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30/12/2024

Publishing Administration Business Set Up 2

A common practice amongst self publishers is to establish a Limited Liability Company.

The purpose for doing so is an attempt to limit personal liability Jim case something happens and for potential tax purposes.

These are worthwhile reasons for considering a business set up, but it’s helps to do so with a tax advisor to identify real benefits between a sole proprietorship versus an LLC.

It also helps to learn more about the value of an LLC for liability protection for legal purposes and if it’s really iron clad liability protection or not. That might require a conversation with an attorney.

Furthermore, there is a recent situation related to LLCs, as the government is now requiring a specific report within 90 days if creating an LLC. The US government requires a Beneficial Ownership Infornation (BOI) report for ALL LLCs. It’s being addressed in courts of this writing and was scheduled to requiring reporting before the 1st of January 2025. That’s has been delayed temporarily, but has not been cancelled.

Be sure to research it and learn the reporting requirements to not get hit by hefty daily fees and other fines for missing the deadline.

28/12/2024

Publishing Administration Business Set Up

I’m in the process of creating a multi part series on publishing administration, some helpful tools, and actions needed to get set up and organized.

These will not necessarily be in depth articles, because I’m only trying to provide sone quick snippets for consideration.

To start with, an early decision to consider is what type of publishing and publishing business will you have.

When publishing as a hobby you might not consider it necessary to create a business entity. That is a good discussion to have with a CPA and possibly an attorney.

There are tax issues and reports to consider based on the type of business you look into creating.

Some options: (State Level)
No business entity, publishing as a hobby

Sole proprietorship

General and limited partnerships

Limited Liability Partnership (LLP)

Limited Liability Companies (LLC)

A Corporations

C Corporations

Each of these have differences in taxing and reporting requirements at the state level.

At a more local level is a Doing Business As option, when using a fictitious business identity versus our own one.

Some options: (Local Level)
Doing Business As

When registering a business at a state level, you can register your business in any state of your choice rather than your local state. Some states have better fees, reporting requirements, or tax advantages.

Research business set up at your state government or the state government of your choosing.

10/11/2024

How do you self edit your books when
the words you wrote made sense at the time?

Just a few thoughts.

Step away from it for a week to clear your head of it.

Read it out loud.

Have someone or some device read it out loud.

Engage outside readers.

Who are outside readers?
Alpha readers
Beta readers
Peer reviewers where appropriate.

Before you find an editor to check your work,
put it through the paces yourself.

This is especially true if you are writing in rhyme.

10/11/2024

The basic list of creating a children’s book is pretty simple, but ex*****on can become complicated.

Write
Self edit (including reader feedback)
Editing (using editor)
Illustrations (most cost for self publishing)
Book Design
Printing / Publishing (many options)

Beyond creating a children’s book, one must consider other requirements.

Storage / Warehousing
Distribution
Logistics

Some of these choices can be easy up front, but may get more complicated with time. Print on Demand is the easiest path to get started, but royalties are likely to be low.

20/10/2024

Drawing bats, easy to more complex.

19/10/2024

Creating a bat, though this example is with paint it can be done with any medium.

At a quick glance, the linked article is a pretty decent summary of the publishing process and options. Keep in mind it ...
04/10/2024

At a quick glance, the linked article is a pretty decent summary of the publishing process and options. Keep in mind it wasn’t written for children’s books, but more general book creation.

There are some eiements I might place in a different order or might explain differently, but if you want to publish a children’s book, this is a good starting point for building your knowledge.

The process of writing, editing and publishing a book like this has been 2+ years in the making. Whether you self-publish or go through a ...

21/09/2024

Having fun with mistakes in art

20/09/2024

Character drawing techniques and clothing movement.

20/09/2024

Drawing tree techniques

19/09/2024

Character drawing techniques

Music RightsWhen I post reels, I have had an issue with music rights, so I may test out something from time to time with...
25/08/2024

Music Rights

When I post reels, I have had an issue with music rights, so I may test out something from time to time with the music the Facebook reels offers, but there never is intent to abuse or misuse a creators copyrights. I am seeking which creators authorize the use of their work as royalty free or copyright free use for now. If I get a music rights issue message, the reel comes down and I try again.

What I can see before posting depends on which device I’m using. If the description says royalty free or copyright free does not mean it won’t be clear to use, which I find odd, but it’s like providing a description to coloring sticks and never updating the description even though they’ve changed hands and formulas, etc…

I now look for this message. See image as it appears while on my phone, but not in my mini tablet. Under the creators name there might be a description, even if that says royalty free or copyright free, I don’t touch it unless it has a separate message like in the attached image. I covered the music creators identity, but I’m looking for a specific message. Plus, I now include hashtags for royalty free music and the creators name, using all three details.

21/08/2024

Publishing with Limited Financial Resources

One of the biggest hurdles for many new self publishing authors is the financial resources to self publish a children’s book. There are several approaches a person can take, though they might not like all their options.

1. Forgo self publishing and seek the traditional publishing route. This route can be slower, but it does not require up front money.

2. Avoid all paid publishing providers or terms they go by; such as vanity, hybrid, indie, or boutique publishers. They provide full publishing services, but often at a premium rate and by providing an ISBN, they become publisher of record.

3. Avoid or carefully manage any publishing connected services you require to publish your book, a manage-it-yourself approach. You become the project manager to publish your book and this includes ancillary items necessary to publish your book. This requires more up front planning and resource collecting, such as buying ISBNs in largest bulk your goals and finances will allow. This can include seeking lowest cost alternatives, such as working with less skilled college students seeking to build out portfolios. It might be a cost-quality tradoff for the first edition, but that’s not always a good thing either.

4. Pursue the do-it-yourself path. Much like managing it yourself, the do-it-yourself paths is an even more hands on approach. This too includes ancillary items and buying ISBNs in bulk as goals and finances allow.

5. Avoid picture books and focus on chapter books. Picture books are a much higher investment requirement that chapter books are because of the cost of obtaining all the necessary illustrations. A chapter book primarily requires the front and back cover for possible illustrations or it can be created with stock imagery at a lower cost.

6. If you’re dead set on self publishing a picture book, be sure to plan out the budget you’ll need and start saving. While you’re saving, you can also be writing as many stories as come to mind.

7. If you’re dead set on self publishing a picture book and you don’t want to wait while you raise a few thousand dollars, you can learn how to run a crowdfunding campaign for advance sales, using sites like kickstarter, gofundme, or others. Do your research because they have different requirements. Like kickstarter is an all or nothing campaign and if not successful, you won’t have to fill advance sales orders. Gofundme, I believe is not an all or nothing campaign and if you don’t reach your goal, you’ll still have to fill those advance sales orders.

8. Do not publish. Save up. This may seem like a goal killer, but for many it’s better to not publish than to get thousands of dollars into debt. The alternative is to keep writing and working the traditional publishing path. Otherwise, consider side hustles and other options to build up your savings so you can self publish without creating loads of debt.

Anyone wanting to self publish a children’s book, especially a picture book would be helped by doing a fair amount of upfront planning. Hone writing skills in the meantime, learn all they can about publishing, get aware of what they can do themselves and what skills they’ll need to pay for. Explore different alternatives to obtain those services as low cost-high quality as possible, learn what the scammers are doing so they can be avoided. Then make it happen.

In my opinion, the worst approach a self publishing author can take is to rush in blindly due to their enthusiasm. Enthusiasm is great for driving a person forward, but not without some kind of bridle or training to keep it in check with the financial challenges a person might face. It can be used as a motivator to overcome those financial barriers.

20/08/2024

For anyone considering publishing, selling, and marketing a book through Amazon, Amazon can be a tricky beast.

First there’s the different parts of Amazon.
Author Central
Amazin Advantage
Seller Central
Fulfillment by Merchant (FBM)
Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA)
Vendor Central
Amazon Ads
Amazon Affiliates (product recommendations)

Then there’s the publishing bits:
Print on demand
Free ISBN or author supplied ISBN
Quality issues
Reviews
Categories
Expanded distribution

These are items I’m listing off the top of my head.
If there are others you’ve encountered or wondered about that are not listed here, maybe share them in comments and I’ll update my list.

Might be helpful to do a next level dive into different parts of Amazon. If we identify it by its parts, it might be easier to understand.

The more we know, the more we know. Right?

And then it might help to determine the value of any book sales and marketing strategy.

18/08/2024

I see a lot of new authors rush to publish a book because there is desire, joy, belief, and eagerness to get it done and watch the sale. Eagerness is good and troublesome, depending how you channel it.

Eagerness can help you get your book created and published quickly.

Eagerness can also cost you unnecessary time and finances.

Eagerness is important and necessary because ayes it shows your passion, your desire, it helps you fulfill your dream.

Keep the eagerness going, but temper it with planning and knowledge.

With traditional publish, eagerness gets tempered by the gatekeepers. Those are the traditional publishers and literary agents.

With self publishing, eagerness is tempered or destroyed by service providers, paid publishing providers, financial constraints, scammers, etc…

This is not to suggest losing that eagerness, but to figure out how to use it to drive you forward while dodging the obstacles that can have a negative impact to destroy it.

16/08/2024

I started writing this post and it turned into multiple directions, so back to trying to keep it simple.

A thought on monetizing your social media.

BACKGROUND:
In my case, I have multiple pages to cover different interests. It can be hectic and confusing, but let me break it down.

Personal profile
Publishing page
Writing page
Art page
Pareidolia Art page (Art style page)
Animal videos page (backyard stuff)

BACKGROUND DIGRESSION:
What I don’t have is a photography page, or rather, I have one, but it’s turned off and I’m sharing visual creations on my art page.

Why a separate art style page for Pareidolia Art? In my head, it makes sense. There are some differences between illustrations and art, though they can overlap.

In fact, much of what I can create can overlap and it will. An example would be my writing page. I might pull in a photo Ive taken and then add a poem I wrote and have a short video reel from that.

Could be a backyard video piece.
Could be a writing piece.
Could be an art creation piece.
Could be a personal piece.

REQUIREMENTS:
All of those can be monetized, but it requires a few things.

A bank account
1,000 followers each

Those are the primary requirements and goals.

SETUP BEGINS:
Bank account done.

I set up a stand alone bank account
checking and savings both
at a bank I use for nothing else.
For incoming financials only
No debit or credit cards
Debit cards are less secure against fraud.
Personal account for testing

FUTURE PLANS:
If it turns into more
Can change to business account
Can add credit card later
Can add more social media options

FOCUS:
Remember, to get there requires 1,000 followers. Therefore, the focus must be on creating content to draw in followers with something they find value in.

That’s the next topic.

15/08/2024

Shared this in an author group and will share here as well.

Unfortunately, when you research something online, you get flooded with posts, images, suggestions, and sales notices about what you might be searching.

Image researching about all kinds of stuff because you’re curious, have ADHD or similar, and write a lot so you have many things to look up and check out.

Inundation comes to mind.

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