I Had to Pay over 7000 Euros in Taxes — Now I Have to Reinvent Myself
If there is no money left to publish books as before, I will have to go other ways.
If there is no money left to publish books as before, I will have to go other ways.
In the year 2018 I have earned a lot of money with my books at Amazon. In one month I made over 8000 €, then over 7000 and then a few times 6000 and 5000.
At that time I still had my normal job. Everything seemed to be wonderful, but when I quit my job the next year and the income collapsed shortly afterwards, I knew I would have a problem.
When 2019 came and the tax return for 2018 was due, I filled out the forms online and had the program calculate in advance how much I would have to pay in arrears.
It turned out that it would be over 7000 Euros. I had expected much less, but unfortunately I hadn’t considered that I would have to pay the top tax rate for the first time due to the good earnings at Amazon in combination with the salary from my job.
The problem was that I did not have 7000 Euros. So I did not send the tax return until November 2019. During this time I tried to find the money.
Unfortunately my income from Amazon did not improve. Every new book I published cost a lot of money and took forever to recover the costs.
Fortunately the tax authorities took a few months before I got my tax bill. During this time we had taken out a loan and put the money aside for the back taxes.
Yesterday the tax assessment for 2018 finally arrived and I transferred the money immediately.
Unfortunately we are now relatively broke and have to use the money we put aside for the next holiday to finance the rest of August.
Without money for massive advertising campaigns I won’t be able to boost the sale of my books. I will not be able to finance the production of new books.
Now good advice is expensive. The business that has brought me a lot of money over the last five years is no longer running because it has become too cost-intensive.
Then I stumbled upon a new idea.
The problem with writing thrillers or any other mainstream genre is that the quality demands of the readers are extremely high. We self-publishers compete with books from professional companies and therefore have to meet the same standards.
As a mainstream author, you can’t afford an unprofessional cover or an unedited book.
Nevertheless, writing is the only thing I am really good at.
So what can I do if I have to publish books to pay my rent but can’t afford to pay cover designers and proofreaders?
Medium is not the answer. I will continue to publish articles here, but it may be months before I make enough money to pay half my rent for the first time.
so what do I have left?
A few days ago I had a chat with an erotic writer friend of mine. When she heard how much money I invest in each publication and what profits I make in return, she almost fainted.
I could hardly believe it when she told me that she does all her covers herself, doesn’t employ an editor and still earns a few thousand Euros a month.
To be successful in the erotic field, you just have to be able to produce a lot in a short time.
That made me think.
I can absolutely write a few thousand words a day. I have been doing this for years. So why should I not be able to write and publish erotic stories?
As soon as I got used to the idea, I started writing a short story. My friend told me that erotica is the only genre that can sell books on Amazon that are only 4000 to 10,000 words long.
Until this afternoon I finished two short stories, found a pen-name and pictures for my first cover.
Both stories together are 5000 words long. According to my acquaintance, this is enough for a first publication.
Tomorrow I will try for the first time in my life to design a cover myself. Fortunately, erotic covers don’t have to look as perfect as in the thriller or roamance sector.
If all goes well, tomorrow evening I will publish my first erotic book in German and in English.
After that I will start immediately with the next short story volume.
Industry experts say that you have to publish at least twice a week to have books fast enough to make money.
I have already set up landing pages for both my German readers and my English-speaking readers so that I can set up mailing lists from the very first book.
I am aware that there is no guarantee of success, but unlike other adventurers who try their hand at erotica, I have a few years of experience as a self-publisher and author. I know how the Kindle Store works and how to write compelling stories.
That’s why I hope to find loyal readers quickly and really make money with this genre.
If you want to make a living from writing, sometimes you have to compromise. As long as I can’t finance a new thriller, I’ll just have to produce erotica under a different name and leave my own quality standards aside.
If all goes well, I will later put the money I earn with the erotic books into my real business and publish new thrillers.
I will not reveal here under which name I will write, but I will share my experiences with you.
You will get numbers, data and facts about the way I will go from now on. Of course I don’t know yet if it will work, but I am convinced that I can do it.
I can write, I can do it fast and I can persevere.
More soon on this channel.
René Junge a published author writing on ILLUMINATION.
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