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How many books did you sell in 2007? What percentage of them were wholesaled? Did you have any interstate sales? What was your profit? Did you provide any writing services for a fee? How much freelance work did you pick up last year? Who cares? Your state and your government—that’s who.

As soon as you decide to write for money or turn your great idea or life experiences into a book for sale, you are in business and you must adhere to your country’s and your state’s tax and resale laws. What if you don’t? Heck, I never waited around to find out the consequences of dissing the IRS or the State Board of Equalization. From day one, even before I was able to show a profit, I reported the financial details of my freelance writing business and, later, my publishing business.

For those of you who haven’t figured it out, there are benefits to declaring your writing or publishing business. You get write offs. You can write off all legitimate expenses related to your book or your freelance business. Sure, save receipts for the punch and cookies you serve at your book signing and keep track of the mileage. Your new computer is a business expense, as are your office supplies—pens, paperclips, file folders, post-its and so forth. I wouldn’t try to deduct that new pair of slacks purchased for your presentation at the local Rotary Club meeting or the lipstick you bought because it matches the cover of your book. But, heck, tax laws change every day—check with your accountant.

I’m often asked during my workshops, “Can you suggest an easy bookkeeping system for my freelance writing (or publishing) business?” And folks, if you are an author, you are in business. Even if you’re collecting royalties, you still must keep records. Keep track of your royalty income, of course. But you’ll also incur expenses related to your book which are not picked up by your publisher—stamps for mailings, brochures/flyers, book festival fees, organization membership fees (PMA, SPAN and/or SPAWN, for example), long-distance telephone calls related to promotion, laptop to keep in touch while you’re traveling and so forth.

I keep one ledger for each of my books. Therein, I log each sale, date of sale, whether it was wholesale or retail and any tax collected. I have separate ledgers to keep track of my article activity (title/subject of article, publication, date queried, date requested, date sent, result or response and payment). I have a section for the payment of royalties, articles and client and other freelance work. And I handle receipts by tossing them into a file folder as I collect them.

Additional tips:

• Keep a small notepad in your car and note mileage for errands and trips related to your business or your book. This might include, trips to the post office to ship books, for example, to meetings related to your article work or book promotion and to deliver books to local booksellers.
• To avoid overwhelm at the end of the year, tally figures related to your book or your business each quarter.
• Connect with a good accountant or tax preparer who has experience with authors/writers.
• If you have a head for it, stay on top of tax laws related to your situation. I recommend Tax Mama, Eva Rosenberg at http://www.taxmama.com or, for tax help for authors in particular, http://www.theartrepreneur.com

If you want to make money through your writing—and it seems that everyone, these days, does—you’ll have to consider all angles, including your tax responsibilities. There’s no free lunch in this business and, once you start accepting money for your work or selling your books, you are in business.

Learn much more about the publishing business through my latest book, The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book . This is a meaty 360-page monster of a book designed to educate you about the publishing industry and walk you through the entire process of writing, publishing and promoting your book. Use the companion Author’s Workbook for additional support and to help you more honestly and professionally evaluate your project and your potential as a published author. http://www.matilijapress.com/rightway.html

I’m deeply enmeshed in preparing 5—count-em, FIVE—hour-long workshops on various aspects of article-writing for the San Diego State University Writers’ Conference, January 25-27 in San Diego, California. It’s a wonderful conference with an overflowing schedule of workshops and numerous agents and publishers running around eager to meet new talent. If you’re an author or a freelance writer at any stage of the game and if you’ll be anywhere near the area in late January, please sign up. The event will be held at the Doubletree Hotel in Mission Valley. To sign up, go to http://www.ces.sdu.edu/writers. I conduct a lot of workshops at various venues throughout the U.S. and this is one of the best. For more of my perspective on this conference, contact me at PLFry620@yahoo.com.

Speaking of article-writing, have you attempted it, yet? Have you pitched or written one or more articles designed to promote your book, speak your piece, share your perspective, or even to establish a freelance career? As many of you know, I built my writing career through article-writing. It is a familiar and fascinating subject. But, as with book publishing, the magazine industry has changed dramatically over the years. How?

1: There are fewer lasting magazines. You know how, in your town, you’ll see a small business come into being and a few years (or months) later, it is gone? This phenomenon is cursing the magazine business, as well. We’ve even lost some old standbys in recent years. But never fear; there are oodles of new magazines on the horizon. Unfortunately, many of them don’t pay well (or at all).

2: The competition for space in paying magazines is stiff. There are more writers and more of us are getting our acts together enough to actually establish freelance careers.

3: There are more flakey magazine publishers/editors. Or is it that there are more writers who are willing to sell their souls for a byline? Has our lack of professionalism created monsters at the helm? Are we driving editors crazy with our weak and inappropriate submissions? Or is it the fact that there are more inexperienced publishers and editors vying for positioning in the magazine market? Whatever the cause, everyone is experiencing the effect through failing magazines, slow or no pay and shabby treatment from both sides.

4: Magazine leaders are struggling with (and disagreeing about) how to react to a swiftly changing industry. Most magazines are driven by advertising and advertisers can be fickle with the economic ups and downs and so many mediums to consider. Some publishers are trying to go back to what used to be the core of their existence: the consumer/the reader. But magazine prices are up because postage, wages, delivery, paper, etc. prices are up and this tends to discourage sales.

5: It’s frustrating for writers when editors reject our best, most appropriate and meaningful articles in order to publish what we might perceive as shallow drivel. Why are these seemingly inferior, pointless articles chosen? Sometimes it has to do with appeasing and pleasing advertisers.

What is a hopeful or struggling freelance writer to do?

• Study the magazine industry as it operates in 2008. Subscribe to http://www.woodenhorsepub.com and always have a current copy of Writer’s Market in your library. Join SPAWN and read the monthly SPAWN Market Update. http://www.spawn.org (click on “Join SPAWN Now”). Visit Mr. Magazine (Samir Husni’s) site often: http://www.mrmagazine.com He keeps his finger on the pulse of the industry.
• Exhibit professionalism when dealing with magazine editors all the time, every time.
• Attend workshops such as those I’ll be leading at the San Diego State University Writers’ Conference. (See link above.)
• Work with an expert. Take my online article-writing course and let me guide you through the process of establishing a freelance article-writing business or learning to promote your book or establish a platform through published articles. http://www.matilijapress.com/course_magarticles.htm
• Know the magazine for which you want to write from inside out—in particular the advertisers. What topic, slant or focus could you offer that would gratify this publication’s largest advertisers?

While writing is a heart thing—a creative endeavor, publishing, whether it is a book or an article, is commercially-based and must be approached as such. If you have questions about this or any of my other blog topics, contact me at PLFry620@yahoo.com.

Okay, it’s resolution time. You’ve been a hopeful author or an aspiring freelance writer long enough. Now it’s time to fish or cut bait. (Excuse the cliché.) Is this the year that you will shift from would-be/wannabe published to happily, successfully published? What is your plan?

Here’s a concept: how about writing something that will sell and then actually submitting it? Can you handle the pressure? Can you overcome the fear of failure? Can you commit to an agenda that will facilitate your publishing dream? Let me help you get started on your path to publishing success.

Make the Time
1: Set a schedule and stick to it. Even if you can only eke out an extra hour each day, use that hour to develop your writing project.

2: Sacrifice something. Everyone is busy. But, if you’ll notice that you’re never too busy to do the things you really want to do. If you are serious about writing, make some sacrifices. If not, stop whining about lacking time to write. For example, give up clubbing on Friday nights, Desperate Housewives on TV and/or sleeping in until 7 or 8 every morning.

Get Started
3: Research the publishing avenue of your choice. If you want to break into magazines, study appropriate books, articles and blogs related to writing for magazines. For example, A Writer’s Guide to Magazine Articles http://www.matilijapress.com/writingpage.html Read some of my articles at: http://www.matilijapress.com/articles.htm#writing Sign up for my online article-writing course at http://www.matilijapress.com/course_magarticles.htm

If you want to write a book, read The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book http://www.matilijapress.com/rightway.html I recommend also using the Author’s Workbook. Customers tell me it is highly effective in guiding them through the writing and publishing process. http://www.matilijapress.com/workbook.html Also consider signing up for my online book proposal course, http://www.matilijapress.com/course_bookproposal.htm and/or the self-publishing course, http://www.matilijapress.com/course_selfpub.htm

4: Study your particular topic/genre. Whether you’re writing articles, short stories or a book, you must have some sense of the market. Who publishes material on your topic/genre? What is already out there? What can you add that is new, different and needed? Before choosing a slant or focus for your piece, become familiar with your market. Rather than pushing ahead with your brilliant idea, make sure that there is a market. Many many authors and freelance writers can’t get a foot-in-the-door because they are too attached to how they want to present the material without giving a thought to what will actually sell.

5: Write a proposal. For an article, you need only write a query letter, but you want it to include the purpose, scope, slant and style for your proposed article, names of any experts you’ll interview or quote, number of words, something about you and your expertise in the topic/genre and your expected date of delivery.

For a book, write a book proposal, first and then approach the publisher with a well-written, succinct query letter. Learn how to write a book proposal by reading my book, The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book (see link above). Let the companion Author’s Workbook (link above) walk you through the steps. Sign up for my online book proposal course and get one-on-one help writing your proposal. (See link above.) For help writing a query letter for a book, refer to The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book. For help writing a query letter for an article, read A Writer’s Guide to Magazine Articles (see link above).

Note: For help fine-tuning and editing your book proposal, contact me at PLFry620@yahoo.com. Learn more about my credentials at http://www.matilijapress.com/consulting.html

Write It
6: Now start writing your book or article. Freelance writers, wait until you receive an acceptance letter and then write the article. Too often, the editor will request a little different slant or word count or style than you have suggested.

Authors, you can start writing your book as soon as you complete your book proposal. In fact, you’ll be surprised how easily your book will go together after having written a book proposal.

7: Work with an appropriate editor. If you’re new to the world of magazine writing, it’s wise to hire someone who knows the business to look at your finished piece. Contact me at PLFry620@yahoo.com. Authors, please, PLEASE hire an editor who is familiar with book editing (not your child’s high school English teacher or the retired college professor down the street). Also make sure your editor knows something about your genre and/or subject matter. I work with authors in all stages of their projects and in many areas of interest. I also know other editors I can recommend for those projects that are outside my realm of expertise.

If you dream of being published, make this the year it actually happens. Follow the 7 steps I’ve outlined here which involve—scheduling time, making sacrifices, studying the industry, researching your market, writing a proposal (authors)/query letter (freelance writers), sitting down and writing the piece and working with an editor. Do you want it? You can have it. It’s entirely up to you.