The Newer Never-Ending PublishAmerica Thread

[DeadlyAccurate]

Originally Posted by Gillhoughly

Even if you had a single dollar in earnings in a year--like that one dollar advance they sent you--they have to send you a "Miscellaneous Income" statement.

I thought the minimum amount required to send a 1099-MISC was $10.00.

[JulieB]

Originally Posted by DeadlyAccurate

I thought the minimum amount required to send a 1099-MISC was $10.00.

I don't have time to dig up the link, but I end up verifying this every year when I do taxes.

For royalty income the trigger amount for sending a 1099-MISC is $10. For non-employee compensation, which has typically covered advances for me (as well as a lot of the freelance work I do), the trigger is $600.

I'm not a tax expert and that rule doesn't cover everything, but the bottom line is that YOU are REQUIRED to report your income, even if you don't get a 1099-MISC and the company was required to send you one.

I suppose you can complain to the IRS, but you should also get in touch with the company that should have sent you the form. If nothing else, you'll have their response on file.

[Gillhoughly]

Yes, I'm sure "hush, baby" will go over SO well with the IRS.

You're probably right. And sadly, most PA writers won't even make 10.00.

But then how would they know what they earn with PA doing the bookkeeping?

Time and again we've seen posts (quickly deleted/locked by the Infomonster) from PA writers who KNOW how many of their friends bought a book, but those royalties went unrecorded by the accounting department.

So, PA LURKERS, if you're certain you made at least 10.00 with PA this year, have you gotten your 1099 form yet? Each of my publishers and my agent have sent theirs to me already.

[Arkie]

They use to send out tax forms for under $10.00. I think they had their computer set on automatic, because one year I received a blank tax form for zero royalties. That's one reason I've maintained they don't have the staff to administer the large number of authors they claim to have.

[tlblack]

I'm not sure they know what their policies are over at PA when it comes to sending out tax information. The whole time I was under contract with them, I never received any type of tax form from them, including a 1099.

[M.R.J. Le Blanc]

Before I came here, I never would have known publishers and agents were required to provide tax forms. I suspect PA counts on their victims not knowing either.

[Gillhoughly]

Originally Posted by tlblack

I'm not sure they know what their policies are over at PA when it comes to sending out tax information. The whole time I was under contract with them, I never received any type of tax form from them, including a 1099.

You might want to mention that to any Maryland IRS office.


Tick-tick-tick-tick goes the PA tax bomb...

[Arkie]

In the years 2004-2005-2006, when I was receiving 1099s for small amounts of royalties, posters on the PAMB complained that PA didn't need to send out tax forms for an annual amount under $600.00. I believe because authors were considered self-employed. I think that was true, because I never received another tax form and I doubt if there has been a case where PA paid an annual royalty of $600.00 to an author, unless it was the fellow who supposedly sold over 5000 books.

[ResearchGuy]

Originally Posted by Arkie

. . . an annual amount under $600.00.. . . .

I believe that the cutoff for book royalties was reduced to $10 fairly recently (couple of years ago?). Could be wrong about that. It seems a ridiculously low figure, but it is in the rules now for sure.

--Ken

[Arkie]

Originally Posted by ResearchGuy

I believe that the cutoff for book royalties was reduced to $10 fairly recently (couple of years ago?). Could be wrong about that. It seems a ridiculously low figure, but it is in the rules now for sure.

--Ken

I should have put a qualifier in my post that I have not read the tax laws recently on self-employment. I assume authors still come under that rule.

[ResearchGuy]

Originally Posted by Arkie

I should have put a qualifier in my post that I have not read the tax laws recently on self-employment. I assume authors still come under that rule.

I should have been clearer: the cutoff in paid royalties in a year at which publishers are required to file 1099 forms with the IRS (and send copies to the recipients) is $10, in contrast to $600 for, say, editing services. The person receiving the income has to report every dime (well, rounded to the nearest dollar, I suppose).

Writers who derive income from their freelance writing have to report the income. Typically that will be on a Schedule C. And then things get complicated.

Those 1099 forms are a nuisance. I paid a bookkeeping/tax company to complete and mail mine for the royalties I paid last year. That nuisance, for small-dollar amounts, is one of the reasons why I'll not publish any more books on which I have to pay royalties.

--Ken

[Christine N.]

Originally Posted by Arkie

I should have put a qualifier in my post that I have not read the tax laws recently on self-employment. I assume authors still come under that rule.

Yes; at least that's how Turbo Tax makes me fill out the forms. Then again, I not only get income from writing my own stuff (ie: royalties) but also for doing freelance work (ie: independent contractor.)

Actually, I haven't seen a 1099 from Macmillian/Tor yet for freelance gigs, which is weird. I'll have to go and find my check stubs, which I attach to my contracts when I get paid. It's considerably more than $10, and I'd be in big trouble if I forgot to report it.

[JanDarby]

Don't forget the duty to report income from the sales of individual books. They should be tracked, the sales reported (to both the IRS and the state sales tax authorities, with a remittance of the sales tax due), and the expenses subtracted. Doing a Schedule C, showing the receipts from sales of books, and subtracting the various expenses to make those sales, might be eye-opening.

JD

[O hAnnrachainn]

PublishAmerica has partnered with Baker & Taylor. Don't read this Yahoo news article while eating, or you risk spewing on your keyboard. http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Baker-...08247.html?x=0

[ResearchGuy]

Originally Posted by O hAnnrachainn

PublishAmerica has partnered with Baker & Taylor. Don't read this Yahoo news article while eating, or you risk spewing on your keyboard. http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Baker-...08247.html?x=0

If Webster's needed an illustration for the phrase "crock of s--t," that press release would do nicely.

--Ken

[PVish]

From the press release (bolding mine):

Baker & Taylor Inc., the world's largest distributor of physical and digital books and entertainment products, today announced it has signed an agreement for its TextStream Digital Print Service to print and fulfill orders for PublishAmerica's catalogue of more than 40,000 titles. PublishAmerica's titles—largely fiction and non-fiction stories of triumph over hardship—will also be available to Baker & Taylor's worldwide network of library and retail customers.

40,000 titles. What about all those who got their rights back?

[ChristineR]

Does this mean that they're giving up on the big laser printer?

The theory was that the reason for all the kooky special offers was that they were trying to run the machine 24/7, thus maximizing returns, but that the machine kept breaking down whenever they ran it 24/7 (thus explaining all the unhappy people who are still waiting for books ordered months ago). Could be another indication that they are downsizing.

[Gillhoughly]

Schedule C forms are a pain, but necessary.

I deduct every penny:

--what percentage of square footage of my house is used exclusively as office space,
--percentage of utilities used that year to heat and light it
--phone calls
--business meals
--car gas/mileage to signings
--hotel expenses to conventions
--equipment & supplies
--and whatever else I can't think of at the moment

If I buy so much as a pack of pencils at the dollar store that receipt goes into the stack.

FWIW, I once tried using Turbo Tax, but it just doesn't work for my specific situation. I wound up owing thousands.

Re-did them old school and the bill dropped to under a hundred bucks that year, which was the right amount considering the outflow on the Schedule C.

[Christine N.]

Yeah, regular old TT probably won't do the trick -you'd need TT for business. Here at my house I have the 'self-employment' plus a regular job, plus I file jointly with my husband. It all works out in the end, usually because I end up paying the taxes I would have owed on royalties and freelance with the taxes I pay through my regular job. Gives me a reduced return but I don't usually owe (of course I have a bunch of deductions like mortgate interest)

[M.R.J. Le Blanc]

Isn't signing up with Baker & Taylor risky, considering PA's already been documented as having crappy recordkeeping? Do they think Baker & Taylor won't call them on a bad payment or have better legal resources than the authors they routinely screw over?

[Arkie]

This move may get PA out of the recordkeeping business, turning it over to the printer and distributor TextStream. Reading a bit on TextStream, it seems they may deal directly with authors on book orders (POD) and shipping problems, taking PA out of most of the picture. At least one thing can be said for PA: they didn't turn their middleman responsibilities over to a Chinese corporation. Look for PA to intensify their author recruiting with big splashy eye-catching deals. They'll have more time for it now.

[M.R.J. Le Blanc]

I'm still kind of surprised. They'll have to pay this middleman company, won't they?

[JulieB]

Perhaps it's less than they're paying to keep their printer going?

[M.R.J. Le Blanc]

Yeah, but if they control the bookflow they can not print books and just feed excuses and lies to the victim who'll eventually give up. Or shortchange the order. By outsourcing it, the cost may skyrocket because these companies won't flub up the order.

Unless PA doesn't send it in the first place. I don't know, this all just seems weird.

[brianm]

Originally Posted by M.R.J. Le Blanc

Yeah, but if they control the bookflow they can not print books and just feed excuses and lies to the victim who'll eventually give up. Or shortchange the order. By outsourcing it, the cost may skyrocket because these companies won't flub up the order.

Unless PA doesn't send it in the first place. I don't know, this all just seems weird.

I don't see anything weird because it appears PA is just going back to the way they printed their books before they bought the fancy copy machine "built their printing facility". LS was the company they used in the past, but I expect they didn't go back to them because they are suing them.

~brianm~