OF DEATH AND TAXES

Posted on by

Well, it’s that weekend again. Time to pull “that” file folder out of the cabinet, separate and create piles of receipts, papers and other paraphernalia on my desk top and start entering numbers into the tax software. I know that most people dread the thought of having to file a tax return but if you are organized and have the ability to read and follow instructions, it is not really all that bad. There is however, a bigger picture to consider here and I wish that parents, schools and politicians would spend more time explaining the benefits and purposes of income taxes so that people could rethink the negative stigma of “doing their taxes.”

I’ll touch on misguided tax applications later but it is important to remember that taxes create roads to drive on, schools to teach our children, hospitals to heal our sick, armed forces to protect our freedom, police to keep us safe, libraries to encourage reading, parks to play in, and so much more. A fair and reasonable process for collecting taxes and using them is the hallmark of a civilized society. Of course, we could revert to the good old days where the toughest son of a bitch in the surrounding country would simply bang on our door and demand a portion of our worldly goods. It’s still done that way in some parts of our planet, so be grateful.

It bothers me how many people turn this element of their life over to complete strangers because they think, or at least say, that preparing and submitting taxes is too complicated. This is a straight out opinion on my part, but often those people say that because they simply haven’t tried or are lazy enough to believe what someone else has told them. I am more than shocked by the number of people who have a simple income slip or perhaps just a social assistance slip and run to a tax preparer and pay money (which is obviously a scarce commodity for them) to have somebody with a few hours training submit their return. It would take about 2 minutes on the phone with the tax department to explain how to do it themselves. Seems like an appropriate time to offer this week’s

BOOMER TUNE ALERT

There are several versions of the song, “Money,” the first of which was written by Berry Gordy, the legendary head of Motown, in 1959 and released by Garret Strong. It went on to become the first hit song from Motown. It has been covered by absolutely everybody over the years. For me, the best rendition was created by the British alt rock band Pink Floyd on the mega hit album, “The Wall.” It was unique because of a 20 second loop they included that had the sound of an old fashioned cash register, the tossing of a roll of coins into a container and the iconic sax solo. Give it a listen:

When it comes to most people, taxes make sense when they think about it but their chief concerns are twofold, 1) the amount of taxes they pay and 2) how their taxes are spent – hello Bombardier. These two concerns are directly linked as we give the power to spend to our politicians who turn around and constantly bribe us with our own money. The sad part is that as an electorate we continue to fall for this scam and think that the “government” giving us some of our own money in the form of pensions, social benefits and other tax inducements is a good thing. We then proceed to complain about how much tax we pay.

I started doing my own taxes a long, long time ago and then enlisted the aid of a tax software program about 10 – 15 years ago and I have some tricky parts on my return – foreign income/business income and expenses – thanks for buying my books – but the process is pretty painless. My point about taxes is that it is such a vital part of our financial lives and represents such a large portion of our earnings that I can’t understand why otherwise intelligent people would turn over this process to someone else. Honestly, you will have a much better understanding of your own money by taking on the task yourself. There is all sorts of help available including tutorials and videos – if you are in Canada, go here if you need it.

OK, time to sit down, haul out the file folder (you have one don’t you?) and assemble your tax return, submit and relax. You are making a difference in your life and the lives of others with your contribution to the greater good. Once you finish, perhaps you would like to join me in this celebration recipe for dinner.

FIRE + MEAT + WINE = DINNER

HOW DO I PUBLISH MY BOOK

Posted on by

Last week we covered book publishing and compared self publishing to finding a traditional publisher. To find a publisher that will take your book to market and make you a New York Times bestselling author is a daunting task without some very unique elements. As we have noted, traditional publishers are only concerned with how many thousands of copies YOU can sell. In addition, if you land a publishing deal, you will sign over all the rights to your book and this is where the real value lies in having a book on the market. The publisher will decide on your cover, title, distribution avenues, foreign rights distribution, and any movie rights, etc. Sure, they will give you a percentage of compensation (small though it may be) but they OWN your book. If you don’t believe me, read a contract before you sign it. Any offers you receive from a publisher will be totally skewed in their favor. Don’t let your ego make the decision – use your intelligence to do what’s right for you.

Last week, and in my book about how to write a book, we covered the basics of self publishing and informed you about some of the resources available for making that happen. In essence, after writing your book and having it professionally edited, you would need to have a cover created, and learn how to create the layout, upload it, and most importantly, how to market your book. There is a steep learning curve for the first time author and you may be saying, “but I wrote the book, I don’t want to become some sort of business guru, I just want to write my next book.” There is an incredible alternative now available with some very real benefits that stay with you as an author – full ownership of all the book rights while having a professional, successful publishing organization behind you looking after the essential elements of creating a bestseller. I am going to introduce you to supported self publishing right after this week’s

BOOMER TUNE ALERT

With a string of hits in the 1950’s, Chuck Berry’s distinctive guitar solos and duck walk transformed rock and roll to the point that he was one the first honorees in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Many of his songs have been covered by other performers including “Roll Over Beethoven” by The Beetles. He had a number of legal troubles through his life but without any doubt whatsoever, his influence on rock music changed music for generations. It was not him alone but he was a very powerful influence on the crossover of so-called, “black music” to mainstream.

Chuck Berry

Oct 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017

R.I.P.

http://https://youtu.be/eHEd5P39Yoo?list=PLx61-Kqyvwyvq4PAkyToiC4fESiVOdeNu

Kim Staflund is the publisher at Polished Publishing Group and has created this compelling presentation that you need to read – A Strong Case for Supported Self-Publishing] What Traditional Trade Publishers Don’t Want You to Know

Her company will take the work that you rely on a traditional publisher to do for you and let you retain all of the rights. She has done this for a number of bestselling authors and you will find loads of tips, ideas and examples on her website here. She and her team have the resources to take your book out of the bottom drawer of your desk and turn it into a bestselling book in both print and electronic format. If Hollywood comes calling, you retain all the rights and can negotiate on your own behalf instead of giving away those rights to the big publishing house. Lets face it, the reality of publishing is that no matter what you decide to do, YOU are responsible for book sales so why not get paid appropriately for your hard work. Just to let you know, I have not asked for and do not expect any compensation for recommending Polished Publishing Group. I simply think that first time authors should know their options when it comes to getting published and this is a good one.

MY BOOK IS WRITTEN – NOW WHAT?

Posted on by

Last week I touched on how I wrote my first book. I spent an hour every day at a local shopping mall with a coffee and a 3-ring binder in which I poured out my thoughts about hiking the West Coast Trail. One thing I learned was that an author never really finishes his book; he is always rewriting, finding things to change, correcting errors, rereading and finding more changes. For more information on this process, check this out. There comes a time however, when the writer has to put their fear aside (yes, it’s fear) and determine what’s next. At first I thought that I had corrected all the grammatical and spelling issues and so it was time to find a publisher.

A friend noticed a writing contest in a local newspaper and suggested that I submit, which I did. My manuscript was typed by me and put in an envelope and shipped off to a publishing house for a writing contest for adventure stories. I’ll be damned if I didn’t win second place! I sent a letter to see if they would be interested in publishing but they declined – heart broken. Now it was time to learn how to become an author.

Spell check in Word is not editing. Handing your manuscript to a friend or family member is not editing (unless they are a professional editor) and then hopefully they will also give you back an invoice – that’s how you can tell. If you want your hard work to see the light of day, an author must put on her business suit and become a marketing expert, salesperson, production expert, lawyer, accountant, printer, layout pro, professional speaker, tinker, tailor, soldier and spy. Let’s talk for a moment about the publishing industry.

Here’s the deal – no matter how good your book, if you have to look for a publisher, your chances of success are minuscule, at best. If the publishers come looking for you, offering big advances, then you have huge name recognition and recognition translates to profit and that is what publishing is all about. Period, end of story, so to speak. Walk into a bookstore – what are they selling? Gifts, cute little stuffed animals, TV watching blankets, cards, games, and a small selection of best selling authors or authors with huge name recognition value – think Obama, Oprah, even Trump. I know for a fact that none of those people are subscribers to this website, so let’s tell it like it is, but first, this week’s

BOOMER TUNE ALERT

From a musical point of view, I was very lucky to grow up in southwestern Ontario, sandwiched between Toronto and Detroit. Yonge St. in TO was the Canadian music mecca with places like Le Coq D’Or, The Brown Derby and many other venues featuring people like Bobby Curtola, David Clayton Thomas and Rompin’ Ronny Hawkins. Detroit had Motown. Waterloo had WLU, then Waterloo Lutheran University and now Wilfred Laurier University – nice how they didn’t have to change the sign. Friday nights would see some incredible music acts from both of those locations arrive in the gym for dances, yes dances, not concerts. Here’s a blast from Martha and the Vandellas that has been covered by many others – it hit #2 on the charts when released in 1964, written by Marvin Gaye. This will get your mojo going:

http://https://youtu.be/CdvITn5cAVc

The traditional publishing companies are simply not an option for 99.9% of first time writers But what a wonderful world we live in because there are options that you really need to explore after you hire a professional editor. There are associations in most locales for professional editors, many of whom will work online without the need for meeting personally – check them out. And there are very legitimate options in self publishing and assisted self publishing for you to look into.

The biggest book retailer in the world is Amazon and every author who has even the slightest idea of getting their manuscript out of the bottom drawer of their desk needs to learn about publishing on Amazon and CreateSpace. If you are ready to put on your hard hat and do much of the work of publishing yourself, then this is the major route to take. They are incredibly professional and have amazing resources available if you are prepared to take the time to learn.

I would suggest that you spend some time on Smashwords, an aggregator that makes your book available on all of today’s major retail sites like Kobo, Barnes and Noble, I-Tunes, libraries, and more. Explore the many resources that they offer for editors, cover designers, uploaders, etc. Set up an account and read their blog suggestions for self publishing your book.

Do you think that self publishing is a second class option like the publishing industry would have you believe? Here’s a list of your fellow authors who began by self publishing:

  • David Chilton – The Wealthy Barber. …
  • James Redfield – The Celestine Prophecy. …
  • K.A Tucker – Ten Tiny Breaths. …
  • Michael J. Sullivan – The Riyria Chronicles. …
  • H.M Ward – Damaged. …
  • Barbara Freethy – Daniel’s Gift. …
  • Lisa Genova – Still Alice. …
  • Amanda Hocking.
  • and E.L. James – Fifty Shades of Grey – a book that my wife and daughter have told me I’m not allowed to read for some reason.

There is also a brilliant option now available called assisted self publishing in which you retain all the rights to your book (no, you don’t in traditional publishing). I will cover this in more detail next week but in the meantime, go here and read this information from Polished Publishing Group.