Writing as a business

You’ve likely seen writers talk about publishing books through their own imprint or “small press”. But why do they do it? What are the benefits of incorporating as a company to sell your own books? Is it really all about taxes?

Great questions, curious seeker of knowledge! Thanks for asking.

My first company was Stormfallen Entertainment LLC, founded in 2015. The name was inspired by my science fantasy series being published on Wattpad. I was convinced it was the right time to start a company because I thought that’s what self-published authors did. Well, maybe if I was writing with a more defined purpose and had established my goals ahead of time. Thousands of dollars lost and zero profit later, I shuttered the company, and all I had to show for it were unused business cards scattered about my office like debris from the wreckage.

I bring up this experience because this post isn’t meant to convince you to start a company. It’s expensive, time consuming, and sometimes not worth it. I want to share my thoughts on why I started my second company in 2021, how I went about it, the money involved, and where I hope to take it in the future.

Please note that this should not be considered business or tax advice, as I am not an expert. “To Build a Business” will only scratch the surface of these subjects, so I highly recommend consulting with a business professional. Additionally, this is designed for writers in the United States, as I’m not familiar with the laws and processes of other countries. Keep in mind that this information also varies widely by state (I’ve only previously incorporated in GA and UT).

For those who aren’t XPress members, I’ve included a wonderful video by Bethany Atazadeh (published in 2019) where she conveniently breaks down the how and why of starting a company as an indie writer. If you’d still like to upgrade, your support would be greatly appreciated!

The Storyletter has been running a series called “To Build”, placing an emphasis on the basic tenets surrounding writing fiction online and establishing yourself as an independent creator. If you’d like to read the topics covered thus far, here’s the list:

• To Build a Community

• To Build a Habit

• To Build a Substack

• To Build a Podcast

• To Build a Submission

• To Build a Method

• To Build a Contest

• To Build a Website

• To Build a Reason

• To Build a Brand

• To Build a Store

Where do you even start?

To consider whether or not you should start a Limited Liability Company (LLC), you might want to have clear goals in mind for your writing. Have you finished, or plan to finish, a book? Are you selling merchandise? Are you traveling a lot for your writing events?

True, you don’t have to be doing any of the aforementioned things. You can start a business at any time in your journey, even after you’ve published 15 books if you wanted to. There’s no rush either way. The idea is to prevent throwing money down the drain (which, I believe, we can all appreciate). It’s sort of like getting a tattoo, you want to be completely sure before committing. Okay, maybe not the best example, but you get what I mean.

What would be the main reasons for incorporating as an author? Well, let’s break down the benefits to see if it’s right for you...