2006 was a year that started off badly, but ended with me starting my own work at home freelance writing business. How did I reach this decision? It took a lifetime. I’d written as a hobby since childhood. However, my family warned me that I needed to get a real job because writing could never support me. “After you make your first million,” I remember my Mom saying, “then you can start writing full-time.”
It didn’t work out that way. After receiving two college degrees (both worthless in the “real” job market) the best job I could find was as a night shift stockperson at a local retail store. In this time, I also sold collectable items on a new website called eBay. I wound up working about 100 hours per week between these two jobs, but still could not afford the medical care I so desperately needed.
Tough Transitions
Long story short, in May of 2000, I ran away from home in Lancaster, Pennsylvania and wound up homeless in England for five years. After my makeshift home in the woods was burnt down, my Mom graciously offered to take me and my dog Pony in. We moved to the US on September 13, 2005. By that November, I’d managed to get a job as a cashier in a major department store.
But by March of 2006, I’d suffered a mental breakdown. I received state-assisted mental health care and computer training. Although I had a computer back in 2000, a lot had changed on the Internet in the intervening six years. The counselors kept telling me to pursue my passion – writing. By September of 2006, I discovered the wacky world of web content writing. I still submitted to print publications, but the real money was coming from online opportunities.
Tax Issues
Because I started earning money so late in the year, my writing was classified as a “hobby” for the year 2006, since my expenses were more than my earnings. By January of 2007, I knew I had a big problem – taxes. In the United States, a small business owner can pay taxes once a year, but ideally should pay four times a year. If you do not make as much money as your accountant estimated, the government refunds the difference.
It’s not enough to be a good writer in order to make a living at it. It’s also not enough to put in long hours every day, seven days a week. You also need to be organized in order to keep from getting audited. Keep every receipt and invoice – even copies of PayPal payment emails – or you will be screwed. I knew I wasn’t good at math, so I bit the bullet and hired an accountant. Even if you only earn $10,000 per year in writing, hire an accountant. It will keep you from going to jail or being slapped with crippling fines.
Other Tips
If you are running a home writing business, expect to be disliked by some people and suffer a lot of headaches because of it. Know how much you are making every month and do not be afraid to drop a client that pays poorly or erratically. Popularity does not pay the bills.
I learned that I have to write about whatever topic I can be paid for – which are rarely topics I enjoy writing about. Being a starving artist helps no one. Remember poor Vincent Van Gogh – he followed his passion but his paintings only sold after he died.