Track Expenses

It amazes me how many people have no clue about tracking their expenses. 

I'm asked all the time if I keep receipts, how do I do my taxes, etc.

From my experience with the IRS (US), the more you keep track the better off you are especially if you're doing a tax filing showing yourself as a writer. 

I track all my writing expenses: conferences, hotels, meals, etc., that includes car mileage.

There are various ways to track, and you can find various ways on the Internet or by asking people what they use.  

But it is important to track your expenses before and after you've published.  

I started claiming my writing expenses many, many years before I was published.  Now, I will say, there were many things I could have tried to write off my taxes but chose not to.  This was my choice.  I wrote off dues to organizations, conferences, hotel expenses while at conference, meals, etc.  

Now, you don't have to claim your writing expenses before your published with the IRS.  But it is important to tack them, because it will give you an idea of how much money you are spending.  And when you do become published, you'll already have a good tracking system in place.

  

There are expenses I never thought about and year after year I keep track and see what I'm spending my writing income on.  

I track both incoming and outgoing income, I do this by spreadsheets.  It's not hard and as long as you keep it up, so it's not time consuming.

You are going to have expenses as a writer so it's important to track them.

Next week: Know what your publisher does for you

Time to Write

One of the things that make us professional writers is we write.

You wouldn't believe how many people forget that.  As a writer, I have to write my books and short novella's and get them to my editors in order for readers to read them.

If I don't write, I don't get paid because I've sold nothing to my editors and there's nothing for the reader to buy.

Some of the most successful writers do just that write.  Some write 365 days a year, others take time off for the holiday's, others write Monday through Friday and take weekends off.

It doesn't matter how you do it, but you must write and submit your work.  Otherwise, how will readers find you and buy your work.

Writing, at least for me, is a part of me.  When I'm not writing, I'm not happy.  Right now I don't write every day, but I'm working on it.  And I've found so far, for two weeks now, I've been writing or editing every day and I feel so much better about myself and my writing.

This leads in to last weeks topic, keeping track of time.  If I hadn't been keep track I wouldn't have noticed how much I'd progressed in the last two weeks.  I finished editing a novel, which I'd been ignoring, and sent it to my editor.  I'm now working on a novella that has a deadline of the end of this month (November).

I've had things come up in the past two weeks to throw me off my game, but I've made a commitment to myself so I write or edit every day.  Sometimes its very late a night, and I really don't want to do it, but I do and I feel better that I'm keeping my commitment.  Even if its only to myself.

Next week: tracking expenses

Keeping Track of Time

Some wonder why this is important.  It's important to me because I need to know where my time goes, plus by keeping a log of time, I can prove to anyone this isn't a hobby but a job.  

It also helps you as a writer to see are you spending too much time researching than writing?  Or at least where your time goes.

What do I keep track of?

I keep track of:

Research time

Writing time

Reading time

Blogging

Conference time (attending or giving)

Workshop time (attending or giving)

Professional meetings

Anything related to my writing.

I also keep track on a daily basis what I do, so sometimes my typical day looks like this:

online - 1 hour

My blog - 30 minutes

Doctor appt.

Laundry

WIP - 2 hours

This way when I look back at a week when I have missed my weekly goal (it happens) I can see that I had a doctor appointment and laundry which wasn't expected.  I'll even put down when there's a family emergency so I know what happened.

Overkill?  Maybe, but six months to a year from now I may not remember why there are four blank days on my calendar, just have the words family emergency, reminds me.  

Also this helps me when planning out my schedule for writing the next month or even year, because I can see a pattern to where things happen and plan for them.

Next week: Write

Writing Goals

Goals are important to any professional, but especially to writers.  I know when I had the dreaded day job, I hated it when my boss asked what my goals were.  When I was fresh into the company I could tell the boss, but when I was within a few years of retiring, my goal was to retire.

With writing, there is so much more to it.  One has to be realistic about their goals, but that doesn't mean we can't reach for the stars.  We sometimes want to reach higher than we think we can.

The main thing about goals to remember is they need to be SMART goals.

Specific

Measurable

Attainable

Realistic

Time-bound

Specific goal - write 5 pages a day, 6 days a week

Measurable - the number of pages per day or week

Attainable - can I write 5 pages a day, 6 days a week?  If yes, then it's attainable, if not, then need to change the goal

Realistic - look at what a typical week looks like, is it realistic for me to write 5 pages a day, 6 days a week

Time-bound - 1 week

This is pretty simplistic but this is what I do.  I have daily goals, weekly goals, monthly goals and yearly goals.  I also have 5 year and 10 year plans/goals.  The reason for this is to track where I am, plus the IRS (in the US) can ask for your 5 year and 10 year plans if they think you're not doing this as a business.

It's amazing on how things change which is why you do re-evaluate your goals. I always look at my monthly goals to see how I progressed and change the next month if needed.  On the yearly goals, I look at them once a year at the end of the year to see how I did and make the next years plan accordingly.

The 5 and 10 year goals, I do look at maybe once a year or every other year.  

If you're not making a weekly goal, take a look at your daily goals and see what happened that week and then adjust.

This isn't written in stone, but it gives you a benchmark.

Just remember goals don't make you a professional, but they make do make you look better when asked what your goals are.

Next week: Keeping Track of Time

Writing is a Business

The next eight weeks, I'm going to discuss writing as a business.

I think it still amazes me on how many people don't think writing is a business.  I just want to shout "get with it people."

Of the past few months I've run into writers who are totally professional who think of writing as a business, then there is those who are at a mid-point, they think of writing as a business, but one they can do when they want, and lastly there are those who don't even think about it as a business.

If you want your writing to be taken seriously, then you have to take your writing seriously.

That means, being professional, listening and constantly learning about the business.

Writing is hard, many people think its easy, but it's not.  Writing romance is not easy, but the genre is the most put down poplar genre fiction.  I think it is because mainly women write romance (there are a few men), and other don't view writing romance as "legitimate" as writing other genre fiction.

It comes down to, writing is a business, you need to know how to run your business.

Next blog: Professional Writing Goals

Have a great week.

Marie

Conference Weekend

This last weekend I attended the Emerald City Writers Conferece.  It was fun and great to see old friends and make new ones.

I always forget how exhausing conferences can be mainly because you want to squeeze everything you can into the hours you have at the conference.  Sometimes it means giving up sleep and other times it means giving up a workshop or two.

I enjoyed workshops by Sabrina York, Bob Mayer and Jen Talty along with key note speeches by Maya Banks and Robyn Carr.

Writing conferences usually give me the boost I need to get my butt in chair and write again, and this one is no different. I've learned new techniques from Sabrina York, Bob Mayer and Jen Talty.  I've been inspired by Maya Banks and Robyn Carr.

It was a great weekend, but now it's back to my desk, to my writing, because I have books to write.  And next year it will be fun to catch up with everyone again and see what we've all accomplished.

Guest: MacKenzie Crowne

Today I have a guest, MacKenzie Crowne

Tell us a little about yourself:

I’m a wife, mother and really young grandmother. Together with my high school sweet heart husband, a neurotic Pomeranian and a blind cat, I call Arizona home because the southwest feeds my soul. My love of books, specifically the romance genre, has been a lifelong affair, both as a reader and a writer. A bout with breast cancer sharpened my resolve to see my stories shared with others. Today, I’m a five-year survivor, living the dream. Raised on the concept that a stranger is just one conversation away from being a friend, I love meeting new people.

My friends call me Mac. I hope you will too.

Okay, Mac.  What do like the most and the least about writing?

As a pantser, when I sit down to write a story, I have a general concept in mind, beginning – middle – end. The details, however, are a little murky. I love how both major elements and minor details unfold before my eyes. Like some kind of romance stenographer, I’m thrilled and excited when my characters slip me new insights into their psyches or deliver a bombshell I wasn’t expecting. On the flip side of being a pantser, however, is the danger of writer’s block. Since I’m not the one driving the story, I’m occasionally left sitting at my computer with nothing but crickets to keep me company. Hate that!

Oh how I understand the character silence.  Give us a peek into your latest published work?

A SONG FOR SOPHIE is a lighthearted contemporary romance and part of The Honky Tonk Hearts series from The Wild Rose Press. It’s currently available exclusively at Amazon and will be FREE to download 10/15 through 10/19.

Blurb: Jobless, practically homeless, and tired of being manless, Sophie Taylor jumps at the chance to be Beaumont Walker's personal assistant. Six weeks on the road with country music's bad boy--and, more importantly, his all-male crew--is the perfect opportunity to change her life.

Beau Walker doesn't need any more distractions. Sophie, with her butt-ugly suits and balls-to-the-wall attitude, shouldn't be one, but she proves to be distracting and more--even, surprisingly, a friend. So when he discovers her plan to snag a man from his worldly wise crew, he's determined to protect her from herself.

When Sophie realizes Beau is behind her failure to attract even one member of his crew, the last place she expects to find herself is in his bed. But will one night of passion convince her she's woman enough for him? Or will it destroy their friendship and his budding belief in true love?

That sounds like a good, fun book.  What's next on the writing horizon for you?

Though it’s not my usual genre, I’m hoping to announce some very exciting news about my new romantic suspense, IRRESISTIBLE DECEPTIONS, sometime later this week. Details to come… In the meantime, several of my lighthearted contemporaries are hitting the digital shelves. THAT DATING THING is available now and CARA O’SHEA’S RETURN, a prequel to THE BILLIONAIRE’S CON will be released on 10/28.

Here's an excerpt of A Song for Sophie:

Here’s a little taste of “Sophie”. Enjoy!

“Don’t you have something you’re supposed to be doing? I assume we’re paying you. Go earn your paycheck.”

“Oh, you’re paying me.” She allowed the secret smile to curl her lips in an actual one. “And I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing.”

“What’s that? Boring me to death?”

She dropped her oversized purse to the floor and took the chair next to him. It was a very comfortable recliner, and large enough that her arm didn’t reach the handle to lift the footrest. Feeling around blindly, she sat forward, and hanging half way over the arm, grasped the control. A quick tug and the footrest snapped up, and the back of the chair fell into the recline position, making her squeak.

Beau shook his head.

She tugged at the hem of her skirt to make sure it didn’t ride up, squirming until she’d settled herself. With her ankles crossed, she plopped her hands and forearms on the cushioned arms of the chair and looked at him.

“I’m keeping you busy.”

“Huh?”

“I’m keeping you busy. You asked what I was supposed to be doing. That’s what I’m supposed to be doing.”

“Well, quit it. You’re pissing me off.”

“Oh, yeah,” she drawled, “like that’s hard to do.”

“Have I fired you yet today?”

“No.”

“You’re fired.”

He really was funny when he was trying to look menacing. She laughed and held his glare. “Geez, you’re cranky.”

Thanks for being here today, Mac