After our editing party at the lake last summer, Bonnie and I fully expected to have our second book of short horror fiction published within a month. Cover woes and file gremlins kept delaying us, but this morning, all was ready. I uploaded Edge of Nowhere to lulu.com and made it available for sale, both as a 6X9 paperback and a download.
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In the title story, "The Edge of Nowhere," two sisters move into a house inhabited by a demon. Click here for preview pages of this story. Other stories in the collection include "Cry Wolf," in which a woman fears her twin sister is dating a werewolf and "A Shrill Note," in which a husband contemplates the murder of his wife. |
Collecting and paying sales tax seems simple, doesn't it? I thought so anyway. As a self-published writer, my concept was that I would sell something, collect the appropriate amount of sales tax, and send the money off to the state during my designated reporting period. I never considered that I would also need to pay sales tax on the books I gave to my family and friends.
Here is the scenario:
I used lulu.com to publish my novel and bought the book at cost. Lulu did not charge a sales tax, which is correct because the book became part of my inventory. When I gave one copy to my mom and another copy to a prizewinner in a drawing, I took the books out of inventory and converted them to personal use. That made me the "final consumer" of the books, which meant I owed sales tax on the price I paid for them.
I learned this bit of information and more at a free sales tax workshop last Wednesday. If you do business in Kansas, you may want to check for times and locations of future workshops at http://www.ksrevenue.org. The workshop also covered record keeping, withholding taxes for those who have employees, and compensating use tax.
If you live and have a business outside Kansas, check your state's website for similar workshops. The best time to get this information: before you start the business. That way you can jot down the gifts to Mom, Dad, Uncle Joe, and the city library as you give them. Remember: Taxing agencies love clear and accurate records, and they make your life easier, too.
Whenever I see an article containing tips on weight loss, I give it at least a quick scan. A January 3, 2009 article in my local paper was no exception. The title, "Small tips for fitness success," caught my eye, and I quickly moved to the first bulleted tip: "Drink diet soda instead of regular."
Whoa! That advice ran counter to the reports on the effects of artificial sweeteners on weight loss that I had seen in various media in the past year. While I'm no scientist and can't give you any advice on what you should or shouldn't eat and drink, you might want to click on the links below for more information.
Science Daily, February 2008
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080210183902.htm
ABC News, Feb 11, 2008
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/OnCall/Story?id=4271246&page=1
Time, February 10, 2008
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1711763,00.html
A final thought: A list of tips may contain ideas that are passed on from one list to another. They do not necessarily reflect the latest scientific knowledge. Doing a quick Internet search for information on sites you can trust may keep your from following a faulty tip.
Hazel
At 11:58 p.m. on New Year's Eve, I finished a sentence at the bottom of three pages of a kidnapping scene, saved it, and sent if off via e-mail to Bonnie, my relentless friend who was responsible for my writing it that night. The scene wasn't finished, but I had brought the kidnapper to the main character's door armed with chloroform and God's approval.
It's been almost a year since I told Bonnie about the planned kidnapping scene, but many things have interrupted my writing. She has periodically pleaded, nagged, harangued, and used other tactics to numerous to mention in an effort to get the scene out of me. You see, Junior is her favorite character in my novel in progress, Runemaster. As the son of an overbearing fundamentalist preacher, Junior's hopes for a television ministry of his own are dashed when his father spends the church's money to pay off a blackmailer. To add to Junior's woes, the woman he has adored for almost fifteen years wants nothing to do with him and seems to be attracted to a psychic. Certain she is possessed, Junior kidnaps the love of his life in the hope of exorcising the demon(s). Once she is free of Satan's influences, she will love him.
Junior's had a hard life filled with disappointment, but he has a good heart, so Bonnie really wants him to win. Right now, I don't think he can. We'll have to see. In the meantime, I brought in the new year writing a scene I had been putting off and brought this novel in progress back on my radar of things to do. The year is off to a great start.
Hazel