Tax on your book sales if you’re a UK author

Happy New Year! It’s ‘that time of year’ when tax doesn’t have to be taxing, but always somehow is! So I thought I’d post a topic on how you declare and pay tax on your income from book royalties if you’re a UK author. If you’ve only just started selling, don’t worry – a tax year runs from 6th April to 5th April each year.  So tax returns due in by the end of this January are only relevant for sales made up to 5 April 2012. But if you made income before last April and don’t currently fill in a tax return, it’s time to get your skates on!

Read my post on paying tax on your books if you’re a UK author

Update on my first picture book – Ferdinand Fox’s Big Sleep

Ferdinand Fox’s Big Sleep – my first picture book – is now out in the USA and has received three 5-Star reviews following a Goodreads giveaway!  Do check it out if you’re based in the USA and have children aged 2-5! It should be out in the UK soon – sorting out the interior paper and distribution plans is taking longer than anticipated! Once it is out I will post a blog on what I have learnt – producing a picture book offers new challenges! My illustrator, Damir, has done a fantastic job – check out the first few pages on Amazon here using the ‘look inside’ feature!

Fantastic feedback on The Secret Lake from an International Rights Director

I was delighted to receive an email just before Christmas from the International Rights Director of a leading UK Literary Agent who had read The Secret Lake.  Her opening words to me were, “I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed reading The Secret Lake…” She then went on to tell me that she had passed it to a few of her overseas contacts for an initial review. Unfortunately, as things stand, those she spoke to felt that it is too rooted in British culture to be suitable for translation – however she has said she will keep it in mind nevertheless. That is possibly the best rejection letter that I have ever had!

The Secret Lake now has a total of 36 reviews between Amazon UK and USA – and most are 5 Stars.  It’s selling between 100 – 150 copies a month on Kindle and is regularly in the top 100 for Action and Adventure for children’s books in the Kindle store. The print sales are still very steady – and I’m planning more school visits in the coming year. If you have 8-11 year-olds who love mystery and adventure, please do check it out. If they leave a review on The Secret Lake’s website I reply to them personally!

Eeek selected by Julia Eccleshare of The Guardian and the Literacy Trust & being used in UK schools!

My other exciting piece of news from 2012 is that Eeek! The Runaway Alien was selected for this list for reluctant readers on the LoveReading4KidsUK website.  LoveReading also has it listed under Books for Boys, Books for age 7+ and Books for age 9+. Given that Julia Eccleshare and the Literacy Trust curate the reluctant readers’ list I am delighted! You’ll also find a useful PDF download on reluctant readers if you follow the link above.

Eeek is also now being used as class readers and in book clubs in schools, all of whom seem to have discovered it on the grapevine! And I received the most wonderful package of 30 drawings of aliens from a class of 7 and 8-year olds from the Leeds school!  I’ve no idea how they found me, but I’m glad that they did! See what LoveReading has to say about Eeek or click on the book cover above to see the Amazon reviews.

New Year’s Resolution

I’ve been incredibly busy over the past year with the day job (I commission content and write professionally for business) – however my resolution for 2013 is to cut those days back to allow me to focus more time on my writing.  I therefore hope and expect to post updates to the blog a little more regularly!

My site will, however, remain largely informational and I will update relevant pages as things change in the market.  By all means let me know if you spot anything that you think is out of date!

Happy New Year!

Karen