writing a book, and getting taxed?

[woohoo]

Hi
if a person residing in Oz were to write a book, but his family is in another country which has a 'double tax treaty' with Oz, will it be better if he writes the book using his name as author, but all the proceeds go into a company he created in that country?
Lets say in that country the tax is only 25%. After paying tax in that country, the Oz govt wont be chasing anymore tax from the book proceeds will they?

How about if the proceeds goes into his name, but it gets taxed by that other country first.

I'm writing this because my friend wants to write a book. He is a residence here, but he travels between Australia and Malaysia(his home country) very often.

 

[Aceyducey]

Woohoo,

Seek professional tax advice - in both countries.

Cheers,

Aceyducey

 

[Michael Yardney]

As Acey says seek tax advice, but don't expect to get rich writing books

Mine - How to Grow a MultiMillion Dollar Property Portfolio - in your spare time has been a top seller since publication in March, but if I added up the hours spent writing it, I would be very, very poorly paid.

You really get very little after the publisher, printer, book shops etc get their cut. Unless you are a Geoffrey Archer, you won't have a tax problem writing books.

But your friend should still go for it! The greatest satifaction I have had from my books is the hundreds of emails I have recieved form readers I have never met. I still get a stack each week and that's worth a million dollars and I don't have to pay tax on it

That's why I am two thirds the way throught he next book.

 

[Pushka]

We work with several companies in Singapore, and while there is a double tax treaty with Singapore, and we have a certificate from the ATO to prove our Tax status in Oz, we always seem to have to have the Singapore WHT taken out (which is 20% for foreigners), so our fees reflect this. It does have its benefits though, because when we do our Company Tax returns, that WHT is tax already paid so it comes straight off our tax bill.

Oh yes, and my partner has written several books, and the months it takes him to write them - sigh! However, we may just have a cracker at the moment.....watch this space!

I wonder if people told the author of Harry Potter they would never get rich writing a children's fantasy novel!

 

[Aceyducey]

Ditto with Michael actually

Jas and I have together written about 18 books now - individually and jointly - and hundreds of articles (yes I've lost count and can't be bothered going back to check) - we've definitely earnt more through other pursuits.

Though had a lot fo fun writing (in a painful sort of way - writers' block is not fun).

Cheers,

Aceyducey

 

[woohoo]

how much does an author earn per book? I heard that Kiyosaki earns $2 per book?

Have u ever thought of self publishing it?

 

[Michael Yardney]

how much does an author earn per book? I heard that Kiyosaki earns $2 per book?

Have u ever thought of self publishing it?

It depends upon the deal you get with your publisher and that depends upon how well known you are and how many books they think you will sell.

I managed to get a "fair deal" as I had 2 publishers keent o publish my book. You can make lots more by selfpublishing, but its hard to get distribution. A "real" publisher gives you more credibility

 

[Aceyducey]

I've always gone the publisher route (and only written when already commissioned by the publisher - I don't believe in shopping manuscripts), so can't comment on whether you get better $ on self-publishing. Certainly overheads are lower as there's less hands in the pot, however the PR and distribution suffer in a major way (though internet helps these days).

Via publishers it depends on how well know you are and how you (or your agent) structures the deal.

Don't forget that there can be movie rights and other things sellable around a book that add to the value

Cheers,

Aceyducey

 

[Jaffasoft]

Mine - How to Grow a MultiMillion Dollar Property Portfolio - in your spare time has been a top seller since publication in March, but if I added up the hours spent writing it, I would be very, very poorly paid.

You really get very little after the publisher, printer, book shops etc get their cut. Unless you are a Geoffrey Archer, you won't have a tax problem writing books.

But what the book does to your Company profile and how it attracts customers in the future is where you will benefit from the book sales the most.

All you need is to attract one person from the book who confides in your Company and has you Project Manage a development, that you otherwise might not of sources before having written a book and that will bring you 40k or whatever amount you benefit from the Project Management fees.

Also amongst other benefits! That's the reason why Steve McKnight is sending out a limited free copy of a Chapter of his new book. He says it has cost him a small fortune but me thinks an alternative motive.

 

[Pushka]

We have had three books published, and this time went the self publisher route. Sure, you get the distribution advantage of 'the publisher', but the actual sales only works if the book is promoted in the appropriate market with some kind of budget. And that didnt happen. And we had all sorts of hassles like the style of the cover, etc etc It did make the best seller list in the Australian though, so not too bad!

When you self publish, you choose the cover design, and everything else! But then there are the distribution issues. But with the WWW, maybe, that is no longer a problem. And our first run done in August of 1000 copies is half gone!

The book is tied in with our business, it is attracting customers who now get to read 'the book' before they do the training programme! And the book is great, it is like a novel, full of humour and in every organisation so far, people identify with the characters and try to pick who is who!

 

[Aceyducey]

Just a small note on best sellers... The way this is calculated means that you:

a) Need to sell the books through the right channels.
b) Don't need to sell that many through those channels.

Hence while I've had bestseller-level sales on a number of books, none has been in the 'bestseller' lists

A 'bestseller' doesn't mean 'most profitable' or even 'makes lots of money'.

Australia has a very low threshold for 'best'.

Cheers,

Aceyducey

 

[Pushka]

Just a small note on best sellers... The way this is calculated means that you:

a) Need to sell the books through the right channels.
b) Don't need to sell that many through those channels.

Hence while I've had bestseller-level sales on a number of books, none has been in the 'bestseller' lists

A 'bestseller' doesn't mean 'most profitable' or even 'makes lots of money'.

Australia has a very low threshold for 'best'.

Cheers,

Aceyducey

Yep, sorry, Best seller sales! Actually, we even know how it happened too - a company bought a whole batch of books for their training programme! Sent sales through the roof! And yes, we didnt make much money out of it either!

 

[woohoo]

is there a website we can find how many copies a book has been sold?
I know in Amazon we can see the book's sale rating on amazon. (but can't see actual copies sold).

In Australia, how many copies does it take to make it to bestseller list? Eg to top it.