A Blog Post About Blogging and Becoming an Author

When I first started blogging, while I was writing my debut novel, I was so uncensored. I had very few followers and so I posted to my blog regularly (LIKE THREE TIMES A WEEK, EASILY!) without fretting too hard over grammatical and typographical errors. I didn’t own licences to any stock photography and I didn’t understand how to use the free feature on WordPress to add images, so my posts had very few photos, if any at all. Life was simple. The people who followed me, joined my blog on their own accord, by no request, force or pressure to do so. I knew, if they were following me it was because they actually cared about what I had to say. I didn’t blow time hanging out on Facebook and Twitter (as much), although I did really enjoy Twitter before the auto-bots ruined it over there. I spent time writing my book, learning about publishing, and sharing my results. And you know what? PEOPLE LOVED IT!

So, what changed?

Upcoming Author Events

I’m excited to tell you about the author events I have coming up real soon, one as soon as this Thursday! I hope you’ll take a look. I’ve updated my Events page just for you. 😉

EVENTS

Here are the two visits happening over the next couple of weeks. If you’re from the area, I hope you’ll join me! Come to learn a little about self-publishing, chat with other readers and writers and/or to pick up an autographed copy of one of my books! Hope to see you there!

Dear IRS – Does applying for an ITIN really have to be this hard?

This is a Canadian Indie Author’s journey to getting an Individual Tax Identification Number (“ITIN”)… to stop the IRS from taking 30% of my book sales, when there’s a treaty that says they should get 0%!!
FIRST: I must tell you that if you’re planning on self-publishing soon, you should make your application to the IRS immediately!! I waited until after I hit the publish button with Amazon for my debut novel, Twisted, and quickly learned that, though an ITIN isn’t required, Amazon withholds 30% of your sales and remits it to the IRS.

I was surprised to sell 1,000 books within the first month of publishing, so needless to say I became more than a little disappointed to hand my money over to the IRS. There is a treaty between Canada and the United States that grants 0% withholding, but that isn’t effective and applied to your KDP account unless you file your W-8BEN with Amazon. You need an ITIN before you can file that form.
Here’s my gift to new self-published authors across Canada.

Pricing Paperback Novels

As you know, I am still rather new at this publishing thing. I only first published my debut e-book, Twisted, with Amazon and Smashwords for their premium distribution channels, in February. On August 1, 2013 I published my second book, Twist & Turn, and I found the formatting process to be so much easier than the first time around, which brings me to now. I’m ready to put my stories in print. I have successfully formatted my print edition and commissioned a cover. Here’s my new cover, by the way. 😉 It’s in review with CreateSpace as we speak. So, I ask you this, both as an author and/or reader. How much is too much?