The best laid plans of mice and men…

There’s so many things going on right now.  It’s an exciting time!  The official D’mok Revival board game is moving forward.  The second novelette is being edited by Arlene and Glenn Clovis is working on yet another amazing cover.

I’ve been making slow progress on restructuring the fourth manuscript. It’s always an interesting challenge to update an existing work based on all the edits and changes that happened to the manuscripts before it.

I wasn’t going to announce this just yet, but I alluded to how the series is going to continue to go strong well after the first trilogy.

The fact is, while trying (note: TRYING) to stay focused on book #4 in D’mok Revival’s main lineage, the first book in the first spin-off has been talking to me.  By talking to me I mean daily, thoughts, little movie sequences playing in my head.  It’s great stuff, and very existing.  I continue to write notes and file it away for later.  Yet something keeps drawing me back that book instead of #4…

I’m a firm believer in listening to your creativity. It ebbs and flows as it wants to–never as you want or when you want.  So if it’s doing its thing–LET IT–GO WITH IT!

So, I sat down and wrote 14 pages this morning… the entire first chapter.  This builds on the prolog I wrote earlier in the week.

The series is called Weun Academy. The working subtitle, for the moment is: Boy with the green eyes.  For those that have followed the series, you know exactly who this is…  😉

If there’s a clear high-concept model I’d say it’s a hybrid of Starship Troopers, X-Men, and Harry Potter.  Clearly there’s still Japanese Anime inspirations, and it’s within the D’mok Revival literary universe.

This side trilogy isn’t just a “nice to know” aspect, it actually reveals a very important dimension about how the abilities are impacting the alien community…  And sets the stage for D’abar…

Okay, that’s all I’m saying for now…  Teaser?  Yes.  It’s fun to share.  I get excited about these things…  And inspired!!!

Taxes Fun

There’s a benefit to running your own publishing company (mine is Zummo Books, LLC).  I’m able to identify the production costs and things along with the income from sales on Amazon, ACX, iTunes, etc.

If you have your own company, you may need to file 1099 MISC forms for each contractor you paid over $600.  There can also be penalties for not filing (YIKE).  It was the case for me here in Wisconsin anyway.

My awesome accountant pointed me to some great online resources that might be useful for you:

  • http://www.komisarbrady.com/resources/self-serve-1099s-and-w-2s.html
  • http://www.komisarbrady.com/resources/filing-1099s.html

Personally, I went with http://www.filetaxes.com.

Before you can put one together you’re going to have to have:

Your Company information (including EIN or tax reporting SSN number, address, phone, etc.)

Your Contractor information (individual name, company name if available, EIN or SSN for them, address, phone number, email).

You want your total amount paid for the year to them.

What I found great about filetaxes.com is it also told me of additional information or requirements needed for the 1099 MISC based on the state of the contractor.  Sometimes you have to fill out additional fields on the 1099 form.  They helped me through all that.

I followed their directions, paid my $4.99 per form (very affordable), then received my email notification the form had been sent to my contractors and filed with the IRS. So simple and worry free!  🙂

Anyway, as I continue work on my books and board game, thought I’d share this little insight with you!