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The thrills! The excitement! The glamour!
Mar. 24th, 2006 03:10 pmTook a half day of vacation today and how did I spend my time? Working on my taxes. Yes, a writer's life is one thrill after another.
After ten years as a professional writer I have a careful system worked out. Throughout the year all of my writing related receipts get stuffed in a folder. Then one day the following spring I open up the folder and key all those expenses into a spreadsheet.
It's amazing to see how many trips there are to Staples in a year, and how much I spend on paper, inkjet cartridges and postage for mailing reams of paper around the country.
Then there are research books, memberships in writing organizations, going to cons, promo stuff (postcards) and that's my writing year. Oh, and mustn't forget the new computer I had to buy when my laptop committed suicide in media revisions.
ETA: Yes, the lizards are tax deductible. Now if only I could get them classified as dependents instead of promotional expenses....
Cool news of the day: my editor got a kick out of the bag of custom printed M&M's I sent her. She's stealing the idea for a romance convention she's going to, so it's all good. Soon the world will be covered in custom printed chocolates advertising new books, and it's hard to see a downside.
Reading:Finished Something from the Night Side and really enjoyed it. I didn't see the final twist coming. The book was also a perfect length, short enough that I could actually finish it in a week, given my limited reading time. I'll have to pick up the sequel next time I'm in a bookstore.
After ten years as a professional writer I have a careful system worked out. Throughout the year all of my writing related receipts get stuffed in a folder. Then one day the following spring I open up the folder and key all those expenses into a spreadsheet.
It's amazing to see how many trips there are to Staples in a year, and how much I spend on paper, inkjet cartridges and postage for mailing reams of paper around the country.
Then there are research books, memberships in writing organizations, going to cons, promo stuff (postcards) and that's my writing year. Oh, and mustn't forget the new computer I had to buy when my laptop committed suicide in media revisions.
ETA: Yes, the lizards are tax deductible. Now if only I could get them classified as dependents instead of promotional expenses....
Cool news of the day: my editor got a kick out of the bag of custom printed M&M's I sent her. She's stealing the idea for a romance convention she's going to, so it's all good. Soon the world will be covered in custom printed chocolates advertising new books, and it's hard to see a downside.
Reading:Finished Something from the Night Side and really enjoyed it. I didn't see the final twist coming. The book was also a perfect length, short enough that I could actually finish it in a week, given my limited reading time. I'll have to pick up the sequel next time I'm in a bookstore.
