Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Publishing, as with everything else, just the start...

So I am published, at least on Smashwords for now. The book is still waiting to be reviewed for the Smashwords Premium catalogue, from which it will be distributed to other publishers. I am not yet published on Amazon, although I had planned to do it today. There is a very simple reason why - royalties, or more specifically the payment of royalties.

All of these publishers pay in US dollars. Not a problem. Smashwords pays via PayPal, also not a problem. The American IRS takes 30% in tax. That is a problem. I have to get a number to activate the tax treaty between America and Australia, and then I will pay only 5%. But I have to have earned $10 American before Smashwords will give me a letter that I need in order to get the number I need. There is another way which seems easier and quicker and I will try that first. If it works, I'll let you know.

That all seemed complicated and disheartening - then we come to Amazon. Amazon only pays to Australian authors via cheque (or check in American English). And Amazon only pays by cheque once sales exceed $100 American. Amazon pays by EFT to other countries, but not to Australia. I have no idea why. So I have a few choices; getting a cheque which I will then have to pay conversion rates on if I try to bank it, framing all the cheques I get as expensive wall art, or getting a UK bank account. I'm still thinking about that one. It may seem odd, but the UK bank account idea at this time seems like a winner. I go to the UK as often as I can, I would have spending money available this way. I also have my awesome sister (remember her? Saved me from throwing my computer out the door over the cover art?) who lives in the UK and hopefully can help in this matter...

I had planned to spend today publishing to Amazon and then writing. The sun is shining, it's not too hot, I have a clean house, nothing pressing is distracting me from writing (like paid employment). It seemed that today would be a very productive day. Ah, the perils and pitfalls of self publishing if you're Australian! Having come this far I refuse to give up or give in. I did think the worst would be over once I was actually published. I was prepared for the time consuming effort of publicity, and keen to do it since that will actually help get the book out there. This messing about with tax laws in a different country, and the huge hurdle that Amazon now represents was something I was not prepared for!

It's a good thing that there is a constant supply of sayings and proverbs to help get the right mindset :)


Or this one, which is the one I should pay the most attention to...

I think whoever put this one on the web was thinking of me!



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