The Career Author Podcast: Episode 109 – Accounting for Authors

Accounting for Authors

Accounting for authors is something we’re asked about all the time. Special shout out to John Box for suggesting the conversation.

“How do self-published authors handle their income? Both part-time and full-timers? Are authors setting up LLC’s or the like? Is this something that we can do on our own? Or is there a respectable service out there that can help us?”

These are all great questions. Listen in as we talk about what we do on the financial side of being a career author.

DISCLAIMER: We are not accountants or tax attorneys. This is not financial or legal advice. We are not responsible for any decisions you make as a result of listening to this episode.

The Career Author Podcast is a podcast where co-authors J. Thorn and Zach Bohannon share their struggles and successes as full-time authors, advice for improving your writing craft, and honest discussions of what it takes to build a successful career as an author.

In this episode, you’ll discover:

  • Why credit cards can be good for small business owners
  • How to determine whether or not you need an LLC
  • Why partners should always have written agreements
  • Tools for book keeping
  • When you need a tax professional

Also, learn how to get on the path to financial independence for free.

Send us your ways and hacks – https://thecareerauthor.com/waysandhacks/ 

Leave us a comment: What is one thing you’ll do in 2020 to improve your financial health as an author?

Thanks to all of our newest Patrons, Holly Starkey, Mary Lasher, and Dee DuPuy.

Podcast sponsored by Kobo Writing Life – https://writinglife.kobobooks.com 

Get exclusive bonus content by supporting The Career Author Podcast on Patreon at www.patreon.com/thecareerauthor

Want to work with us? Get the details at https://thecareerauthor.com/services/

Links:

FI101 – https://academy.choosefifoundation.org/

Zach on the Rebel Author Podcast – https://rebelauthorpodcast.podbean.com/e/011-authors-and-money-how-to-quit-your-day-job-and-write-full-time-with-zach-bohannon/

You Are a Storyteller Podcast – https://writeinvisibleink.com/episodes/

The Writers, Ink Podcast – https://writersinkpodcast.com/

The Career Author YouTube Channel – https://www.youtube.com/thecareerauthor

Three Story Method – http://threestorymethod.com

Molten Universe Media – http://www.moltenuniversemedia.com

Events – https://thecareerauthor.com/events/ 


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10 responses to “The Career Author Podcast: Episode 109 – Accounting for Authors”

  1. Christopher Wills Avatar

    Morning guys. Great way today J. That’ll be incredibly useful for a lot of people.
    Useful topic today. Interesting discussion about a business credit card; I never thought about the protection offered. Good idea.
    I use an accountant even though my needs are small. I worked for organisations all my life so doing my own taxes was trepidatious at first. It is a learning process for me, it gives me peace of mind and the cost is minimal at the moment.
    What is the one thing I’ll do in 2020 to improve my financial health as an author? I’m in this for the long game so my answer is simple; write more books.
    Incidentally on this page your “Leave us a Comment…” above the “Thanks to our new Patrons…” asks about “in-person events…”
    Great show today.

    1. J. Thorn Avatar
      J. Thorn

      I agree. The peace of mind is worth it.

      Good catch on the copy/paste error. Thanks!

  2. Rebekah Bryan Avatar

    Oh gosh. One thing I’m going to do this year is actually keep track of what I’m spending…instead of in past years, where I start to keep track but then give up by about April. I hardly make any money, so I’m super lazy about keeping track of my expenses. So this year, I’m going to take it more seriously. Probably.

    Also, completely off topic, but I seem to remember an episode where you talked about author photo best practices, but I can’t find it using the search. Was this a thing that happened? I’d like to reference it for a talk I’m doing in a few months.

    1. J. Thorn Avatar
      J. Thorn

      Hmmm. I think we may have talked about headshots at one point but it wasn’t very detailed.

      1. Rebekah Bryan Avatar

        OK thanks! Maybe I’ll reach out to Rachael and see if I can use hers as examples.

  3. Edwin Avatar

    This got me thinking on a number of levels. As some of them relate to my being a Canadian I will limit myself to two of them.

    Let’s start with bank accounts and credit cards. Here is Canada both come with potentially hefty user fees that must be taken into account.

    You mentioned still publishing through the KDP interface at AMZ Have you ever looked at the pros and cons of creating a corporate account for Molten Universe Media?

    1. J. Thorn Avatar
      J. Thorn

      ASFAIK, there is only one type of KDP account called “publisher.” I’m sure the Big Five have a special dashboard but I don’t think the mere mortals have any other choice and ZON is very clear in saying we can only have one publisher account. If you’ve found documented info that’s different than this, please post a link because I’d be VERY interested in having a MUM publisher account which is not the same as my own. Thanks!

      1. Edwin Avatar

        Sorry, I don’t know anything myself. I’ve always assumed publishers had a way in other than KDP, and probably the ability to negotiate different terms of service. I guess the big question is how large you have to be before you qualify.

  4. Bill Weiss Avatar
    Bill Weiss

    An FYI on bundle prices: This is just me, but if I see a bundle priced at $0.99, a red flag unfurls telling me it must be crap. ‘Nobody would price a decent series that low,’ I think.

    If it’s a good series, sorry guys, it’s helping the race to the bottom.

    1. J. Thorn Avatar
      J. Thorn

      Yep. That perception is a problem for sure.