This Business of Writing: Setting Up Accounts

business, writing, authore, accounting, bookkeeping, All rights reserved by iStockphoto
All rights reserved by iStockphoto

This is the second in my series of articles on the business side of being a writer.  Originally I planned to use this series as part of a book on this topic, until I discussed the book with a CPA/Registered Investment Counselor/Author.  He thought the book was a needful thing, for many authors seem under-prepared to deal with the financial side of their chosen career, but he suggested that I market the book as a sleep aid.   Bookkeeping just isn’t exciting (unless you’re writing fiction about a bookkeeper who is a sex-addicted, vampire/zombie, who goes around murdering people.   That, people might buy.)  To see if he was right I decided to try out a series of articles here on my blog and judge your reaction to them.

As I was preparing this series I was contacted by Brigitte A. Thompson, President of
Datamaster Accounting Service, LLC and author of Bookkeeping Basics for Freelance Writers.  Brigitte offered me a series of posts on accounting for authors in exchange for the opportunity to promote her book.   Since she is an accounting professional and an author, her advice would be more accurate and
probably more valuable than mine.  So, starting with my regular post on Monday we’ll launch into Brigitte’s series on bookkeeping for authors.  But first, I’m going to slide (most of) the post I had written for Monday in here today because I think it has some things to say that some of you may need to hear and don’t seem to be covered in detail in the upcoming series.  Brigitte’s series starts on Monday. Continue reading “This Business of Writing: Setting Up Accounts”

About This Business of a Writing Business

writing business
iStockphoto image, all rights reserved

I have a friend, a retired aerospace engineer turned artist, who hates bookkeeping.  He sells his art at local art shows, and from his home.  When he makes a sale, the money goes into a steel cash box.  When he buys supplies the money come out of the box.  When he wants to know how much money he has made from his art, he counts the contents of the cash box.  This is elegant in its simplicity, but would be a nightmare should he ever be audited.  Are you a hobby writer or a writing business?   Continue reading “About This Business of a Writing Business”

Whence Blows the Wind?

sunset,mountain,evening,tennessee
Photo by Allan Douglas

As the orange orb of the sun slid down behind English mountain, splashing the sky with rose, vermillion and mauve, the day’s heat began to wane.  The air started to move; a cool caress of their faces as they sat in their rockers on the porch before it drifted off to play among the trees.  The rustling leaves were like soft music.

The breeze wafted first from the south, then paused, and resumed again from the northwest, paused and swung back again as though it were playing a game.  “I wonder what makes the wind change like that.” She sighed.   Continue reading “Whence Blows the Wind?”