending you a check.  At the end of the year, if they’ve sent you any money, they’re also going to send you your tax information – which you are required to include in your tax filing.

But whether or not you actually did make any money in the first year or two doesn’t mean you’re not running a business. If you honestly are attempting to make a profit from whatever you are doing (in my current instance, writing a book), then you need to start treating this venture as a business now. Beyond the mindest that running a business requires (seriousness, professionalism, etc.), you also need to run it right financially. And again, at this time of the year, it means writing off any expenses you put into it in the previous year.

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