AGT Monthly Meeting for March 2025

 The Authors Guild of Tennessee held its monthly meeting on Thursday, March 6, 2025, at Faith Lutheran Church in Farragut, from 10:30 to noon.

 The following members were present:

Bill Barbour, Pat Crumpler, Gayle Curtin, John Forcum, Kaye George, Leoma Gilley, Jim Hartsell, David Johnston, Ernie Lancaster, Sean Mitchell, Jerry Morton, David Page, Kathy Parr, Cheryl Peyton, Nancy Pressley, Ron Pressley, Chuck Roseberry, Art Stewart, Becky Tucker, Jeri Weems, Victoria Winifred, and Curt Young.

Guests:  Elle Andrews Patt (our speaker), Penny Carlevato, Elaine Jungk

Welcome – Cheryl introduced new member, David Page. His book, The Art of the Compromise, is politically oriented through the lens of history. He self-published the book with audio and digital versions. He also has a collection of articles submitted to the News Sentinel. His next book is about being a failed entrepreneur.

Penny Carlevato is a retired nurse who has written professional articles. She has a Christian online magazine and two published books on “tea time”.

Gayle Curtin’s new book, Wiser Now, was featured in the Blount Couty Daily Times in the Life section. The book emphasizes using your brain instead of your emotions when making decisions. Melanie Tucker is the reporter to contact if you want to promote your book. (melt@thedailytimes.com)

Leoma has a new book, Life in a Tumble Dryer, subtitled, Living and Working in Khartoum, the World’s Hottest Capital.

Nancy Presley has a new book, Swamp Billy Chronicles. She was born in Washington DC, and moved to East Tennessee to attend Carson Newman. She grew up in a swamp (DC) and has become a Hillbilly (TN).

Ron Presley’s new book, Canary in a Mine, describes a soldier who returns from WWII, marries, and works in a coal mine. The book explains the challenges he faced for 60 years. It’s also available as an e-book and audiobook.

February minutes:  Approved online.

Treasurer’s Report for February — Bill

We voted unanimously to invest in lavalier mics to make hearing easier.

Beginning Cash Balance                     $   902

Ending Cash Balance                          $ 4,116

Less:                                                    $ (1,256) Writing Competition

$   (518) Outstanding checks

Net Cash Available                             $ 2,342

 

Income

Bank Transfers                                    $2,135

Membership Dues                               $   230

Book Sales                                          $   311

Fairs/Festivals Reimbursements         $ 1,343

 

Expenses

Fairs/Festivals Expense                      $ (880)

Author Payments                                $  (311)

Speaker lunch                                     $ (  20)

 

Reports by members and Committee Chairs:

1. Cheryl reported that Brooke Gilbert is offering a workshop for learning Vellum (Mac only) and/or Atticus formatting programs. These are user-friendly. She may speak in April or offer a 30-minute workshop.
2. Festival Facts – Nancy P. If you have questions about a festival, send them to both Brooke and Nancy. Brooke has developed a good spreadsheet that has a lot of information about the festivals. It is a shared Google doc and is updated frequently. Also, look at the festival website for information.
3. Writing Contest – Jerry thanked everyone for the donations. He feels secure that he can pay the bills. The genre this year is Fiction. Two more volunteers are needed March 18 (25-minute spot) and April 1.
4. Programs – Ernie We need a speaker for April.
5. Retail – Cheryl will stop by Barkside Lodge, a kennel in Lenoir City, to see if they would put our animal books there. Please let Cheryl know if you know of any coffee shops or bookshops that would take our books.

Program 

Our special speaker was Elle Andrews Patt (Laura), who writes speculative and mainstream fiction. She publishes her novels independently, her short stories traditionally, and audio books in partnership with Podium Audio. Her work has been recognized by the National Indie Excellence and Silver Falchion Awards, among others. She owns Sweet Beech Media, offering services that help authors avoid or escape predatory publishers.  Her talk was on taxes related to work produced and sold by writers. 

She offers bookkeeping services under her real name, Laura Andrews.  You can request a handout by providing an email (You don’t have to sign up on her mailing list). support@sweetbeechgroup.com

Special Event Sales Tax: This is defined as any event that runs for fewer than 30 days. Taxes must be paid online at TNTAP, TN Dept of Revenue.

This applies to sole proprietors. You can legally sell books without registering with the Secretary of State or get a business license, provided you earn less than $4800 on sales for signings or website sales without registering to pay sales tax. You may want to include tax in the retail price. The state just wants the payment; they don’t care if you collect it from your customers. If you over-collect, that is a problem.

How to Register for Special Event Sales Tax

 The first time you fill out a Special Events Application form, go to tntap.tn.gov/eservices and create a username and log-in before emailing it. You do not want to register a business in this case. Make a username and password. They will give you an account. Fill out the form. Follow instructions. Email it in. Check the account after a week and pay taxes.

(Download at https://www.easttnsinc.com/resources.html). When filling out the form, the event should have a Promotor ID. You don’t have to include it. You must complete one form for each event. Don’t batch files.  Pay only on gross sales, all cash and credit sales. Do not include any taxes collected. Email the completed form to revenue.support@TN.gov as soon as possible after the event. In the body of the email, write a note saying that you created a new TnTap account and include your new username and confirmation number. The state tax is 7%, but cities and counties are all different.

Net profit means you take out the tent, hotel, and cost of books. You cannot take out the cost of goods. There is no reseller certificate.  You must pay within the first quarter or there is a penalty.

If you make over $100,000 selling books in a single year, then you need to register for or pay Tennessee’s Franchise and Excise Fees. You pay a minimum excise of $100 yearly. For more information, request her handout. (support@sweetbeechgroup.com)

Financial tracking You can take business deductions to show you intend to be a writer to make money. You need a business plan: future ideas in a notebook, future characters, write down intentions, clippings that spark creativity, track time and travel expenses. Anything that is devoted to your writing as well as software, office (% of whole house sq footage). Many CPAs don’t know about writers. You may get audited. Writers have an infinite amount of time to carry a loss as long as you can show you are making an effort to make money. Separate business and personal. Dedicate a credit card to the business.

Deductions: On Federal Income Tax, put expenses from writing on Schedule C. They are separate from personal taxes. Income tracked, deductions (advertising, marketing, book launch, book trailers, swag, ARC books, office supplies, laptop, printer, desk, chair, software, website, email services, dues, payments to editors).  If you pay an individual contractor more than $600, you must file a 1099 NEC form.

Travel, meals, conferences, website building and maintenance, and business-related meals are 100% provided if you stay overnight. Otherwise, they are 50%. Keep receipts. Renewing .com fees, subscriptions and memberships, award applications, and publishers’ marketplace subscriptions can all be included. Research expenses include books for research. Use with restraint. Any legal or professional charges, bookkeeper and tax preparer. If you made a profit for the year, you could take off health insurance, but it can’t be more than your profit. https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/the-self-employed-health-insurance-deduction-a-valuable-personal-deduction.html

Federal tax payments: If you owe $1000 or more, you need to pay quarterly estimated taxes. Do not procrastinate as there are serious penalties.

She is a Quickbooks Pro Advisor. She can give you a free 45-minute setup for a review of her services. She wants to help writers. https://sweetbeechbookeeping.com/

Adjournment

Meeting adjourned at 12:08.  Next meeting will be on April 3, 2025, at Faith Lutheran Church.

Respectfully submitted,

Leoma Gilley, Secretary