Protect Your Rights!

[mrockwell]

Writing

*Submission, ASIM, 2/22

Okay, a PSA/rant to all authors/poets. ANYTHING posted on a public website is considered previously published! That means you lose first rights when you put your story or poem up for critique on your writing group's open forum, and if you try to sell it to an editor later, you can only offer REPRINT rights. Get it? If you need feedback, get it in a password-protected forum! And, by God, if you DO decide to send something posted like that to an editor anyway, you better make SURE you let them know it's a reprint, or you are going to make their black list faster than you can say "delete unread." Editors do not like authors/poets who waste their time. Just so you know.

Everything Else

Ugh. We just got a letter from the IRS saying we owe them about $2300 in taxes from last year. Friggin' H&R Block. That's the LAST time we get our taxes done there. For what they charge, we could get a real CPA to do it, and avoid these nasty little surprises.

Comments

[kyrillandra.livejournal.com]

Ugh. We just got a letter from the IRS saying we owe them about $2300 in taxes from last year. Friggin' H&R Block. That's the LAST time we get our taxes done there. For what they charge, we could get a real CPA to do it, and avoid these nasty little surprises.

yikes! That just bites! Doesn't H&R Block offer some kind of guarantee that their work is correct?

[mrockwell.livejournal.com]

You can pay extra for them to come with you to an audit, but if the IRS catches something that wasn't reported correctly, you're on your own.

Ah, well, more suffering to offer up for Lent, right? Sigh.

[samhenderson.livejournal.com]

Gah. Condolences on the tax swat. We owed thousands one year because of an incompetent accountant. It sucked.

I get frustrated when people don't seem to understand the simple fact that they've published when they post publically.

[stillnotbored.livejournal.com]

My taxes were pretty simple, but H&R Block is supposed to guarantee their work. Go to the audit with you and do something about taxes and penalties. Or so they told me. It can't hurt to ask.

And that whole published online thing? I've been swatting someone on my workshop mailing list over that for a few days. Go ahead he says, publishers don't care. It's a way to get noticed and bypass the slush he says, Scalzi did it and it worked for him he says.

I want to smack him.

[samhenderson.livejournal.com]

Ack!
Tell me when you do and I'll hold him down.

[mrockwell.livejournal.com]

See above. They'll come to an audit, but if it's an error in reporting (which they should have caught), too bad for you. Asshats.

[thefirespiral.livejournal.com]

Doesn't H&R Block offer some kind of guarantee??

[mrockwell.livejournal.com]

Not worth the paper it's written on (even though you pay extra for it). It only applies if you get audited, not if there was an error in reporting (which, you know, it's sort of their job to catch). Bleh.

Re: posted work

[mysanal.livejournal.com]

Does that also include stuff I've posted on my own website (Geocities)? And what about on a moderated email list?

Re: posted work

[mrockwell.livejournal.com]

If I can gooogle it and get to the whole story/poem, then it's considered previously published. If the moderated list is open to anyone, then anything posted there would also be considered electronically published. SOME publishers (very few, these days) don't care, but if you are unsure if something would be considered previuosly published ALWAYS tell the editor to whom you are submitting the piece where it's been.

[mysanal.livejournal.com]

Sorry about your IRS suckage! *HUG*