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Monday, July 27, 2020

The Journey to Self-Publication, Part 2: Creating an LLC

I've gotten quite a few questions about why I finally decided to delve into self-publishing and how I'm doing it, so I figured why not create a new blog series!





Every Monday, I'll be sharing a piece of the self-publishing puzzle---from how I came to this choice to writing, editing, marketing, sales, and everything in between. Please remember that this is simply my experience, how chose to do things. Others do things differently, and that's fine! So, your mileage may vary, but in the end, I hope seeing yet another way of tackling self-publishing will help you on your path. 

Need to catch up on previous posts? Find them here:


As I mentioned last week, I decided to create a Limited Liability Company (LLC) to publish my books. I did this for a few reasons:

1. When I made the decision to self-publish, I knew it was going to be a career long choice, not just something I was going to do for this specific book / series, so I wanted it to be a professional endeavor. There's nothing more professional than creating your own publishing company, right?

2. Financially, it's so much easier to keep track of expenses and income when I have separate accounts. I don't have to worry about inadvertently messing up the joint personal account I share with my husband. He's very grateful for this. lol. 

3. God forbid, should anything happen to me, or if there's ever a lawsuit regarding one of my books, having an LLC offers a certain amount of legal protection. 

4. While there's not nearly as much stigma surrounding self-publishing as there used to be, there is still some, unfortunately. Creating an LLC gives me the ability to list a legitimate publisher name, and that tends to add a bit more credibility, especially when dealing with certain vendors. (More about that as this series progresses.) 

Once I knew what I wanted to do and why, I sat my husband down and explained everything to him. As usual, he was very supportive, which really makes this whole thing that much easier. (Thanks, hubby!) The next step was to file for the actual LLC. 

Now, I went to college for law--I currently hold two Associates degrees. One in Criminal Justice and another in Paralegal Studies. You would think I'd have the ability to do this on my own. But nope. I wasn't even going to attempt it, so I used TotalLegal.com. It was extremely easy to use! They handled the name search--to ensure there were no other business with the name I wanted to use--and they filed for the Federal Tax ID number on my behalf, too. Like I said: super easy! 

Total cost: $218.00 

(Please note that this price will vary depending on what state you live in and what their filing fees are.)


Artwork courtesy of my daughter, Sierra!
Artwork courtesy of my daughter, Sierra Spohn.



After I had the LLC and Tax ID number, I began the process of setting up all the accounts I knew I'd need:
  • Bank account
  • PayPal account
  • Amazon / KDP (for ebook)
  • ACX (for audiobook)
  • IngramSpark (for print book)
  • Bowker (for ISBN purchase)
  • Website (totally optional, of course) 

While none of that is particularly difficult, it is time consuming. I think the entire thing took me a couple of days. Creating the website took the longest, and it's still very much a work-in-progress.

Be sure to come back next week when I talk about actually writing the books and my process--I think it might surprise you ;-) 



Got questions? 
Drop them in the comments! 






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