Tag Archives: Writer

Author, Deductions and miles, Writing is a business

Your business:Writing

January 22, 2015 NewEngland_Muse 2 Comments

Tax time. As authors do you run your writing as a business? Do you deduct things pertinent to it? For example: mileage, fees to conferences, ink cartridges and in some case office space?

2014 was the year I noted down as much as I could. I logged everything that I could think of that pertained to my craft. Can all of it be used, I’m not sure. That is what I need to find out. It could be a bit depressing to see how much one might have kicked out versus how much came in. But it can also get you focus on what you need to do in making your career, if you so chose to do so, a business.

At the moment I am typing up my mileage. This is not a fun task. I did manage to download a travel log from online so this year will be not as bad.

I have set aside a calendar and notebook to make it easier to keep a record of what may come my way. I did the same in 2014 but will try to improve on it this year. This may be tedious in the long run, it may make no difference at all when it comes to filing but I won’t know that until we do file and see if my efforts were for naught.

Sometimes it takes the fun out of writing but if nothing else it gives me an indication on where I stand.

Book Covers, Book Titles, Sharon C. Williams

Titles and Covers

March 4, 2014 NewEngland_Muse 4 Comments

I purchased a few books recently simply on the title or the book cover that was presented before me. I didn’t read the back, I just talked to the author and asked about it. I can’t believe that I was so easily parted with my money with books I had little knowledge of. It just goes to show how important one’s title and book cover are for our own books. Do we take the time and care that is needed for these two concepts? Or do we slap a title, a cover and move on to what we consider more important, writing?

My sequel to my children’s book has no title. I haven’t taken the time needed to come up with one. I’m not one to spend time on this. Majority of my titles have been offered to me: Jasper, Amazon Parrot: A Rainforest Adventure, Squirrel Mafia and Dragons in the Attic. Though in fairness I did come up with these. The manuscripts practically named themselves. These include Moe’s Cafe, A Woman of Color and Lost Faith.

I guess for me it is a crap shoot if I can come up with one and how much importance I place on it. Sometimes the MS names itself and sometimes it needs a little bit of help. It’s in the editor’s hands now as I am midway through volume three of this series. A few people have offered titles to volume two. The ones mentioned have been Jasper, Amazon Parrot: Rainforest Friends, Jasper, Amazon Parrot: Rainforest Friends and Family and Jasper:The Next Adventure.

I like them all to be honest. It sure beats me saying Jasper 2 which is all I had. A title in a way solidifies your work as you present it to publishers or literary agents. If nothing else, at least I have a working title until further notice.

The cover is another story. The one for my first volume I had a lot of input and final say in the final version. I sent endless pictures of Jasper, at the illustrator’s request, so she could get a feeling of who he was. It took a bit of work on both of our parts as we made suggestions to each other of what we liked and didn’t like. For while I feel a cover is important, I feel it is very important when it comes to children, one of our worse critics of all time. If we don’t make either pleasing to the eye, the books may soon gather dust as the ones around them get picked up.

So again I ask, how much time do you spend on your title and cover? And how important is it to you?

Author, Guest Blog, Pam Funke

Guest Blog: Pam Funke

February 11, 2014 NewEngland_Muse Leave a comment

MY JOURNEY by Pam Funke

One day while I was standing in the local Wal-Mart looking at the books on the shelves there, it occurred to me that there just was not enough Christian Fiction books out on the market. I was disappointed with the books that were available for the public to read, especially those on the market for our youth. The books that lined the shelves are not feeding their minds or souls with positive things. Now mind you there are some very good non-Christian novels out there that instill a positive message, but unfortunately there are many out there that are not. There has to be something in a good book that not only feeds the mind with positive values and teaches the reader how to improve their life and give them some hope. If not, then what’s the point? A good book should have a lesson in it that someone can learn something valuable from it and not just an escape away from their problems in the real world ~ because when the story is over the real world is still there and so are their problems. They should be able to come out of that story with something positive that they can use to help them in the real world. From that very moment I decided that I would try to fill that very void and hence The Apocalypse series was born.

Operation Dark Angel: The Rise of Nicolaitanes, which is the first book in the series, began my journey into authorhood. When I first sat down to write this novel, I honestly wasn’t sure what it was going to entail. I sat there for a few moments wondering how to begin the story. I put my pen down and sat there for a moment pondering what to do. As I sat there with my eyes closed it suddenly came to me. I started to see the events of my novel unfold before me in my mind. It was as though I were watching a movie on the television set. It seemed kind of odd to be writing in this manner, but I wrote down everything that I saw and heard in my mind. Although I was able to picture my story, I still had to do some research into various things. For example, I had to find out about different cultures and religions so that I could incorporate them into my story properly. I also had to read extensive news articles from around the world to figure out which ones I could use to enhance the storyline. A year later, I had a completed manuscript and sat down to read it from cover to cover. It turned out to be a really good story worthy of being read by others. I must admit that I was nervous about getting it published, but I figured what harm could it do? The audience would either love it or hate it. Receiving my very first physical copy of the book was a wonderful feeling. To see that others are enjoying the book as well and leaving reviews on Amazon, B&N and Goodreads is great. I love to read what others think about what I wrote.

Well it is now a year later and I am happy to say that my fourth book, Sodom: A Nation On Its Knees, will be published later this month.

As a new author, my advice to all of you out there who have the desire to write or are newly published authors as well; write to your heart’s content. Don’t give up your dream and even if one door or more is closed in your face be patient for there will be one door that will remain open for you. Write for not only your enjoyment, but for the enjoyment of others. Stay encouraged and happy writing.

Through the Eyes of a Child book blurb: God created the heavens and the earth. He created all of the plants, animals and birds of the air. He created man. When God was finished He looked at all that He had created and saw that it was good. Come see the world through the curious eyes of a child.