Five Secrets Every Author Should Know

"Secrets" is very possibly a misnomer for this piece, but as with every other blogger out there capturing your attention is important; and additionally, this may be new information to those beginning the process.  Perhaps you believe I'll begin by teaching writing techniques, how to set the scene in fiction or how to wow a publisher into taking your manuscript? Sorry, that's not what this post is about. It is about the raw truth. What every author wishes he or she had known at the beginning of the journey and what every new author should glean from and take heart.

The raw truth is that there are steps to the writing process and none of them begin with a sheet of paper, unless you are a list writer and then it is important. Writing is about a story, a lesson, accomplishing a task (for those of us oriented to "do"), and about sharing something inside us that will not remain bottled up! Writing is putting that idea on a piece of paper and hoping the world will consider it as brilliant as we do. Writing is about overcoming your fears and having courage to let someone outside read your work and possibly tear it to shreds, or even worse ... ignore it!

While writing is all of these things and so many more it is also about getting the word out about you, what you write and having anyone care enough to pause long enough to listen! We've become masters at words and little else. We've honed our craft, taken classes, joined groups and listened to radio shows on the topic at length. These too are highly commendable and congratulations if you are pursing improvement of your skills.

Jump Start Your Writing Career!

But writing is about the little know angles that no book, even my Information in a Nutshell: Writing and Publishing can cover well and that is getting your book seen takes an army and that means more than one. I've worked with many authors throughout the year and the first thing I look at is their motivation.

Why? Because if they aren't excited, thrilled and elated with this project they won't last.

Similar to the sappy comedy, The Wedding Planner (sorry guys, chic flick here), and the heroine's prediction that a bride-to-be's selection of a bridesmaid's dress color or song for the wedding signified whether or not the marriage would last, I too make a prediction. My prediction is based upon years of working with lackluster, unenthusiastic authors who think they want to write a book, and then at the least little bit of a road block or obstacle, cry foul.

It is all about the presentation in food and so too in writing! Excitement and enthusiasm goes a long way. Having talent is icing on the cake. You don't believe me? Think about the last lackluster book you took off the shelf and said, "How did this author ever get published?"

I can tell you how. Someone believed in them, their message or their social media outreach. The new crop of the writing elite are bloggers with thousands of followers. Blogging is a full time job if done well and the new blogger is the new best selling author. Bloggers have been given book deals, movie deals and soon possibly cologne deals!

Perhaps your manuscript is truly the next Indiana Jones, The Lion King or Les Miserables... so what if no one knows about it! How are they going to find you? Behind your laptop or in your home?

Perhaps. We're living in a new world, the new frontier and believe me many have gone before you with great success. These are the people who recognize that the "flavor" of the month was the electronic reader for adults for Christmas. And what goes on that eReader? Thousands upon thousands of manuscripts that might have sat undiscovered and unloved.

I will be sharing about writing eVersions soon, however the reason for this piece is there are things for you to do before you write that next best seller.

So what are the five secrets every author should know?

1. Relationships Matter and so do joint ventures
2. Branding is important
3. Your Reach
4. Your Contact List
5. Podcast, Radio, Internet, TV

This topic will be the covered in an upcoming webinar I'll be presenting hosted by Nathan Kievman group owner of Linked Strategies on LinkedIn. I've learned alot from Nate as well I should. I've worked with him over the past two years as a ghost writer and now I'll share my strategies with his group.

You are all invited to attend.

Where? Online: Here http://bit.ly/yBm9P7
Time? Noon ET
Host: Nathan Kievman ~ Linked Strategies

New RELEASE!

Speaker: Felice Gerwitz ~ Five Secrets Every Author Should Know Before Writing the First Word
Speaker: Carol Topp, CPA ~ Five Secrets to Short Cut Your Record Keeping for Tax Benefits






Can't make the live presentation? I'll post a recap for you here as well as share more about my ideas for the eVersion reading craze and how you can profit in these hard and challenging times!



Felice Gerwitz is an author and publisher of the series:


Information in a Nutshell:

Author: Felice Gerwitz Writing and  Publishing and
Author: Carol Topp, CPA Business Tips and Taxes for Writers
(To catch Carol's interview go to WritingandPublishingRadio.com)

You can find these books on Amazon in print and Kindle and in other versions on the publisher's website at Media Angels.com

Fine-Tune Your Writing Vision

Some time ago I shared I was struggling with leaving my vacation time attitude, and moving back into the "workplace." I seriously struggled and no matter what, lists, deadlines or looming financial disaster (okay, so that is a little stretch), I could not make myself work.

However I soon found the root cause of this "funk" ...and none too soon... it was the lack of focus and vision. I had so many projects to work on, all with pending deadlines and I couldn't make time to finish even one! Until I was able to pull back, analyze my work load and make a plan, was I able to gain clarity and tackle the project one thing at a time.

Maybe you are a ball-juggler and like to have several projects going at once. I am one of *those* types of people. However, knowing which job to pick and put down is very important. I often run many things in my head at once and until I stop and take the time to write it down, it normally remains there.

Here are five keys to finding a focus and re-gaining your vision:

1. De-Clutter:
      While a messy desk may be the sign of a creative mind it wastes so much time! I recently de-cluttered my entire office, shelves, desk drawers, table tops and more and found so many things I had lost or misplaced months ago.

2. Organize
     If you clean and declutter and go back to your old way of doing things the same thing will happen. I have so much paper and often there are piles around my office. Now I've organized each group into specific places. This system is working well for me and helps contain the paper-monster piles.

1. Something I'm not finished with, but doesn't need my attention for awhile, goes into a folder and into a small holder beside my desk.
2. Work in progress into a notebook, sometimes with hole-punch and other times paper clipped (large ones) for easy flipping through. This works great for manuscripts that I'm reviewing, for example I have a final draft of the new Information in a Nutshell Book, "Taxes and Tips for Writer's" by Carol Topp sitting in a notebook at my desk waiting for ONE (hopefully) last set of eyes. (Book is due for pre-release in September.)
3. Important: This is pinned to one of my three bulletin boards. (Did you know I was a teacher?) Sticky notes for things to take care of and then discard, and more important to-do's are pinned on the board.
4. Completed project into a file and drawer.


3. Prioritize
     I'm open to suggestions on this one. I consider just about everything a NOW job! For example I am hosting several webinars and while hosting one I am taping behind the scenes sessions and planning and scheduling the next webinar. My list of to-do grows at this time and only with help can I accomplish everything in a timely fashion. Obviously a schedule is of major importance and the event schedule takes precedence over other deadlines. Which brings us to the next point...

4. Set Deadlines
I've found that I can work best under a deadline so I try to give each project a projected finish date. This has worked well and now with some help I am finding this to be a valuable aid. Having a mid-point date to re-evaluate is my goal, and would be wonderful, however I am not at that point. At least at this writing.

5. Celebrate
    All work and no-play makes Jane dull...and even if my name isn't Jane I've become dull at times. Racing to one deadline, only to begin another is seriously a recipe for disaster. I need time to regroup with my family, take a break and turn my computer off. Hibernate does not count! Taking time to celebrate the big and little events are a great way to get your focus back.

Whatever ways work for you, I hope you will share your successes here with me. What has worked for you and how do you handle one or more of the issues that plague even the most organized writers?

New Tax Laws in 2011 for Writers

Guest Blogger
Carol Topp, CPA

Congress passed several new tax bills in 2010. Are there any tax breakers for writers? CPA and author, Carol Topp says, yes, there are some tax breaks that writers, authors and publishers need to know about including:

* a 2% raise for all workers including self-employed freelance writers
* increases on common business deductions that authors and writers should know about
* a first-time deduction to the self-employment tax
* changes in deductions for health insurance
* incentives to hire employees and buy equipment

Carol will discuss all these important tax changes for writers, but she will also discuss some laws that will affect you in the near future such as the the 1099MISC reporting requirement.

1099MISC reporting requirement.

As part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA or fondly called “Obamacare”) a 1099MISC reporting requirement was added. All business owners know that they have had to give independent contractors who provided services (such as web designers, freelance writers, editors, etc) a Form 1099MISC if they were paid more than $600 in a year. No 1099MISC forms needed to be sent to corporations or for the purchase of goods.

But this act changed that reporting requirement effective January 1, 2012. Now a small business owner must give a Form 1099MISC (and a copy to the IRS) to all vendors supplying goods or services including corporations paid more than $600 in a year.

This means for every vendor you pay more than $600 in a year you must collect their legal name and tax ID number (using a Form W-9) and send them a Form 1099MISC at the start of 2012. This includes hotels, airlines, office supply stores, computer stores, etc. This law becomes effective January 1, 2012, so you need to start collecting data during 2012 and give the 1099MISC forms in early 2013.

Imagine what this means to you, a self-employed writer. You walk into Office Depot and buy paper, ink and a new printer totaling $400. No problem you think, I'm under the $600 1099MISC limit. Later in the year you buy more supplies for $250. Now you've given Office Depot more than $600 in a year. You need to collect their legal name and tax ID number. Do you think the cashier has that information? Probably not! Your record keeping must track how much you pay each and every company so that you can send them 1099MISC forms by January 30 of 2013. If you already hate record keeping, this is going to add to that burden.

This is an unnecessary and unreasonable record keeping task for small business owners! Email your congressional representative to ask for a repeal. (Google “repel 1099 MISC reporting” to find several sample letters). Many congress men and women has vowed to overturn this potion of the PPACA. Let's hope it's sooner rather than later!


Listen as Felice Gerwitz interviews Carol Topp about these important issues facing writers.

Monday, January 17, 2011 at 3:30 pm EST.

Join us LIVE here

Carol has created a handout summarizing these tax changes for writers. Go to TaxesForWriters.com to get your copy of the handout. Take it to your tax preparer and make sure you are getting every deduction you are allowed!


Bio: Carol Topp has been married to her husband, Dave, for 26 years and they have two daughters. She lives with her family in Cincinnati, Ohio where they enjoy reading, traveling, art museums, hiking, their church and homeschooling. Carol's daughters, one in college and one in high school, were homeschooled through high school graduation.

Through homeschooling, Carol discovered her love for teaching and communicating through writing and speaking. She has written several books sharing her experience and accounting knowledge, including the Micro Business for Teens series, Homeschool Co-ops: How to Start Them, Run Them and Not Burn Out,  and, as a contributing author, Home Work: Juggling Home, Work and School Without Losing Your Balance. She has also published several magazine articles in The Old Schoolhouse, Home Education, Homeschool Enrichment, Nonprofit World magazines and the National Association of Tax Professionals TaxPro.

Carol is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) as well as an author and specializes in tax preparation, small/micro business accounting, and nonprofit accounting. She has presented numerous workshops on money management, business start up, taxes, budgeting and homeschooling to various writers groups, community, church and homeschool organizations. Carol was born and raised in Wisconsin and graduated from Purdue University with a BS in Engineering. She worked for the US Navy as a cost analyst before obtaining her CPA license in 2000. She published her first book in 2008. Her websites include  CarolToppCPA.com andTaxesForWriters.com.

Carol Topp, CPA

CarolToppCPA.com Author and accountant

HomeschoolCPA.com For homeschool organizations and leaders

Does your teenager owe taxes? TeensAndTaxes.com

Know a teenager who wants to start a business? MicroBusinessForTeens.com