Writing as a Small Business [Paperback]

Nash Black (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 10, 2008

In days of yore, painters created portraits, writers penned stories, musicians composed and no one ever worried about being audited.

In today's world, artists need to have business savvy. Yet so many find themselves long on creativity but short on tax knowledge, and organizational and marketing skills. Writing as a Small Business is the perfect guide to help artists navigate through the world of creative self-employment.

In Writing as a Small Business, you'll learn:

* Why it is to your advantage that the IRS considers you a small business

* How to fill out tax forms

* How to engage in recordkeeping that can make you audit-proof

* How to handle advances on royalties, grants and gratuities

* Why even rejection letters are valuable

* How to protect your work and your computer from bugs

* How to prepare for the future and protect your family

And in a section specially for writers



Nash Black takes you into the world of publishing, where you learn what it takes to merchandise and sell your work.

Writing as a Small Business¿the creative people's bible for those who work from their home.

Nash Black has the skills and experience to start you on your way and guide you through the process of an IRS audit. Their work is the first book you should add to your reference shelf after a dictionary.

Barbara Morgan, Morgan Real Estate, 47 years serving the housing needs of the Bluegrass, Lexington, KY.

Product Details

• Paperback: 196 pages
• Publisher: IF Publishing (January 10, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1432716255
• ISBN-13: 978-1432716257
• Product Dimensions: 5 x 8 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,101,674 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

We are often asked, "How do you write together?"
Irene writes; Ford creates.
I need quiet and Ford likes backgound sound. His workspace is in the den in the basement and I work upstairs in the library. We send each other e-mails of new material then compromise during break time like the method used by Ellery Queen who mailed their work to each other.
Our pen name is Nash Black. We took the first four letters of Ford's last name, Nashett, and my maiden name, Black, to create a new person. Our families and friends call us Ford & Irene.
We're small town/country people with many (not all) the views of those living on the Cumberland Plateau. The land & lake area that runs west of the Appalachian Mts. on the Kentucky/Tennessee line to the Mississippi River.
Rural attitudes & customs are the heart of the characters in our murder mysteries, but it's their stories we tell not ours.
We're retirees from farming (trees, cattle, truck gardening, & tobacco), industrial x-ray, teaching, and librarianship. Neither of us has noticed a change in our workload as we now write, promote our books, and manage an anitque mall booth.
We indulge ourselves with live theater, photography, gardening, golf, boating, and fishing with two dogs and a cat who followed us home to take up residence.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A critically important, thoroughly 'user friendly', instructional guide, March 2, 2008

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Writing as a Small Business (Paperback)

Earning a living as a professional writer is a business. Writing freelance is the equivalent of being a self-employed small business owner and operator. As such, meticulous attention must be made to how that business is structured, operated, and kept track of. Failure to keep aware of the proverbial 'bottom line' can lead to financial and professional disaster. Enter Nash Black's 196-page instructional guide and reference "Writing As A Small Business" covers what every aspiring (and practicing) professional author needs to know about the financial side of their work including whether or not to incorporate or operate as a sole proprietorship, the keeping and storage of financial records, filling out state and federal tax forms, avoiding audits, handling advances with respect to royalties, grants and gratuities; safeguarding the computer from hackers and online viruses, and generally protecting the financial rights and aspects of a written work -- before and after publication. Enhanced with bibliographies of thematically appropriate informational resources on the subject of the economics of professional writing, a glossary of terms, and an index, "Writing As A Small Business" is a critically important, thoroughly 'user friendly', instructional guide that should be on the personal reference shelf of every aspiring writer seeking to financially support themselves and their loved ones through their writing regardless of the genre, category, or discipline they are writing in and for.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must for all writers!, October 15, 2010

By 

Matthew D. Heines "Heinessight" (Sohar, Oman) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Writing as a Small Business (Paperback)

Deceptions of the Ages: "Mormons" Freemasons and Extraterrestrials

As many writers will tell you, the easiest way to lose your profits is to fail to file your income taxes in an appropriate manner. Instead of trying to decipher the IRS pubs, I recommend this book to any and all writers, especially those who are just starting out. Nash Black gives you the latest rulings and up-to-date policies of the IRS and a general overview of state tax codes. Black also gives an easy to use method of keeping track of expenses that you can use, or modify to suit your own system of filing. She tells you what happens in an IRS audit and how to keep records that will be acceptable to an auditor. This book is an invaluable tool. I recommend it to all writers and thank Nash Black for taking the time to write it.

Matthew D. Heines author of Deceptions of the Ages: "Mormons" Freemasons and Extraterrestrials, My Year in Oman and Another Year in Oman
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