Tax Time Revelations and…Is Writing is the Career We Can’t Retire From?

By Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraigfile2081241837401

I had my appointment with my CPA on Wednesday.  The appointment was in the middle of the Southern snowstorm aftermath, actually—there’s nothing like adding to the misery of taxes with a minor natural disaster, you know.  I hired a CPA last year when I continued waking up in cold sweats in the middle of the night, worrying that I was doing my taxes wrong.  I didn’t think I’d fit in well in tax jail.  I decided I didn’t mind paying for peace of mind.

She had me painstakingly pick through my bank account and pull out every deposit from all sources…self-publishing and traditional publishing…for 2013.  This was nightmarish and took the better part of an hour.  But I didn’t have the 1099 from Amazon yet and she wanted to double-check all my income sources anyway, so I combed through the statements.  The entries I was looking for were direct deposits and checks from Penguin (via my agent), Llewellyn (my agent doesn’t represent me with this publisher), Amazon, ACX, Smashwords, Apple, CreateSpace, and Barnes & Noble.Continue reading

A Switch from Writing Standalones to Continuing Story Arcs

By Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraigfile6291291132473

I used to be a big fan of writing each book in my different series as a standalone.  I liked the fact that readers could pick up any book in my series and understand what was going on.  If you have continuing stories throughout your series, then obviously the reader has to find the first book in the series if they want to make sense of the subplots.

And, with mysteries, you really don’t need to have a continuing subplot or continuing plot.  Each book is a single mystery—a murder or two for the sleuth and reader to figure out together.Continue reading

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