How many authors can the consumers sustain?

[Sil_liS]

Originally Posted by QuantumIguana

It might be the case that the publishing industry as a whole could be better off if they could limit the number of authors, I don't know. A monopoly could do this, but with multiple companies, if any one of them limited the number of authors, that would simply mean a smaller share of the pie.

Yes, but if they all limit the number of authors it's a different situation. I think that the situation with Amazon is just this: Amazon doesn't limit the numbers at all while the traditional publishers do. Amazon is winning.

Originally Posted by BearMountainBooks

But the publishers have to pay editors, editor pensions, healthcare, office space, and keep shareholders happy. They are doing their job in negotiating the best that they can for their own gain. Let's face it. There are more willing authors than there are publishers to publish them. That means things are skewed toward the publisher.

The fact that the editors are better cared for shows how little regard publishers have for the authors.

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

That's where things break down. Because I could make a living on half that amount every year. I wouldn't be hobbin' and nobbin' and flying to Disney World every year, but I could eat and pay rent on 25-30k. In fact, I do.

I make about 20k euros after taxes, and can easily afford to fly to my home country twice per year.

Originally Posted by anamardoll

It probably depends on the cost of living in your area, too.

If you have limited income you can find a cheaper place to live.

[anamardoll]

Originally Posted by Sil_liS

If you have limited income you can find a cheaper place to live.

Um, no. It's a lot more complicated than that. Not everyone can easily pick up and move from their current residence, from their family, from their home, from their under-paying but still paying job. Especially not when unemployment levels are what they are.

Furthermore, moving is also incredibly expensive -- we're in the process right now, and we're fortunate to be able to handle the curve balls, but most people don't have an extra $800+ lying around as a non-refundable deposit on the completely-full-up apartments in my not-as-high-end-as-that-number-makes-you-think area.

So, no, most people can't just pick up and move to Calyforniyah, whar the jobs are, and unicarns frolic in the front yard. I think someone wrote a book about that, even.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by anamardoll

Um, no. It's a lot more complicated than that. Not everyone can easily pick up and move from their current residence, from their family, from their home, from their under-paying but still paying job. Especially not when unemployment levels are what they are.

I agree whole-heartedly. While I make more than enough money to "get by" where I live... I certainly wouldn't be able to afford to relocate. Even if I had a brand-new job waiting on me, I'd have to go in hock up to my eyeballs just to get me and my stuff there so I could report to work on Monday morning. The lack of eyeball-deep hock is the only thing that allows me to live on as little as I do.

[BearMountainBooks]

Originally Posted by Joykins

Are you filing Schedule C? There's a place at the end to list expenses that are hard to classify. I've done this in Turbo Tax for years, and if your profit from your sole proprietorship is under about $300 you pay no self-employment tax. Above that you pay the 12%. You use your profit or loss TOTAL from Schedule C in Schedule SE, which includes your (subtracted) expenses. The expenses for postage and office supplies go on line 18 in Schedule C.

Thanks for this (and to catlady too). This is what I'm TRYING to do, but it doesn't appear to be working. Maybe I'll be able to tell where turbotax is entering the info when I print things out. At this stage, I enter the expenses and turbotax deducts about 5 to 10 percent from the total owed. I thought it would deduct certain expenses entirely (like production costs of the books. Those are flat-out costs against anything I can possibly earn. Same with cover art, editor fees (this one seems to work correctly. I entered it in contractors.)

But again, thanks. I'm going to go get those forms and try it by hand to see what happens. Saying it doesn't make sense ... well, it's the IRS. Of course it doesn't make sense!

Re: Topic at hand. Lots of people live on 25 a year. The trouble is that the VAST majority of authors do NOT make a 25k advance per year. 50k is even more rare (check the blog of Harry Connolly who got about a 75k advance--but didn't earn out. So the series was cancelled.) Writing/publishing for most authors is "supplemental." If I get a 25k advance, and earn out, and publish a book a year, I'm really only likely to be taking home: 17.5k. (15 percent SS and 15 percent Agent, because in deals like that, an agent is usually involved.) Now I've got to repeat that year after year until some of the backlist sales are paid out (6 months to a year after they happen.) Heathcare on 17.5k? I better be careful out there and not get sick. Retirement plan? I better just work until I die.

I'm not complaining, mind you, I'm just saying that the average author isn't even getting a 25k advance and those that do? Well, it might be enough for a family of one or two to scrape by on, but even that is pushing things.

[QuantumIguana]

Moving is expensive. There's packing and moving, which isn't cheap, there's the putting down a couple months rent plus deposit. And then you have that jobless time in the middle. If you have a job lined up at the other end, you can minimize the time with no income, but it is still a significant hit. And if you're going without a job lined up, you're just crossing your fingers hoping your money holds out until you get a job.

[Joykins]

Originally Posted by anamardoll

So, no, most people can't just pick up and move to Calyforniyah, whar the jobs are, and unicarns frolic in the front yard. I think someone wrote a book about that, even.

Or a song

[Sil_liS]

Originally Posted by anamardoll

Um, no. It's a lot more complicated than that. Not everyone can easily pick up and move from their current residence, from their family, from their home, from their under-paying but still paying job. Especially not when unemployment levels are what they are.

I wasn't talking about moving far away. I was talking about moving to a cheaper place in the same city.

Originally Posted by BearMountainBooks

Topic at hand. Lots of people live on 25 a year. The trouble is that the VAST majority of authors do NOT make a 25k advance per year. 50k is even more rare (check the blog of Harry Connolly who got about a 75k advance--but didn't earn out. So the series was cancelled.) Writing/publishing for most authors is "supplemental." If I get a 25k advance, and earn out, and publish a book a year, I'm really only likely to be taking home: 17.5k. (15 percent SS and 15 percent Agent, because in deals like that, an agent is usually involved.) Now I've got to repeat that year after year until some of the backlist sales are paid out (6 months to a year after they happen.) Heathcare on 17.5k? I better be careful out there and not get sick. Retirement plan? I better just work until I die.

I thought that the healthcare and the retirement plan are part of the Social Security tax.

[Redcard]

Originally Posted by Sil_liS

I wasn't talking about moving far away. I was talking about moving to a cheaper place in the same city.


I thought that the healthcare and the retirement plan are part of the Social Security tax.

They are, but at the rate things are going, those items will not be there in 20 years, so for a lot of us, we need to privately handle that.

[gweeks]

Originally Posted by Sil_liS

I wasn't talking about moving far away. I was talking about moving to a cheaper place in the same city.


I thought that the healthcare and the retirement plan are part of the Social Security tax.

Healthcare is only included after retirement, not while you are still working. I think the current allowed retirement age is 67.

Greg

[BearMountainBooks]

Originally Posted by Sil_liS

I wasn't talking about moving far away. I was talking about moving to a cheaper place in the same city.


I thought that the healthcare and the retirement plan are part of the Social Security tax.

Social security and healthcare don't start until about 65 (medicare). The new healthcare means that it will be possible (and required) to buy health insurance. It does not mean people can afford it. And they still have to pay for the actual insurance (price is yet to be determined. Even if some have it for free it won't change the day to day expenses.)

Social security pays a percentage of what you made during earning years. It's not a pension--it's a very small amount most of the time. Making or counting on retirement via social security would be difficult if not suicidal. (It is done, but it's not a good thing. They live well within the poverty level.)