‘There are only two certainties in life: death and taxes’ – Benjamin Franklin
For Australians, tax time is here.
Have you been a good record keeper the past twelve months?
While the chances of you being audited are slim Murphy’s Law says you’ll get audited just after you get lazy with your taxes. Just get it done right the first time and then sleep easy for the rest of the year.
The last thing you want to do is end up with a massive tax bill at the end of the financial year or the ATO (Australia) , HMRC (UK) or IRS (USA) or the equivalent in your country, knocking at your door demanding their money.
If you’re running a business you need to pay taxes. If it’s a hobby then you should be ok. But how do you know whether yours is a business or a hobby?
Good question.
It doesn’t come down to just how much money you bring in but also how you conduct yourself on a day to day basis.
Some questions to consider:
Do you have a business and marketing plan?
Is your intention to make a profit/run a business?
Are you putting in specific hours each week to work?
Are you selling your work for a profit or just to cover costs?
Do you promote your work?
If your intention is to turn a profit, then it’s likely that you are running a business.
Each country has different tax/business laws so make sure that you check out the rules and regulations for your area. Your best best is to give the taxation office a call or speak to a qualified accountant.
In Australia, the ATO website has an easy to use questionnaire that you can use to help you decide whether your venture will be treated as a hobby or as a business. You can check out the questionnaire here.
If you’re in Australia as I am, June 30 is the end of the financial year. Australians have till the 31 October to file their tax returns unless they’re registered with a tax agent.
Hopefully, you’ve overpaid rather than underpaid so they can get a nice refund to spend on a holiday or more books and stationery to fill their shelves. It’s like getting a little bonus without doing the extra work!
Deductions
If you’re a writer/author/freelancer who makes money and intends to make a profit rather than just to cover your expenses then you should speak to an accountant to ensure you are deducting the right things.
I love deductions. It’s all those little things that can reduce your tax bill significantly. Charity donations are the most common deductions that people use. Have you given money away to charity this year? Make sure that you keep a receipt for everything you’ve donated over $2. You can claim it at tax time.
As a writer making a dime you might be able to claim the following:
Toner and paper
Notebooks and pens
Internet connection
Subscriptions
Editor, VA and cover designers costs
Business Coaching
Professional development courses
A percentage of your phone bill
(I’m not a tax professional so this is just general advice. Speak to an accountant in your area who can assess your needs based on your activities and location. Different countries, different rules!)
Plan ahead
If you’re working for yourself then you’re probably already putting away a portion of your income to cover taxes. If you have a full time job and freelance on the side you should also be putting cash away for the tax man to collect.
* Put away at least 20% for taxes from your first payment * Get an ABN (Australian Business Number) or the equivalent in your country. In Australia if you don’t have the ABN 49% of your income could be sent straight to the tax office. *Do you need to register for GST (Goods & Services Tax)? If you’re earning under $75K then probably not. Planning on earning more? Check with your accountant. *Keep all your receipts – you need to prove what you’re spending and deducting *Record all your income and expenditure – you can click here to see what I use *Maintain an invoice system *Get an accountant!
If you’re not sure as to how much tax you should be paying each year, start putting aside 30% until you speak with an accountant. If you are able to forecast how much you anticipate earning then check out the tax brackets that apply to you. If your earnings fall below $18,200 (in Australia) then you won’t be paying any tax. If you plan on earning $35K, then start putting aside 20%, $80K, 35%, over $150K aim for 45% just to be on the safe side.
In the second year, the ATO will tell you how much you need to pay quarterly based on the previous year’s earnings. If you anticipate on earning more, make sure you put that little bit extra away so not to get bitten with a nasty tax bill come tax time. Your best bet is to speak to an accountant so they can advice you based on your personal circumstances. Their fee will be tax deductible the following financial year so keep your receipt!
No body likes paying taxes. Unfortunately, if you’re earning an income paying tax is inevitable.
How do you handle tax time? What are some things that you are able to deduct? Do you use an accountant or do you do your own?
Come the first of the year and the world is busy setting goals, resolutions, objectives, or aims for the next 365 days where they hope to change their lives, grow happier, healthier, leaner, smarter, or richer.
Trying to improve yourself as person in all areas of life is a good thing. Growth is healthy, it opens us up to opportunities, and removes the monotony of daily responsibilities.
The truth is that most people aren’t going to keep to their New Year Goals. Half will give up by the end of January, another half by March, and the majority would have thrown in the towel by the end of June. The few who do make it to six months are most likely to achieve their yearly goals and be better for it.
Where do you fall in the group?
If you’re on track, well done. You’re doing a great job. Keep at it. You can achieve anything.
If you’ve fallen off the bandwagon, it’s not too late to get back up.
Start today. You can do it!
June is the perfect time to reassess where you’re at, modify those goals if need be, and kick yourself up the booty and get cracking on those resolutions.
You’re not the same person today as you were six months ago. Ok you are, but the past six months you’ve have gone through new and old experiences, your needs may have changed, as well as your likes and dislikes. These might be just subtle changes but they may impact what you want from the year.
It’s ok to modify your goals to suit you today. They’re not set in stone so you can adjust and adapt to your current situation so that you get the best out of them.
Grab your list of goals (you’ve got them written down, right?).
Good, ok let’s get the party started.
4 QUESTIONS TO ASK WHEN CHECKING IN ON YOUR PROGRESS
1 – Read through your goals. Do you remember setting them as if it were yesterday? Or are you wondering what you were thinking when you wrote them down? Either way, go through them. Ask yourself, do they still apply today? Can any of them be modified to suit your current situation? For example, you might have set yourself a goal to read twelve non-fiction books but you’re just not getting any joy with them. Can you reduce the number to just three and increase the fiction ones? That’s not a sign of failure – it’s throwing realism into the mix and making sure that things get done.
2 – Which goals are you progressing nicely with? A few? None? Both answers are plausible. If you don’t read your goals regularly it’s easy to get distracted with life and every day tasks. Did you tell yourself you’re going to run a marathon at the end of the year? Have you been training as planned? Maybe just sporadically. Ask yourself why you’re not following to plan? It could be because it doesn’t suit your current lifestyle. What can you change to make it work for you today, this week, month? Think in smaller bits and you’re more likely to reach those goals sooner.
3 – Is there anything on your list that is completely ludicrous or not something that is in the realms of your control? Change it or lose it. Why set yourself up for disappointment? Winning the lotto is not a goal? Neither is earning your annual salary on the side if you haven’t bothered to hustle, hustle, and hustle some more the past six months.
4 – Are there any that you still really, really, really want to achieve? What do you hold dear to your heart? Fantastic. Having passion for your ambitions brings you one step closer to achieving your goals. What can you do today, right now, to bring you closer to that one goal that means everything to you? If you want to pick up a new language maybe it’s time to sign up for the course or find a conversation buddy online. Is there a client that you really want to nab for your business – take the plunge and cold call them with a pitch, or send them an email, or make an appointment to see them in person. What’s the worst that can happen?
Need help?
* Break down your goals
* Only do what you really want to do
* Find an accountability partner
* Focus on one goal per week or per month
* Get rid of the clutter – you don’t want your true goals crowded by false ones
It’s never too late to get a move on with your goals. Just remember to keep an eye on them throughout the year. Our minds find it hard to see the big picture especially when it’s in the distance.
Take bite size steps to achieving your goals even if they seem far away. Enjoy the journey and use what you learn to grow as a person and in your business. Sooner or later setting goals and achieving them will be a walk in the park.
I’m off to reassess my goals. It’s been a while. I too might need a kick in the backside to get things done this year.
Do you look over your goals regularly? What sort of steps are you taking to achieve them? Any tips on achieving your goals, whatever they may be?
There are more than a million books being published each so why in the world would you want to add your own to the bunch? But the thing is, if you really want to write a book, you probably should.
You may think its been said before, and yes, it probably has, but that doesn’t mean you said it, with your experience behind it, with a fresh perspective on it.
Pick up the latest issue of your favourite magazine and then find one from the year before. Take stock of the articles in each. Do they sound familiar? The same even? Yep, that’s right. Whether it’s health and fitness, gardening or cooking, real estate or parenting, the ideas are mostly the same, they simply have a different slant to them.
The same goes with books.
Whether you are writing fiction or non-fiction you will not find a book that is original. There are no more original ideas. Just fresh takes.
Romance books are all the same. Two people meet, they want to be together but there are multiple situations or people that get in their way, and then finally at the end they end up together.
Mysteries are generally solving a puzzle of who and why.
Books for writers generally repeat themselves but there’s no shortage of them coming out on a regular basis. The information is all the same just regurgitated in a different fashion.
Motivation books. Have you read the gurus in the field? I’ve found that most of their books end up sounding pretty much the same and yet people buy them. Love them. Recommend them to friends and neighbours.
Competition is good. But the good thing with books is that there’s no a limit as to how many you are able to read. That’s why there’s room for writers and authors of both fiction and non-fiction to find an audience for their work.
7 reasons why you should write a book:
1. A book can help you build a professional brand.
As a business, having a book on the market gives you a more authoritative voice. People will consider you and your business as an expert in the field that you are writing in.
2. A book can help increase your market reach.
A book will increase your market reach especially if it’s available from your website and any of the publishing platforms including Amazon, Kobo, iBooks, etc. If you want to reach more people with your business, writing a book might be a good option for you.
3. A book is a product that you can sell for many years.
You own the rights and can earn royalties until you die, which then they get turned over to your estate. Your book can continue earning even for up to 70 years after the authors/artists death.
4. A book is an additional income stream.
if you’re successful. While you should rely on one book to bring home the bacon, you will find that after book three you will start seeing more sales come through. Having a book, or better still, multiple books on the market, can be an investment for your financial future. A risky one, and not one you should rely on, but an investment nonetheless.
5. A book can be a sentimental keepsake for your family.
On a more personal note, it can be something you can pass on to family and friends. A keepsake of sorts, a sentimental piece of you.
6. A book may teach you something new.
Often the idea of ‘write what you know’ gets flipped around, but a better one is to ‘write what you want to know’. A book can give you an excuse to research all sorts of topics from forensic psychology or marketing tactics, to religion or the mafia.
7. You’re accomplishing a goal.
To prove to yourself that you can do it. Writing a book is simple but it’s far from easy. It requires time, dedication, small sacrifices and self-motivation. Trying to put on paper what’s in your head over three hundred pages whilst keeping the reader interested is hard work.
Maybe you’ve always wanted to write a book. It’s an item on your bucket list that you really want ticked off. Just go for it. Don’t wait for permission from anyone else. You might surprise yourself as to what actually comes out.
Having a book on the market can lead to many opportunities including meeting new people, travelling the world, public speaking, a new career, and so much more.
Have you written a book? Is it something you’ve ever thought about doing?
We won’t see May for another year. It’s been a surprisingly warm one for the sunny Gold Coast. It’s the end of Autumn at this part of the world but the temps have been sitting in the mid-20’s and dropping down to 15 at night (Celsius not Fahrenheit).
How was your May? Did you achieve your goals? Is there anything you wish you did differently that you’ll try in June?
May didn’t go according to plan. I set high expectations and,well, life including work, parenting, training for a marathon, exhaustion, socialising and a holiday got in the way of getting everything done. Ok, ok, I know, these are just excuses.
My main goal for May was to publish my third book, a novella, Lethal Aftershock. And I did that.
My secondary goal was to relax and have fun on my holiday to Fiji. I definitely did that. Maybe a little too much.
I took my laptop to get some writing done in between the sunbathing, drinking, running after my son in and out of the pool, paddle boarding, catching up on reading, eating and sleeping. Who was I kidding, I was in Fiji! Other than a few notes and questions that need to be answered in the next book, I didn’t do any writing until I got on the return flight and my brain started to work again.
Rest is a necessity. Sometimes working throughout a holiday is fantastic, at other times you need to stop, think about nothing and reset your brain. That’s what I did and it was worth it.
I’ve returned refreshed and ready to get back to work. I have learnt that I need to have a break otherwise I will burn out. My day job is mentally draining as is writing books. One deals with numbers, the other creativity. the end of the day, I am knackered.
I’ve found exercise is the best way to separate the two. A quick run or some weight training works wonders and makes the transition from day job to writing much smoother. If you need to jump from different activities a bit of exercise can make you more productive.
These were my goals for May, how did I fare. I’ll give myself a 5.5/10.
May Goals & Progress Report
Publish Lethal Aftershock – YES!
Write and schedule two months of blog posts. – YES!
Send out 30 pitches. – No 🙁 Didn’t send any in May.
Affiliates. No 🙁
Run more. YES! Running about 3 times per week!
Sell and giveaway 500 books. No 🙁 I gave away 18 and sold 8.
Get 20 email sign ups. No 🙁 Currently sitting on 9.
The giveaway was a surprise. The last time I ran a free giveaway, I offloaded over 100 books without any promotions. 18 is a very disappointing number and I’m wondering what went wrong. I think the day I ran the promotion has something to do with it as did my lack of marketing.
This time around I ran the two-day giveaway on Monday and Tuesday. The only promo I did was mention it on Twitter once. The purpose of the giveaway is to attract readers and without marketing that just ain’t going to happen. Writing and they will come is not a good marketing strategy.
My first year was all about writing. The second year will be a combination of writing and marketing. I have grand goals, the only ones that are actually within my control are the productivity output. I control how much I write and what I write.
Writing is solitary but selling is a social activity. You need to connect with people in order to be successful.
Build relationships, help others, be of use, and quit bullshitting yourself.
Business By The Numbers In May 2016
Queries sent: 0
Responses: 0
Accepted: 0
Follow ups: 0
Income: $0
Books sold: 8 (Australia, US and Germany)
Books Given Away: 18
Income: $ $8.94
Total writing income: $8.94
June Goals
Finish writing Lethal Attraction, the fourth book in the Lexi Ryder Crime Thriller series. I’ve got the skeleton down, now I just need to flesh the story out.
Try Facebook ads. My initial budget will be $100.
Be active on Goodreads. That’s very broad. I need to connect with more people (aiming for 10 in June). I also would like to join a discussion group. To date my usage involves adding books to my ‘to read’ list, writing reviews of books I really enjoy, etc.
Finish the preliminary draft of a non-fiction book – Writerly Pursuits – this is a book for writers.
Sell 100 books. This would be a sweet number. In order to do so, I need to work on my marketing skills!
Submit 30 pitches for non-fiction work – personal finance, health & fitness, parenting, business, etc. Time to earn some extra cash to cover the costs of cover design and editing of book number four.
Translate chapter one of Lethal Instincts into Polish. This is a personal goal. I want to prove to myself that I can do it. Fortunately the first chapter is nice and short!
Start being more active in my social media groups. Comment on Facebook groups, be supportive of other writers, get onto Twitter and Instagram. The aim is to spend 5-10 minutes a day on each social media platform.
Comment on three writers websites three times per week.
Try my hand at podcasting/skype interview. I have someone I want to interview, and they have agreed to it. I’m about two months behind schedule and hoping they can still fit me in. So I need to figure out how to record on Skype, boost my confidence, and get interviewing!
Get 20 email sign ups. This is a repeat from last month. Having an email list is very important, you just don’t know when platforms like Amazon are going to change their rules.
I’m an overachiever by nature. Taking a break to put my feet up is not something I can do for prolonged periods of time (unless it involves my laptop or a good book in front of me, of course!). My brain and my body needs to be working constantly.
This is not healthy. Nor is it beneficial for long-term productivity.
Australians are quite lucky that they receive four weeks of holidays per year. Unfortunately, not everyone uses them. Then, they burn out. Go crazy. Get divorced. Lose their jobs. Have a midlife crisis. Waste opportunities.
If you want to be successful and stay in the game, you need to schedule a break.
Aim for a few minutes per day. One day per week. A weekend a month. One week per quarter. Two weeks per year. You’ll feel better for it and you’ll get so much more done.
Everyone has a different definition as to what constitutes a break. Find yours and stick to it.
7 Benefits of Taking a Break for Your Mind & Body
Taking a short break throughout the day can boost your overall productivity. Next time you’re thinking about skipping lunch, reconsider. Even a 15 minute walk at lunchtime can boost your afternoon output.
Regular holidays, even if it’s a weekend getaway, can boost your immunity which means less time spent trying to ward off colds and other ailments. Book yourself into a hotel or a bed & breakfast for the weekend and enjoy a change of scenery.
Want to be happier? If you find yourself constantly working and can’t remember the last time you took some time out to rest and recharge your batteries, you might be unintentionally increasing your risk of depression and becoming a negative party-pooper. A holiday away from home, especially, if it involves sunshine and the outdoors can lift your mood, expose you to some much needed Vitamin D, and put a smile on your face.
A change in your environment can be enough to improve your health. When we’re consumed by our jobs and daily responsibilities, it’s easy to fall into a rut. A quick break away from home and the office will get you out of your comfort zone and shift your perspective and that is awesome for both your physical and mental well-being.
Studies have shown that if you’re feeling a bit down – consider SAD (seasonal affective disorder) – during the winter months, evoking memories from your holidays can lift your spirits. So, create some happy memories!ook a holiday to somewhere you’ve never been whether it’s local or overseas.
A break, whether it be two days or two weeks, gives you an opportunity to step away from stress. We put way too much stress on ourselves to perform in every area of our lives. It’s not possible to be superman or superwoman. Give yourself a break and allow a holiday to help you forget about the day-to-day grind and everything that’s driving you up the wall. While some stress is beneficial to keep us motivated and performing, it’s the bad stress that causes our hair to go grey and leads to heart attacks that we want to avoid. A holiday can make all the difference to your health physically and mentally.
Burn out. We all want to avoid it. It’s one of the worst things for productivity and success in life and in business. When we burn out, we stop functioning at an optimum level. It usually means that we’ve been pushing ourselves too much for too long. Schedule in that break and you’ll reduce your risk of burning out. You know how your mind and body functions so you should know when you’re at risk of losing your shit because you work too hard. Add a regular holiday into your calendar or even a day spent at the beach or walking through the forest and you’ll get a quick recharge to keep going without burning out.
A regular break is what the doctor ordered. Stay healthy, improve your productivity, boost your creativity, expand your horizons and open yourself up to new opportunities by taking time out to do something that’s fun, enjoyable and takes you out of your comfort zone.
I may have just returned from an overseas holiday, but I’m already organising the next one in three months time and another for the end of the year. It’s all about balance and if you work hard you need to schedule in some play time.
I TOOK A BREAK AND SURVIVED!
One week in Fiji was bliss. I loved it. Fiji is my new favourite family holiday destination. I can’t wait to go back.
Fijians love kids so getting a nanny and putting our darling into kids’ club most afternoons was a no-brainer. He loved it, we loved it, and everyone was happy.
Did you know that there are no venomous land snakes or spiders in Fiji? I didn’t either but found this a relief considering Australia seems to have them all! The only ones to worry about are those in the sea, but you’re unlikely to come across them anyway.
And the people, OMG, everyone is just so friendly and nice and saying ‘Bula’ ten times a day. It was the ideal spot for the family to relax, unwind and enjoy a few cocktails by the seafront.
Somewhere in the South Pacific
A bit of hot Fijian entertainment.
What better way to recharge the batteries?
The holiday begins. Plane necessities.
So relaxing and feeling very small in the big ocean!
Pretending to get some writing done.
New fave! Bloody Mary nice and spicy!
Beautiful ocean sunsets. At home the sun rises from the ocean side, it was nice to see it set that way.
Resting includes fun runs! I came 3rd female & 8th overall in the Pacific Fitness 5km Fun Run in Fiji. Stoked! That ain’t going to happen again!
Do you take regular breaks? Do you see the benefits of taking a holiday out of your comfort zone? How do you like to relax and recharge your batteries?
I’ve been thinking about judgement a lot lately. Society is a judgmental bunch. We judge people, including ourselves, on a daily basis without any consideration to the pain, discomfort and negativity we are creating.
From the clothes people wear, to the jobs they have, to what they’ve eaten for breakfast or whether they spank their kids, to what books they enjoy reading, or friends they keep. We’re a judgmental sort and it sucks but it’s here to stay.
Everyone judges in one way or another. The difference is how we react to our own judgments and the judgement of others. Studies have shown that our own judgements of others reflect who we really are and that’s both a frightening and comforting revelation at the same time. If you’re in a good mood, you tend to judge others more positively. Having a shitty day? Watch out because some nasty thoughts are just around the corner.
So what does that have to do with writing?
Glad you asked!
Us writers, put our words out into the world hoping readers will love our work. In a perfect world everyone would love everything but that would be boring and it would get tiring. We are born with different tastes, likes, dislikes, preferences. These differences corner us into our judgmental natures without us really being conscious of what we’re doing. That’s natural. Fucked up, but natural.
As a writer not everyone is going to like what you write. As a person, not everyone is going to like you. Do you like everyone you meet? Every book you read? Movie you watch? Clothing you see in the store?
Unlikely.
Or are you one of those annoying people who claim to just loooovvvvee everything?
Our likes and dislikes add to our three dimensional existence. I don’t like celery much. Does that make celery bad? No, just not to my liking. Does celery stop selling because I don’t like it? No, there are millions of others who enjoy it or tolerate it and it stays comfortable in the fresh food aisle of the supermarket for the supports of adding it to everything from salads to stir fries (cringe as I write this). Ok, so a ridiculously stupid example but I assume you get the drift.
Simple.
Get over it.
You don’t need everyone to like you, nor do you need everyone to like your words. Do you think everyone loves EL James – um, no they don’t. But it doesn’t matter because just as many, if not more, love her. How about Oprah Winfrey? She’s an amazing human being, a powerful woman who has achieved so much against many odds. Is the world her fan? Well, sort of. But no, she’s got lovers and haters. It’s inevitable in any industry, even the industry of life.
You are never ever going to please everyone you come in contact with whether directly or indirectly. It’s ridiculous to even bother trying. The harder you aim for perfection, the worse you’re going to feel.
Someone is always going to speak negatively about you, your actions, your words, your behaviour. It’s human nature. You know yin and yang, love and hate, black and white, two sides of one coin. Stop trying to change what isn’t within the realms of your control.
So why do we continue aiming for perfection when it doesn’t exist?
Writer’s block? Maybe you’re trying to impress a too wide audience. Impress yourself first. Then consider your ideal audience. Even then, not all are going to like what you bring to the market. They don’t have too. Are you happy with what you’ve produced? Is it marketable? Is a fraction of your audience going to love it? Then you’re done. Move on.
This doesn’t just relate to writing. It can be applied to most businesses or goals you might have. Aim for perfect and you’ll just burn out, drive yourself nuts, or never achieve your dreams. Perfection may seem attainable but it can more often than not be disastrous.
Remember, you can always improve with time. No one started out with a perfect product or service. Neither will you because perfection isn’t real.
At some point in your career, in your life, in your writing, a nasty person will come along and tell you that you suck. It’s their opinion. They’re entitled to it. Just as you’re entitled to smile, politely say thank you and bid them a good day, even if you think what you’ve created or provided is perfect.
What matters more is how you handle these judgements. Are you going to brush them off? Or are you going to let them get in the way of following your wildest dreams?
The choice is yours.
I’ve been letting people’s judgements, including my own, get in the way of what I want to do, who I want to be, where I want to go. I’ve wasted so many years of my life worrying about what people will think that’s it’s paralysed me and prevented me from being where I want to be. The only person I have to blame is myself.
When you start getting haters in any industry it often means that you’re succeeding. It’s a weird thought that took me a while to get my head around but it’s true. The more successful you are in what you do, the more people you come in contact with. That variety of individuals will include your supporters and your opposers. Which ones are you going to listen to?
The only time you should worry about the haters is if you’re doing something wrong. Are you hurting someone? Are you being nasty? Defamatory? Rude? Obnoxious? Chauvinistic? Then take note and consider a self-improvement course. Otherwise just shake it off.
