Keeping Positive to Keep Moving Forward



Paramore on the Honda Civic Tour
Summer of 2010
Picture by Me :)

I’m a huge music junkie. No doubt I’ve done everything to hide that fact. *sheepish grin* One of my favorite bands is Paramore. I’ve seen them in concert twice, usually listen to their albums while driving across the state for the day job, and yes, many of their songs are in my writing playlists.

On Sunday I ran across a photo of Hayley Williams, lead singer of Paramore, on Facebook where it appeared as though she got a new tattoo. (Don’t want to post the pic here since I can’t locate the copyright license for it.) This tattoo may be one she’s had for a while and I’ve just never noticed, but when I saw it, it struck a chord with me. Call it coincidence, but I just so happened to be pondering my writing journey and thinking about how badly I want my writing career to succeed ... then that pic came through on Facebook. And of course I noticed the tattoo right away because I myself have two of my own and enjoy checking out others' artistic expressions.

The tattoo I'm referring to is on her left forearm and it says: Accentuate the positive. Eliminate the negative.

Considering what Paramore’s been through over the last fourteen months with the loss of two original band members, Hayley’s tattoo is no doubt speaking from her personal experience of having to deal with the usual breakup issues (you know, the stuff where the ex says XYZ that isn’t necessarily true and yada, yada, yada). No matter what type of breakup it is, there will always be negativity associated with separations rooting from a difference of opinion and direction.

One of the reasons why I’ve always loved Paramore, and particularly Hayley Williams, is that they haven’t been afraid to say what’s needed to be said. A song like “Ignorance” may punch you in the face with lines like, “You treat me just like another stranger,” but that line’s quickly followed up with, “Well it’s nice to meet you sir, I guess I’ll go. I best be on my way out.” In other words, thanks-nice-to-meet-ya-I’m-outta-here, and I don’t want or need your negativity. When I’m angry at a situation, this is one of my go-to songs. :)



The awesome pic the hubs
took of me while I jammed

Another reason why Paramore’s listed in my top favorite bands is because of their determination to keep going, even during the rough times. Band members/friends come and go, a clashing of opinions and/or direction will happen, and sacrifices will always have to be made. And I’m sure that there may have been several moments where the remaining band members have thought about quitting (I don’t know the band, so this is purely an educated guess from a fan). But, obviously, they haven’t quit. They continue to persevere and keep going.

One way Paramore's done this is by eliminating the negative and accentuating the positive.

They’re still a band and they’re still recording music. Even though they’ve lost two major band members, the three remaining members are moving forward and focusing their efforts on making a positive album – which is scheduled to be released in April – and giving their fans what they want a need.  

As a human being, an individual, an artist, a woman, and a wife, I’ve taken a long hard look on the inside after seeing Hayley’s tattoo yesterday, and I’ve pulled a lifelong lesson and will now strive to live by that same motto tattooed on Hayley’s arm. The lesson has been there all along, right in front of my face, right in front of everyone’s faces. It’s a known law of the universe that if you put positivity out into the world, positivity is what you’ll get back. *the epiphany moment where I slap palm to forehead*

So as a show of commitment to myself and others of this particular change in my life, I put it out there on Twitter. Kristen Lamb followed up with a response to this new-beginning-proclamation of mine:

 

As always, WANA Mama Kristen is there to help support artists when they need it, and she’s 100% right-on with this response. It’s exactly what I needed to hear. And I actually like the way Kristen put it. So maybe I’ll end up adding another tattoo to my mini-collection in the near future? :)

The bottom line of my post today is this: Keep positive no matter what happens, no matter how negative others are around you, no matter how many lemons life throws at you. When you do this, you’ll continue to move forward on your life’s journey.  

And always remember: “It’s not the way you plan it, it’s how you make it happen.” – Paramore from “Hello Cold World” 

So from this day forward, I’m going to keep moving forward by keeping a positive mindset. And I hope that many of my friends, both online and in real life, will hold me to this. ‘Cause God knows I am in no way perfect. :)

 

Your turn: Have you struggled with keeping positive? Have you had those moments where you’ve recommitted yourself to the journey you’re on? What’s the best advice you’ve been given to help you stay positive?

WANACon: The Worldwide Writing Conference

Last weekend I attended the first-ever WANACon - an interactive global conference for writers based solely online. Yup, you heard me right. The conference was fully online with a virtual classroom complete with audio, video, and chat capabilities - all that were used to maximum capacity. There was even a lobby where attendees could hang out in between seminars and chat.


WANA founder Kristen Lamb, her team at WANA International, and TechSurgeons (the genius behind all the technology) led the charge in this new and innovative approach at writing conference where you could simply log in from the comfort of your home and listen to top-notch presenters such as New York Times Bestselling author Allison Brennan, bestselling author Candace Havens, and the social media Jedi herself, Kristen Lamb.

You could even pitch to an agent while dressed in your pajamas, wearing a leopard-print slippers, and listening to "Eye of the Tiger" at your desk (and yes that's exactly what I did, music and all).

There were no plane tickets to purchase, no convention centers to drive to, no hotel room costs. No downfalls whatsoever, and the only cost involved was the conference fee itself, which, let me just say was completely affordable and was well worth spending on the first day alone - much less the next day and half's worth of seminars. :)

I ended up getting very sick on the 2nd night thanks to the dinner we ordered (for the record, food poisoning sucks!), but it was okay because I was still able to listen via conference phone. If that had happened at any other conference, I would've a) been totally embarrassed if the illness had happened in front of the attendees vs. the privacy of my own office, and b) wouldn't have even been able to stick around and listen to the last presenter of the night <-- Which was publishing attorney Susan Spann, and she was incredible!

Still though, as sick as I was I couldn't really take notes. So what did the fantastic moderator, Jami Gold, do? She put the word out to the other attendees requesting they share their notes from the presentation I missed - along with any other notes they'd like to share from the entire conference. How kind and thoughtful is that?

I haven't been as involved in the WANA Tribe/Community as I'd like to be lately, and that's mostly due to the revision hole I've dug myself into lately. But this conference, all of the amazing attendees, Kristen Lamb, the act of kindness by Jami and the attendees willingness to help another writer out when she was ill - all of it served as a reminder as to why I love the writing community as much as I do, why I love, love, love being on Twitter to connect with fellow artists, and why I absolutely should take the time out to continue to put myself out into the digital world more

WANACon is innovative, informative, exciting, fun, one-of-a-kind, and something I'd gladly do again and again. :)

But don't just take my word for it. Check out the Storify stories Jami Gold put together that captures what WANACon attendees and WANACon presenters thought of the conference. And here's another with quotes about WANACon from the blogosphere. If you're up for it, go to the WANA Int'l site and register to receive updates on the next conference. Kristen's looking at scheduling another soon - possibly in June - due to the ever-changing publishing industry and the need to keep writers informed and educated.

Your Turn: Would you attend an entirely digital writer's conference? Does the thought of attending a writer's conference in your pajamas interest you? What about the idea of learning from bestselling authors and industry professionals from the comfort of your own home? Do you think you may be interested in attended WANACon in the future?

5 Tax Tips for Authors

Last week I talked about how meeting with my new CPA made me feel like a *real* author. So this week, I wanted to share some quick and dirty tips on how to be better prepared when the time comes to prep your taxes. Most of you may read these tips and think, "Duh, Melinda!" However, truth be told, I wanted to say the same thing to my CPA even though I was going to have go home and do a mad dash of gathering all the needed data, receipts, and values.

But first let me preface this post by saying ...

I am not a CPA. I am not a Professional Tax Preparer. And I am not an Expert on the subject.

I am simply an author who is navigating the tax laws for the first time in her career, and I want to share a bit of what I've learned this year. :)

Tip #1: Keep your receipts for anything you've purchased in relation to your writing career.

This is uber important - because the last thing you need is to claim some costs that you cannot show proof of purchase for. Especially when it comes to Uncle Sam. ;) 

Ideas for items you want to keep receipts for:

• Pens, highlighters, paperclips, etc.
• Any basic office materials that you use on a daily basis to get your work done with
• 3-ring binders, notebooks, etc.
• What do you use to store your printed MSS in?
• USB flash/jump drives
• Books
• It's a good rule of thumb to keep the receipts for every book you purchase. Regardless if it's a book in your genre for market research or a craft book to hone your craft.
• Associate and Membership fees
• My personal examples are my RWA membership and my local chapter memberships
• Conference and Travel Fees
• That trip to Colorado that I took last year for Immersion Master Class? Yup, I'm expensing the cost of the class, the flight, and the hotel charges. :)
• I plan doing an Immersion Class again this August, but this time it'll be in OH, so I'm going to make the drive from NC. And those miles are expansible for me also.
• Computer equipment
• Example: I bought a new laptop last month, therefore I will end up claiming part of this on my taxes for this year. :)
• Anything that goes in your writing space/office space. This can be as simple as lightbulbs for your desk lamp to your desk, chair, a new bookshelf, etc.

*Keep in mind that all of these are simple ideas and examples. I'm not saying that you'll be able to claim all of them, but it's a good of thumb to keep track of all of these items. Your CPA or Tax Preparer will be the one to tell you what you can and should expense, and what you can't.


Tip #2: Become a good record keeper.

For authors, this should be the easiest task of all. We've already trained ourselves to be good record keepers when to characters - and their backstory - and our storylines - along with all the subplots. However, as easy as this may seem, it's hard to get in the habit of logging your records frequently ... because, ya know, if you don't do it at least once a week, the next thing you know you're gonna end up with two months' worth of receipts to record. :)

Tip #3: Create a system that works for you.

This is another incredibly important point. You'll want to find a system that will be easy for you to use, and one that you won't mind doing as often as once a week. For me that system was logging/tracking everything into an MS Excel spreadsheet. I have individual tabs set up within my spreadsheet. One for travel expenses, another for membership and conference fees, one for education fees (craft books & classes), one for books in my genre that I read for market research, one for office supply purchases, and so on, and so on, and so on. Then I have a nifty main tab that automatically adds up all those totals and summarizes the entire spreadsheet for my CPA. (Have I mentioned recently how much I love, love, love Excel??)

So find a system that'll work for you. Be it by hand, by spreadsheet, or by Word doc. Find something that'll keep you on track throughout the year.

Tip #4: Do your research on local CPAs.

When Writer-Husband and I chose our CPA, our first quest was to get a referral from the intelligent gentleman that we did our mortgage through. Our second course was to speak with any of our friends who own their own businesses and gain a referral from them, such as Writer-Husband's sister. So when it came down to making the choice, we checked out their websites, About pages and Bios, and then we had short conversations with the CPA to obtain their knowledge of tax laws as they pertain to authors. Through that process we discovered that the first one we called was incredibly knowledgeable, incredibly nice,  and overall, the woman knew her stuff.

Hmmm ... then again she could've told us there are rainbows in hell and we might've believed her. ;) Just kidding! (Not really ...)

So do your homework. Find someone who's been in the business for at least 8-10 years. And check your local state's registered CPA database as well as your local Better Business Bureau. Oh, and you might also want to make sure that they do prepare taxes. I learned that not every CPA is willing to dive into Uncle Sam's pool.

Tip #5: For goodness sakes, do your own research as well.

So earlier when I said that our CPA could've told us there are rainbows in hell? Yeah, well I was seriously joking. I had done research. Then I did more research. And more research. That's what I had to do to even make sure that we were picking the right CPA.

Take being a writer as an example. You've done your homework, you've learned the craft and you live it every day. So what if you're talking to another individual who calls themselves a writer, but yet you've noticed that you ask them for a critique, it's like they can barely put two sentences together? What does that tell you? Exactly ... they're new to the craft and they've got some learning to do. It's the same concept with CPAs. So you gotta do your own research in order to help you weed out the inexperienced in tax laws for authors.

I suggest going straight to Google. When I Google "tax tips for writers & authors", the following are the first 5 sites that pop up:

• Scribendi - Tax Tips for Writers
• Publish Lawyer - Taxes and The Writer
• Ask CP Amoms - Tax Tips for Writers and Authors
• Taxes for Writers - Tax Tips for Writers - Use Google to Calculate Mileage
• Gordon Burgett's Blog - 2012 Tax Tips for Writers and Publishers

So there you have it. The tips I have to offer as an author navigating business tax filing for the first time. Again, I am not a CPA, nor a Tax Preparer, nor a professional in the tax industry. So please do not take my words to the bank. :)

What about you? What other tips do you have to offer authors regarding taxes? Anything I missed? Do you have a personal experience of your own that you've learned from and would like to share?