The Power of Focus

Recently I wrote about the power of momentum. Today I want to talk about momentum's close cousin, focus. Focus and momentum walk hand in hand. The quality of life equation includes many variables and focus in one of the important ones.

In my line of work focus is very important, it is required to get anything done and to have any quality of life. It is too easy to worry about work when at home and too easy to feel guilty when at work when I would rather be with family. Of course, this is a recipe for getting nothing done and feeling terrible all the time.

There are no magic bullets to hone focus. Focus is a muscle that needs regular exercise to function well. We have all experienced the "zone"; that place where we are hyper productive and focused on the task at hand. For me this is more than a feeling; it is an emotional place. Usually I require quiet time and a closed door to reach this place and focus my attention. Sometimes I play loud music as a mental closed door (Stephen King writes to loud music as his way of shutting out the world while he focuses on his work). You need to look inside yourself to find this "zone."

Guilt destroys focus faster than anything else. When I prepare tax returns or perform other accounting tasks I shut out the world and do not worry about home, family, health, neighbors, world events, and so on. I refuse to feel guilty or complain about my time away from family and friends. Long ago I decided I choose to work. I can live on a lot less if I really do not want to work as an accountant.

The same applies in my private life. I could care less about the office when at home with family. If work blows up, so it goes (as Kurt Vonnegut says). I enjoy and experience the moment at hand. It is all any of us have.

The real trick lay at the borderline. Sometimes I work from home. I never feel any obligation to do so, but when I really want to complete a large task I will log into the office and tackle a job. I write from home. This blog post is evolving less than two hours before a family social gathering. However, I am focused on writing this piece while I write it and will not give it a thought when with family. I have a few projects I could log into the office for this weekend, but opted to spend my free time with family. My grandfather is very ill and the clock is reaching its end. It is challenging to focus with issues so large and important. But I get better at it with age.

If you desire for better things, being a better father or mother, a better husband or wife, a better employee or boss, a better friend or neighbor, a better writer, a better accountant or any occupation of your choosing, better at anything, focus. Find that place where momentum takes place and quality of life grows.

Taxes are important. Deal with the issues and move on. Taxes are not life; taxes are a fact of life. Spend the required time each week or month gathering the information you need to manage your finances and taxes. Then move on to the important things. Focus on the task at hand so the remaining 99% of your life can be an exercise in enjoyment.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Now what was I doing?

Busy Bee

I would blog more, but my schedule is tight with year-end tax forms and my work over on Hubpages. HubPages has a financial planning writing contest and I am submitting each day on the subject proposed. I won 2 day this past week. Check it out.

Financial Planning Basics

Business and Hobby Losses

Alternatives to Bankruptcy Contest daily winner

HELOC vs HEL

Auto Loan Modification Scam Contest daily winner

Taxes, Student Loan Forgiveness and Bankruptcy

Use PayPal to Accept Credit Cards

Choosing the Best Accountant

Censorship

I must be doing something right, I’ve been censored. What surprises me is who censored me.

Proposed FTC regulations requiring bloggers to disclose if they receive payment or free product, has some blogger’s up in arms. I pooh-poohed the idea and got censored. I commented to a post with humor, downplaying the idea that disclosing payments or free products, is a real issue. The blogger refused to post my comment.

Here is the part that may shock you: I was censored by a member of the publishing industry. Censorship is a far greater issue to the publishing industry than any FTC regulation. Yet, she exercised her right. Good for her.

Her argument is that disclosing free products for review or payment will harm her ability to make a living. Why? On this blog I allow Google to place ads so I can, you guessed it, make some coin for my efforts. You also understand I will charge for my tax and accounting services, don’t you? If not, you’ll find out soon enough.

If I receive a free product and review it, I want to disclose that fact. Likewise, I will tell you if I am compensated for an opinion. My opinion remains unchanged, but you need the facts to make a quality decision.

This morning I received a blistering email from above discussed blogger, complete with four-letter words. It was an email, a private correspondence, so I will not share details here. However, if you write a comment to this blog, it will post after I review it. As long as the comment doesn’t contain private information (this is a tax blog after all, I’ll answer those privately), is illegal or unethical, it will post. Before you hit the send key, know this. Once posted, it will stay posted. Nothing you say or do will make me take it down. If you comment, it is a public discussion.

I like getting paid for what I do. I like getting free stuff. I am not bashful about it when it happens. You shouldn’t be either. And no, the FTC didn’t pay me to write this blog. If someone clicks a Google ad, I’ll eventually get some spare change. If you become a client, again, I’ll have greenbacks to pay the light bill. Is this something the publishing industry should censor? Now I need this person to spout-off publicly so I can get a quarter million viewers on this blog per day. Can you help? For free?

The Greatest Query Ever Told

I have a few more writing blogs to post before I get back to pressing tax issues. Tomorrow I will post on the WRWA fall conference in pictures. They are a fine looking bunch, I guarantee you. Now, for today’s topic: The Greatest Query Letter Ever Told.

Nearly 146 years ago, President Lincoln addressed a crowd of 15,000 at the dedication of the Soldiers’ National Cemetery in Gettysburg. Pennsylvania. His query… his plea to preserve this nation is arguably one of the most important speeches ever delivered. With so much at stake, President Lincoln, without the luxury of internet query samples, gave us the greatest query ever told.

In just over two minutes, Lincoln spoke a mere 10 sentences, sentences that echo down to us today. Let’s look at the address from a query point of view.

• Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
  

Lincoln delivered the hook. Number of words (years), and the theme of the story (the reason our nation should continue).

• Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation, so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
  

Now, in four sentences, we get the book. If Lincoln can explain the state of affairs in 1863 in four sentences, why can’t writers describe their book with the same brevity? I aspire to communicate as clearly and concisely as Lincoln. Wish me luck.

• But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate...we can not consecrate...we can not hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government: of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
  

And the cook. Agents love to talk about query letters containing: the hook, the book, and the cook. Lincoln, without the benefit of endless samples to draw from, produced the greatest query ever told with the nation at stake.

Notice how the cook begins. Lincoln provides our nation’s resume the way a writer will outline his publishing credits. There are no wasted words, only clear, concise phrases. When I read the last 15 words, a shiver runs down my spine. I think he would have had no problem finding an agent.

Persistence

I’ve been thinking about what it takes to be successful at writing, accounting, farming, or any other endeavor. The urban legend that 9 out of 10 businesses fail in the first year falls far short of reality. Many desire to own a business, but are ill prepared for the reality of running a business.

Of all the skills needed to start, build, and maintain a business, persistence seems to be the most important. It is so easy to quit when things become overwhelming. Challenges unimagined will arise. How you mentally handle these challenges will determine if you are successful or a statistic.

I have some experience starting businesses. You might even say a few are successful. Tax Prep & Accounting Services has been around since the mid 1980s and putting bread on the table all that time. I make a few dollars farming. Up to fifty steer grace the back yard at any one time and I turn a profit. Now I know what everyone says, you can’t make money farming. M’kay. But I do.

Now I am about to start another endeavor: writing. I have been writing since high school and love the process. About ten or fifteen years ago, Stan Schmidt, editor at Analog, liked one of my stories. He wrote a nice note on the rejection slip: “Too graphic in sex and drugs for our readers. Story is good otherwise. Good luck placing it elsewhere.” It was last time I submitted anything, until now.

You see, I sent each story out to one editor, and one editor only, and then shelved it. The truth is I didn’t think I could produce another salable story so why bother. I feel my skills have improved since and I can produce a steady stream of quality material.

Let me show you how persistence pays off in the tax office. The toughest cases are usually the inherited ones. Two clients stick out. The first came to me via a failed tax office. He owed over ten thousand and the taxing authorities were not interested in dealing straight. It took three years and tax court, but we got Revenue to accept our offer. Another client came to me from a Colorado CPA. This client owed over 1 million to Revenue and the IRS refused to resolve the issue. After four and a half years we got Revenue to declare the account uncollectible. After ten years it is out of stat and the client will owe nothing. And yes, the stat clock is running; we check every six months to make sure it is.

What would have happened if I gave up? Poor client would have been gutted is what would have happened. One thing I can guarantee you when you start a business: there will be days that test your constitution. It will happen.

And now I am submitting a short story. It will grace every editor on the planet, unless it sells first. I have a novel ready for an agent. I have article writing gigs in the pipeline from my WRWA conference contacts. Persistence, I tell you. I will never give up or quit. So my knuckles will be bloodied. Big deal. It will not be the first time.

WRWA Fall Conference, Part II

If you slept late Sunday morning, you missed the best speaker of the convention. John Lehman shared his thoughts on "10 Things I Think I Know for Sure About Writing and Getting Published." Lehman went into depth on each point. I will present the highlights here.

1. START

• S tory Ideas: Lehman feels you should have three or four ideas formulating in your mind at a time. Writing is the art of discovery and stories should lead to a greater understanding.
• T reatment: Don't limit yourself; write everything. A poem, short story, or essay, is a glimpse; the novel, a full look.
• A udience: Know who your audience is. Write what people are curious about. Spending time in a bookstore and watching people interact with the material can offer insight into what an audience wants.
• R esearch: Where will your book go in the bookstore? If it doesn't fit nicely into one section, it will not find any home there.
• T imeline: Set a schedule and stick to it. You need to write consistently and on a regular basis to build the writing muscle. When the time comes for you to produce quality material on short notice, you will have the skills to deliver and get paid for your skills.

2. Increase your circle of of identity to include editors and publishers. Lehman says we all have our circle of acquaintances and this circle must include those that can further your writing career. The right place at the right time is often knowing the right person when the time comes.

3. Journal your activities. Track your writing production and research. A good record mixed with solid goals leads to regular output.

4. Write in scenes. In every scene, each character has an objective. There is a winner and a loser.

5. Editors love metaphors. Editors want to see how characters deal with issues compared to other things.

6. Editors like titles and endings. Even though your title is unlikely to make to the final cover, a good title grabs agents and editors. Endings are the most important part of the story. If the ending is a disappointing, the story fails, and will not sell.

7. Who you know is important. Lehman enunciated he may catch flack for this point, but sticks to his guns on the statement. You need to build a circle of acquaintances in the industry. Editors buy, you need to know editors. Lots of them.

8. We are shaped by our early experiences and must move beyond these experiences. To be successful at writing, you must grow beyond your current comfort zone and learn.

9. There are stages to story development. First we absorb information, then formulate a story (a lesson learned), create the story, and finally, send it out into the world for other to see and learn (publication).

10. Writing myths and truths:

Truth:

• You are a writer.
• To give up is hard. To give up is like not breathing.

Myth:

• It is hard to succeed. In fact, it is hard to stop. You want to write, you must write. Continued effort will lead to sales. Quiting is impossible to swallow.

As you can see, Lehman provides powerful advice for all writers, published and unpublished. Never be afraid to write, send out material to editors, or get disheartened by a rejection. Your story will find a home in time.

WRWA Fall Conference, Part I

Two speakers stood out this weekend: Barbara Poelle and John Lehman. The remaining speakers were also good, but less suited to my tastes.

Greg Peck kicked off the presentations with a disheartening look at the downside of publishing. He spoke from his personal experience with a very small publisher.

Peck spoke at length about his book, “Death Beyond the Willows," and followed-up with his failed efforts to engage an agent and editing the original manuscript down to a manageable size. He admits if he edited his book down before sending to agents and editors, he may have published at a larger house. "My experience with a small publisher may be unique," Peck said. "Other small publishers could be easier to work with." When asked if he will look for another publisher to bring his book back into print, he said he had no plans at this time.

Barbara Poelle took the stage next. She spoke so fast at times, it was hard to follow. The upside: she got four hours of information out in an hour and fifteen minutes. Poelle provided information available on most agents' blogs and websites. She touched on word count, what she accepts, and mechanics. This blogger was out of breath after the presentation. Rather than laying out Poelle's entire presentation here, review the following blogs: Pub Rants, Nathan Bransford - Literary Agent, and Janet Reid, Literary Agent. These blogs will expand on her presentation. Poelle blogs here.

Cassie Hansen, a WRWA board member and Youth Member Services Coordinator, introduced three young writers from Wisconsin. She highlighted the challenges facing young writers and emphasized the opportunities available to the persistent. The differences between young male and female writers was also explored.

Many older members were glued to their seats as Jean Feraca talked memoir. Poetry was a large focus of the speech. Connections were made between memoir and the beauty of poetry.

John Lehman and Eva Apelqvist presented Sunday. Lehman had the most engaging program of all the speakers. Tomorrow I will have a long post on the "10 Things I Think I know for Sure (About Writing and Getting Published)" as offered by John Lehman. You don't want to miss it.

Update

I will provide a large post on the events at the Wisconsin Regional Writers' Association conference Monday. The hours are too long for me to provide an adequate post today.

Early WRWA Conference Notes

Today was all business. This afternoon I attended the board meeting and will take the position of treasurer in addition to director. What happens in the boardroom should stay in the boardroom so I will not provide details of the meeting. The important detail I can share is that five new directors will bring new blood, energy, and expertise to the Wisconsin Regional Writers' Association.

In other news: Barbara Poelle was picked up at 2:00 from the airport. All guest speakers are accounted for (always a good sign).

There were two reading groups tonight: poetry and prose. I enjoyed the prose group and shared my query. Boy, the quality of material is awesome. We have some great writers here in Wisconsin.

Tomorrow I'll provide details of the day's events.

Running Late

I have so many things to get done before leaving tomorrow. The excitement is hard to contain. There are a lot of people I want to catch up with and new contacts to make. Each evening I'll post the days events. It may get late before posting.

See you there.

Wisconsin Regional Writers' Association Fall Conference

The WRWA Fall Conference starts September 25th. I will provide continued updates here through next week. I am joining the Board of Directors and look forward to growing the organization in beneficial ways for published and unpublished writers alike.

Guest speakers include:

Barbara Poelle: “From Query to Shelf: The Business of Books”
Originally from the west coast, Barbara Poelle, literary agent, worked for a Bay Area Publisher before accepting the offer to join the Irene Goodman Literary Agency in New York, NY. A voracious reader and award winning debater, Barbara is not only able to devour manuscripts, but fight for them as well... and her very brief stint as a stand-up comic comes in handy for those particularly raucous debates, both in the office and at home. With her strong background in editing and copywriting, Barbara has no qualms about helping writers turn a “maybe” into a “yes”, and values client communication above all else. Barbara is passionate about thrillers, mysteries, historical romance, and humorous non-fiction, but will be a proud promoter of any writer with a strong, unique voice.

Cassie Hansen: “An Emerging Generation of Writers”
I am currently the Youth Member Services Coordinator for the Wisconsin Regional Writer’s Association. Through this, one of my goals is to organize a writer’s group, at either the high school or university level, in each of the six geographical regions of the Association. I will be graduating from the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point in May, with a B.A. in English and an emphasis in Business and Technical writing. From January-Mary 2008, I was an editing/reporting intern at the Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune, where I currently freelance. After graduation, I hope to find a job as an editor, technical writer, designer, or any combination of the three.

Eva Apelqvist: “How Hard can it Be? Writing for Children and Young Adults”
Eva Apelqvist is the author of “Swede Dreams,” a young adult novel about 16-year-old Calista’s life changing experiences as an exchange student in Sweden (Penguin, 2007). Her first non-fiction book for teens, “Learning to Drive,” is due out by Enslow in June, 2010. Eva Apelqvist writes for younger children and has been published in a large number of children’s magazines, among them, Highlights for Children, Spider Magazine, Winner Magazine, Jack and Jill, Ladybug, and New Moon. In her spare time, she writes newspaper and magazine articles for adults, and an occasional romance short story for a Swedish women’s magazine. She is also the director of På svenska, a Swedish Language and Culture Immersion Camp for adults in northern Wisconsin. Apelqvist enjoys meeting her readers and loves doing school visits. Learn more about her at her website, http://www.evaapelqvist.com

Greg Peck: “Potholes on the Road to Publication: Pros and Cons of Working with a Small Mainstream Publisher”
Greg Peck is Opinion Page Editor of The Janesville Gazette and author of “Death Beyond the Willows.” The book is a true story of rural Wisconsin history surrounding a 1927 wedding day tragedy that took place in Portage and inspired Zona Gale's prize-winning fictional short story, “Bridal Pond.” The bride and groom were married in Greg's hometown of Marshall.
Greg will review his eight-year process from research to publication of “Death Beyond the Willows” and why he sought a mainstream publisher, even a small one, rather than going the self-published route. He also will chronicle his own marketing efforts.
A Wisconsin native, Greg graduated with a journalism degree from UW-Oshkosh in 1979. He has spent thirty years working for newspapers in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin Rapids and now Janesville. Greg has won journalism awards in news, editorial, sports and column writing and was named 2007 World Champion Liar by the Burlington Liars Club. He joined WRWA in 2006.

Jean Feraca: “From 'Less is More' to More or Less! Turning Poetry into Memoir”
Host Jean Feraca is a 25-year veteran of public talk radio in the United States, and is Wisconsin Public Radio's Distinguished Senior Broadcaster and has been host and co-producer of the Ideas Network's award-winning call-in news and cultural affairs program, Conversations with Jean Feraca, from 1990 to 2003. In 2003 she started her new weekend program Here On Earth.
Jean's new book, "I Hear Voices: A Memoir of Love, Death, and the Radio", came out in September 2007. It has been selected as the winner of this year's Kingery/Derleth Booklength Nonfiction Award, sponsored by the Council for Wisconsin Writers. Conversations with Jean Feraca won the National Telemedia Council's Distinguished Media Award in l996. Jean Feraca was the recipient of The Nation's l975 Discovery Award and was named "one of the most promising poets of her generation. She received a Wisconsin Arts Board Fellowship to complete Crossing the Great Divide, her second book, which was published in l992 and nominated for a Pushcart Prize.
She is a member of Poets and Writers, Inc. and is listed in the International Who's Who in Poetry, and Who's Who in American Writers, Editors and Poets. Feraca holds a B.A. cum laude in English from Manhattanville College in New York where her honors work in dramatic literature was completed with Harvard University. She received an M.A. in English Language and Literature from the University of Michigan and completed the course work toward her Ph.D. at the University of Kentucky. She did graduate studies in drama at the University of California in Berkeley and studied studio art at Columbia University. A native of New York, Feraca has lived in Italy and has traveled extensively in Europe, the Mediterranean, Mexico, Canada, the Carribean, and the Amazon. She has two sons, and now lives in Madison, Wisconsin.

John Lehman: “10 Things I Think I Know For Sure (About Writing and Getting Published)”
John Lehman is the founder and original publisher of Rosebud, a national magazine of short stories, poetry and illustration for people who enjoy good writing. He is the poetry editor of the Wisconsin People & Ideas as well as managing partner of Zelda Wilde Publishing and-with editors Andrea Musher and Marilyn Taylor-for three years published the free, street-quarterly Cup of Poems and a Side of Prose.
John was a finalist for the Wisconsin Poet Laureate position in 2004 and again in 2008. John Lehman's collections of poetry include Acting Lessons, Shrine of the Tooth Fairy, Dogs Dream of Running and Shorts: 101 Brief Poems of Wonder and Surprise. His latest nonfiction books are America's Greatest Unknown Poet: Lorine Niedecker Reminiscences, Photographs, Letters and Her Most Memorable Poems and Everything is Changing: How to Gain Loyal Customers and Clients Quickly.
John Lehman grew up in Chicago but for the last twenty years he has lived with his wife, Talia Schorr, their four dogs and six cats in Rockdale, the smallest incorporated village in Wisconsin.

See you there.

Query Quandary

The accountant in me wants things to balance every time. The real world has other ideas. Numbers are easy to quantify, add, and verify. There is nothing subjective to a number. Five is five everywhere in the universe.

Words are a different story. Words are subjective, at least taste in words are. I may love a book while you choke on the first page. I like and use certain words with greater frequency than other writers; other writers do likewise. My words are no better than your words, but certain words rankle me. I like the word rankle. If you don't, if it sounds like fingernails across a slate chalkboard, you will consider my writing poor.

Hence today's quandary. I finished a novel in early August and have struggled with the query letter I need to send to agents to get an offer of representation. The rough draft took less than three months to write, revisions half that, yet the query letter has gone through more rewrites and has taken longer. Am I too fussy? Not in my opinion. I want it right. Condensing the story to about two hundred fifty words is a bigger challenge than I first expected. I am getting closer. Soon, I will be proud of the query I produce.

My readers deserve a well written story for their money. I will do whatever is necessary to give it to them. The accountant in me will always feel a little unsatisfied. If only I could balance words like a Statement of Financial Condition.

Don't think I am complaining; I'm not. The thought process in writing is different from taxes and accounting. I find the dichotomy interesting. Excellence is the common ground in each field. Regardless of taste, the quality of writing should be apparent.

7 Reasons Why...

NYT bestselling author, John Scalzi, has a wonderful post on his blog explaining why he doesn't read unpublished writers. Yesterday, he outlined how Oscar-nominated screenwriter Josh Olson won't read your screenplay either.

My focus today covers professionals in all service industries. Below is my Top 7 list of reasons why I don't give free tax advice. I think it applies to all professional service providers.

1. I have a family. Would you love being the child of a man that works long hours for free? Spouse? Walking into my office and demanding I drop everything to deal with an IRS letter resulting from your self-prepared tax return, sits poorly with me. If I say I'll fix it for $100, don't say, "That much!" Charging you $100 is already a gift; don't make me take it back. Also, if I offer to fix a problem you created, be flexible in scheduling. Saying you are only available after hours makes me more inclined to choose more family time over your issue.
2. The IRS has a free hotline. Yes, I know the IRS hotline is wrong half the time. But it is free. Before I give advice, I need to know my client. Prescription before diagnosis is malpractice. Get it. If you have a tax question, I am more than happy to help you. Set an appointment where we can sit down and review your full tax situation. Without seeing a previous tax return, I cannot give accurate tax advice. And I do charge for my time. Hence the term, professional.
3. Word travels. In the old days, when I was hungry for a client, any client, I answered tax questions rapid fire for anyone, anytime. I sounded like a radio call-in show. The advice was about as sound, too. Once I started giving free advice, word spread that I was the sucker to call for free tax help. Do-it-yourselfers loved the free, over the phone, tax preparation service: professional help without a fee. In short order I reviewed my policy and refused tax advice over the phone.
4. Finals hurt. Remember final exams from your college days? You studied your heart out preparing for a full week of grueling tests. Accountants consider those the good 'ol days. I study every day, year round, to keep up with the changing tax climate. I spend around $20,000 per year training staff and myself, including research services. I field 15-20 tax-help requests a day, triple that on Monday; higher during tax season. I have people call me at home, some visit me at home, for an answer to a "quick question." All this for free, as if my time isn't valuable. My final exams extend year round. It does get exhausting.
5. Liability. Answering the quick question for free leads to another dilemma: liability. If I answer a question without reviewing the involved documents, I am open to lawsuit for bad advice. Think about this for a moment. I get zero income and unlimited liability. Should you trust advice from someone dumb enough to take unlimited liability without any gain? This is why you must sit down with me. I must review all relevant documents before giving tax advice.
6. I am not paid. By now you should see the underlying issue. I want to get paid for my time. That is why I spend twenty grand a year training and why I leave my family for 10-12 hours a day. I really want to be home with my wife and kids, I really do. I work to give them nice things. Then, I want to be at home with them, enjoying life together, as a real family.
7. I choose who I work for pro bono. I help several people a year for free or nearly so, including tax preparation. Sometimes, a long-term client, now retired, is deserving of my gratitude, so I do their taxes gratis. I take a limited number of low-income people off the street and help them without a fee. Don't call me up and say, "You did mom and dad's return for ten bucks, why do I pay $***?" The answer: I would go broke if that is all I charged. Don't ask me to charge your parent's more. I've have this request several times over the years. I give back to the community, but I need to survive.

I like new clients; love them, in fact. They are the lifeblood of my company. Use the above information to see the world from the service providers perspective. I have a lot of clients that need work done by a deadline; they come first. I am selective in who I choose to serve. Respect my decision. At the end of the day, all I want to do is go home and hug my girls. No more quick questions. Set an appointment so I can really help you. I want to get paid for my effort and talents; same as you.

Why I Write What I Write

In a dark corner of my home is a room passed by when I remodeled. There are no windows, the carpet is faded and worn, and the lighting dim. I retreat to this room everyday for an hour or so and write on a novel, this blog, or read. An old sofa is tucked tight against the wall and shelves of books line each wall.

I write in this room more than anything else. Which brings up a good question: Why does an accountant write a novel? For those unfamiliar, most novels are written by people with another profession. Writing is a hard way to make a living. So why do I do it?

For me, writing is more than getting a story out and more than a pass time. For me, novel writing is about conflict and conflict-resolution. In my line of work this is a powerful tool. Granted, my characters suffer greater conflicts than I'll ever see, but they still must resolve a serious problem to survive, or at least, return to a normal life.

Everyone has problems in their life and resolving them is difficult, and next to never, prepared for. Most people work to avoid conflict and will even suffer great lose rather than face an issue. The behavior is self-defeating, but done still the same.

Even aspiring novelists frequently avoid conflict in their stories. Of course, this means they don't have a story. Humans by nature are ruled by 'flight or fight'. We choose 'flight', but our heroic fantasies have us 'fight'. Reading novels are a great way to experience conflict and resolution. It is unlikely we will engage the same devices a character in a book uses, but the way the conflict is resolved can be a valuable lesson.

I write to understand conflicts and its life-cycle. Writing also allows me an escape at a deeper level than only reading a book. Writing the story gives me a front row seat in resolving a perplexing and intractable problem.

And that comes in handy when battling the IRS.

Vacation

So, what does an accountant do on vacation? We should drink large quantities of distilled spirits, but a few, me included, don't.

The perfect vacation for me is quiet time with family. I also like time for a good book. This week I'm on vacation and spent the entire day at the office Monday. I promise to stay away the rest of the week. I'll let you know how it turns out.

The girls are camping with my parents. Sue and I are enjoying the rare quiet time together in productive ways. It is so nice to talk without weighing words. Little ears like to listen in or spy. We are visiting them Wednesday.

I don't need to travel far, or at all, to enjoy time off. I hate traveling. Home is where I like to spend free time: working around the pond, feeding the steer, chickens, and fish. There is so much to do around the place.

I'm terrible at taking vacations. I promise to take time off and then keep right on working. Since that is unhealthy, I really am taking time off this week. Honest. Yes, I am writing this from home. Yes, I logged into the office (only once) to check my e-mail. But I did read for several hours today, worked on my novel (yes, I like to write if you haven't noticed yet), pestered my animals, checked out the fruit trees, and have a nice long walk planned with Sue this evening. If I get good at taking vacations, I may never go back. Fat chance at that.

No blog post tomorrow. Like I said, visiting the girls at the campground. Wonder what they have planned for dad?

Good Business Advice for Everyone

I commented on a blog last night that I think is solid advice for anyone in business. Give it a look-see.

http://pubrants.blogspot.com/2009/08/writing-as-business-part-2.html

Writers Overpay On Taxes--Part II

Yesterday I talked about reducing taxes for writers earning less than $30,000. Today I will discuss a tax reducing strategy for writers, any business for that matter, with profits into the six figures.

There is a reason accountants and attorneys love LLCs. They were created with service businesses in mind. The beauty of the LLC is with how taxes are handled. An LLC can be treated as a sole proprietor (single member), partnership, corporation, or S-corporation with a simple form submitted to the IRS, Form 8832, sometimes call check-in-the-box. You default to a single member LLC with one member and a partnership (LLP) if there are multiple members.

Once your profits rise to $30,000 and up, it usually makes sense to elect to be treated as an S corporation. Once you elect as an S corp, you are an employee of the company with all required payroll and payroll taxes required. However, what you get paid by the company is determined by you. As long as it is reasonable, a fluid term used by the IRS and the tax court on this matter, it is acceptable. All remaining profit flows to your personal income tax return as ordinary income without FICA or self employment taxes. Taxes saved can exceed $10,000 per year. The goal is to have the lowest reasonable wage allowed.

Always check with a tax professional before taking any action. Your personal situation determines how well any tax strategy works.

Writers Overpay On Taxes--Part I

A large number of writers and artists overpay their taxes. Over the years I have seen these clients pay as much as double the amount they should have. As a writer myself, I am dismayed when a new client comes in that has overpaid for years. Writers work hard to turn a dollar and overpaying taxes can devastate a career.

For writers making $5,000 to $30,000 in profit a year, the easiest way to to reduce the tax burden is with a triple-net lease back of your home office. The simplest way to facilitate this tax advantage is to form an LLC as a single member. Then you rent your office from yourself, turning earned income into unearned income and avoiding the 15% self-employment tax.

This works for all small businesses that work out of the home. This low hanging fruit can return over $4,000 per year in tax savings, depending on your personal tax situation.

If you have any questions on setting this up, contact me. My website is: http://www.taxprepusa.net/.

Tomorrow I will discuss another tax saving strategy for writers with a larger income.