Tag Archives: Nancy DiMauro

Welcome to Legal Month at the Fictorians!

Writers are business people. We own our enterprises and are responsible for them. While we often focus on the craft of writing on this site we felt a walk on the business side was necessary. We’re going to spend much of March looking at issues writers, and all business owners in fact, need to know about the law such as taxes, necessary record keeping, agents, contracts, indemnification and reversion clauses, copyright, creating your business, creating publishing company, and much more. An important note about this month: We’re not providing legal advice and if you have specific questions about the law and how it applies to your situation, please contact an attorney where you live.

Five facts about the law every business owner needs to know:

FACT 1 – Anyone can sue you.

Legal disputes are part of the cost of doing business. For the fiscal year ending September 20, 2012 (the most recent one I could find statistics on), the United States Federal Courts had 278,442 new civil law suits filed. http://www.uscourts.gov/Statistics/JudicialBusiness/2012.aspx While this number represents a decrease in filings from the previous year it’s still a respectable number. Keep in mind too that this figure doesn’t take into account new cases filed in a state court. While there are rules against frivolous or harassing law suits it is often difficult to show that any specific case was completely baseless and the other side should have known that their claim wasn’t legitimate when they filed.

Litigation is VERY expensive. A bit of prevention (and expense) can save you thousands on the back-end. A business lawyer’s job is to anticipate what could go wrong and try to give you the best possible protection in case the worst happens. Nothing is perfect though, and the more successful you become the bigger the target on your back. Which brings me to my second point…

FACT 2 – Becoming a Corporation is Inexpensive and Provides You with a Level of Protection.

You are almost always better off operating under a corporate umbrella rather than being a partnership or a sole proprietor. Corporations are considered separate “people” from their owners under American law. As a general rule a person suing a company can only collect their judgment from the company’s asset, not the owners’. Incorporating also allows you to keep profitable ventures separate from more experimental ones or ones losing money. It is fairly common practice for a real estate developer, as an example, to form a new company for every project that way if project X fails the business does not have to use its revenue from successful venture Y to pay off X’s debts. The owners merely pay off as much of X’s debts as they can with whatever assets X has left without jeopardizing their or that of their other ventures’ financial health. Is it necessary for a writer to have a new company for every book? Not generally. Writing is not generally considered a high risk enterprise.

Another advantage to operating through a company is the ability to give yourself a salary and issue yourself a W-2. Being a W-2 employee has several tax advantages. It also means you qualify as an employee and not self-employed when the time comes for you to get a loan, whether business or personal.

FACT 3 – You Are Responsible For The People You Hire.

Employees are a mixed blessing. They are fabulous because they let you do the things you love doing about your business – like writing – and delegate the things you like least or take too much time away from your main focus – for example, maintaining a website or social media presence. The also present their own special set of legal challenges. But I’m to not going dwell too long on theses since that’s a several post long discussions. Let me point out two though.

Your employees are part of your public face. Their acting badly reflects on you. Choose your agents, publicists, editors, lawyers, accountants, and employees with care. In this highly visible world a stray (or not so stray) comment on a social media site can bring down an empire. After all, it only took the Doctor six words to bring down an administration.

Ensure you classify the people who work for or with you properly. While it might be tempting to classify your helpers as independent contractors spend time with a lawyer to make sure they qualify under the IRS guidelines. Understand that all exempt (from United States Federal Overtime requirements) employees are salaried, not all salaried employees are exempt. There are also state laws governing when an employee must be paid overtime. Again this is a classification issue and some up front time with a lawyer can save your business.

FACT 4 – You Will Be Deemed to Know the Law and What Your Contracts Say Even if You Don’t.

Ignorance of the law is not a defense. Don’t sign any document you haven’t read. If litigation results a court will deem you to have known and understood a contract’s terms. Lots of nasty upsets can be avoided simply by reading a contract. Know what you’ve agreed to. If you don’t understand, I mean really understand, what you are being asked to sign, DON”T SIGN IT and seek legal advice first. Renegotiate the unacceptable terms. Sometimes walking away from a bad deal is the best you can do.

FACT 5 – Words Matter.

This last one shouldn’t surprise you. After all, who knows that words matter than a writer? Fellow Superstar Attendee Mignon Fogerty aka Grammar Girl once asked me if it was true that lawyers litigated over the placement of a comma. The answer is “sometimes” as comma placement can change a sentence’s meaning. I’ve litigated the meaning of “unique”, and “exclusive” and, yes, exactly what a clause modified (i.e. did the comma mean anything?).

Do not accept a word you do not understand. Contracts, especially older ones, use the word “witnesseth.” When I’ve struck the word and asked the other attorney what the term meant…well, let’s just say I manage to get it struck most of the time. Why? Because it’s unnecessary. “Witnesseth” means “to take notice of” rather than to “witness” a document. Since the word comes before the signature lines it’s a bit obvious that the person signing has “noticed” the document. We’re going to have posts focusing on specific words in indemnification and reversion clauses so I won’t belabor the issue about the meaning of words here.

Keeping these principles in mind won’t guarantee that you’ll never have a legal dispute. But they just might let you know when to seek professional help from lawyers or tax professionals.

I hope you enjoy the upcoming month, and come back for more great information.

Disclaimer:

The materials available at this website are for informational purposes only and not for the purpose of providing legal advice. You should contact your attorney
to obtain advice with respect to any particular issue or problem. No attorney-client relationship has been created. Legal information is not the same as legal advice — the application of law to an individual’s specific circumstances. Although we go to great lengths to make sure our information is accurate and useful, we recommend you consult a lawyer if you want professional assurance that our information, and your interpretation of it, is appropriate to your particular situation.

Promises To Keep

August 6, 2012

Nancy

Nancy Greene The Writing Life 2 Comments

I have a commitment issue.

Okay, maybe it’s better to say I have an overcommitment issue.

I describe myself as a mommy, writer, lawyer. Needless to say, each of those things is a full-time job. So, necessarily there are instances when the time required by each of them add up to more than 24 hours in a day. I’m in one of those periods right now. But I’ll end up waking up at midnight, carving four hour of work out of the night, and then napping for a few hours before I have to get up to feed the horses. In other words, I make it work until I fall down. Not the best strategy but it’s who I am.

There are a number of downsides to this very A-type personality trait. One of which is when other people fail to meet their commitments to me, it is a source of annoyance. But, that’s a different post. Balance is the issue.

Most of us haven’t reached the point in our writing careers when we can give up the day job and write full-time. Those who do write full-time often work on more than one project at a time. Oh, the luxury of only having one thing to work on at a time. But, reality is that life rarely is that simple. We juggle. Animals need to be fed. Kids need to be reminded to shower. They need to be taken to school, or sports, or a friend’s house. We need to meet work deadlines, and get new work. We need to write, and edit, and market our writing. And somewhere between managing our life, we need to live it.

There’s all sort of advise out there about how to fit writing into the rest of your life. You’ll often be told that we have to write every day. And that’s great. For when you can. I have a post on my blog about inching toward sucess – having low daily writing goals so I feel motivated to start every day. I was recently listening to Get-It-Done Guy’s podcast “How to Juggle Multiple Projects,” and realized his advise, as it often does, applied to many areas of my life.

So, how do I juggle? Sometimes very poorly. I do try to stay on top of my commitments so I can spent time with my family and honor all my other obligations. The following is what (mostly) works for me:

First, I follow the Get-It-Done Guy’s advise.: prioritize my “to-do” list.

Second, I focus on one task at a time. Have you ever walked around in a circle because your attention is being pulled in too many directions? I have. My kids think it’s funny. My husband knows to get out of my way because a melt-down is coming. We’ve been sold this idea of multi-tasking, but we really can’t work on more than one thing at a time. Multi-tasking is really serial attention focusing. Focus on one item and work on it until done, or until you reach its time allocation, see #3 below. I turn my e-mail alerts off and my phone to “do not disturb.” Because I’m not starting and stopping tasks, I generally can accomplish my goal for that session. Minimize distractions.

Third, I schedule my tasks by Time. I’ve been a lawyer long enough that I know that most routine matters will take a certain amount of time. If I need to write a memorandum that’s going to take 30 hours, I can break that time commitment up to 3 hours a day for ten business days. Because I’ve broken down my time allocation, I can start without feeling overwhelmed. It’s only three hours after all. The Get-It-Done Guy takes this one further and suggests putting the time blocks on your calender. For me, this doesn’t work because I see all the working “appointments” and die just a little. The blocks of time on my calendar become a wall I have to overcome and create more stress for me as I run “late” between tasks. But it might work for you.

My writing time is 9 pm to 11 pm. I’ll write when I can steal minutes (the Get-It Done Guy also has a great post on maximizing and using down time), but those two hours a night are my time. I write blog posts, edit, review other people’s stories and write in that window.

Fourth, I try to set realistic goals. My daily word count goal is only 250 words and amounts to about 15 minutes of time. Remember my two hour window? The 250 word goal means that on any day I can write, I’ll met the word-count goal. Because the goal is so easy to reach, I can beat back the need to sleep to get it done. After all, it’s only 15 minutes. The nights I write I average 750 words? What does this mean, it means I generally meet my weekly word goal (1,750 words per week). Writing isn’t a chore for me when I think about it in these terms and get to mark a check in my “goal completed” column. If you are the kind of person who needs the tangible reminder, go ahead and make a chart to show when you’ve met your goals. I use a word-count comment in my WIP so I can see I’ve met that day’s goal.

Fifth, deadlines are your friends, but unlike real friends you should manipulate them. There are some deadlines you must meet, and others that are aspirational. Use aspirational deadlines in advance of any hard one. If I’m writing for a November 1 submission deadline, I’ll have a September 15 completion deadline. Why? I’m very deadline motivated. I will push off matters with later deadlines to get to priority items. The aspirational deadline builds in a “catch-up” window. It also ensures I meet the “real” deadline without pulling an all nighter whenever possible.

Finally, I give myself a break. Not too long ago, I was in trial or other hearings nearly every day. Because my lawyer-ly matters were back-to-back my preparation time spilled out of normal office hours (7 am – 7pm – yea, I know – not so normal working times). I was at the office trying to get exhibits ready until 2am the morning before a trial. Needless to say, I didn’t write that night or any night that week. I forgave myself for missing and started in fresh with the new week.

For me balancing my family’s, writing’s and day job’s obligations is a constant dance. With some planning, I manage to limit the times I stumble. I hope a look at how I work to keep a balance between the important pieces of my life will help you do the same. For me, it’s time to have dinner with the kids.

Check out my newest release from Musa Publishing: Jack Gorman Got Cut By A Girl. Karma is a bitch, and Jack Gorman is about to find out how much.

E-Publishing – Why I chose it.

June 6, 2012

Nancy

Nancy Greene Publishing The Writing Life 5 Comments

As you know from my post earlier this month, I have two short story collections published by Musa Publishing. I’m participating in an anthology – The Jack Gorman Project – that was born at an after-conference dinner at the 2011World Fantasy Con, The anthology will release on July 20, 2012. I also have a novella, Apollo Rising, that should be released in September, 2012. All as part of Musa’s line.

So, why did I choose E-publishing?

Well, let’s be honest, Musa said yes.

All kidding aside, I chose to E-publish rather than continue the short story publication rounds or wait on traditional publishers to deem me worthy for several reasons. But, before I go into those reasons, let me use Celina Summers’ definition of E-publishing from the June 1, 2012 blog.

According to Celina:

(E-Publishing) houses are digital first. They publish e-books primarily, although some are moving into POD(print on demand) availability for their books. An e-publisher is a genuine small house, following the same submissions, acquisitions, and editing processes as traditional publishing. Five years ago, e-publishing wasn’t considered a legitimate publishing credit by agents and New York publishers. That mindset is changing as the popularity of digital books increases.

Okay, now that we are all on the same page, let’s talk about why I chose this path.

Probably most importantly, I met Celina at World Fantasy. I liked her. We talked for hours about everything and nothing before she gave me permission to pitch her. I can’t stress how important this personal connection is in any form of publishing. I’m not sure I would have trusted my babies (the stories) to an e-publisher, especially one who’d just opened its doors, if I hadn’t met Celina.

On to more general reasons to consider an E-publishing house. I don’t have the time or energy to do all the work the fabulous people at Musa do for me. Self-publishing wasn’t an option for me. E-Publishing has all the benefits of traditional publishing. When I submit a story, a slush-pile reader has to like it enough to take it to the head editor for that genre. If the editor likes it, I get a contract. Once the story is under contract, it benefits from professional editing. Then it goes through line editing. So, we both know we’re publishing a book that’s as clean as possible. Musa has a professional artist that does my cover AND (unlike traditional publishing), for anyone but the N.Y. Time best sellers, I had significant input into what that cover looked like.

E-Publishing has the potential to pay better. Musa’s contract is on its website. You can see how your royalties will get calculated before you submit to it. If I’d sold my short stories to a magazine, I might get 6 cents a page. For a 15,000 word story, I’d be paid $900. It’s a good number, but that’s it until I get the rights back and resell it. Paths Less Travelled is a 15,000 short story collection being sold for $3.99. For Paths, I make that same $900 after I sell about 460 books. That’s not that hard to do. From book 461 on, I’m making more money than I could have by traditionally selling the short stories. It is potential that is up to me to realize. Musa will help, but success or failure sits on my doorstep. Which leads me to marketing.

As part of an E-Publisher’s line, you’ll get some limited marketing. But just like with traditional publishing the onus is on you to make sure your book sells. Musa helps me work on my marketing materials. In fact, Musa requires it. Musa won’t release a book unless its tags, blurb and excerpt are turned in. It also has pre-existing deals with Amazon, Barnes and Nobles and other vendors to get my book out to the public. There’s no one but myself to blame if I only sell 100 books. There’s a lot of people to thank if I sell 1,000, 10,000 or more books.

E-publishing also happens a lot quicker than traditional publishing. You might wait 2-3 years between signing a contract and a publication date with the Big 6. Not so with E-Publishing. As a new author, it’s highly unlikely that a traditional publisher would take a risk on four books in one year. And, as it is said, the best marketing for your current book is your next one. By allowing me to get more stories to my audience quicker, E-publishing helps me build a platform that I can convert into more sales and, maybe some day a print contract.

The nature of E-publishing allows those houses to take risks that traditional publishers just can’t afford. A significant portion of producing a book is in the actual printing process. E-Publishers don’t have this expense. Most first time novels lose money for the traditional houses. Think about that for a minute. A traditional publisher knows that most of its first time authors won’t earn their advance. As a result, a traditional publisher has to limit its exposure to these losses meaning it will be hesitant to take on an unpublished writer. Because of the significant difference in costs structures, E-publishers can take more risks with new writers. Just like I have the potential of making more money this way, an E-Publisher needs to sell fewer books than a traditional publisher to recoup its expenses and start making a profit.

E-Publishing makes novellas and short story collections viable. A novella is a story between 40,000 – 70,000 words. Magazines have problems with novellas. Often, they are too big, and take up too much space. This length of story poses two problems to traditional houses: First, the expense of producing one is about the same as producing a full novel. Second, the spine of the book is going to be too small to show up on a shelf. So, novellas have been a hard sell for traditional publishing. However, E-books breathed new life into novellas and collections. E-publishers don’t have to worry about spine size or shelf space. They can price a book at $1.99, and still earn a profit. Traditional publishers can’t. E-publishing created a market where none existed.

I can’t end this post without bragging about Musa, and how thrilled I am to be part of this house. So, bear with me. Here’s what makes Musa special. Musa is a community of writers. We support each other. We help each other market. Musa offers master classes to help us become more savvy business people and better writers. I don’t know anyone else out there that’s investing in its writers in this manner. Musa strives to provide more and better services to its writers and readers. We now have books on OverDrive, a library lending program. We have a vibrant blog. Again, if I don’t succeed to the level I want, I have no one to blame but myself.

So, yes, I chose E-publishing and it chose me. Does this mean I’ve given up on traditional publishing? No. I think they are both avenues that should be pursued. But I’m happy to be with this fabulous E-Publishing house. I chose it as much as it chose me.

For my short story collections, Paths Less Traveled and Shots at Redemption, or a host of other amazing stories in just about every genre, please check out Musa Publishing.