Publishing Company

Forming an LLC? Get expert guidance on registration, legal requirements, and benefits to ensure your Indie Author business is set up for success.

Not sure which state to form your LLC in? Learn the key factors, from tax benefits to regulations, and choose the best state for your business success.

Your LLC's effective date is its birthday — and unlike a real birthday, you often get to choose it. Filing in October but requesting a January 1st effective date can save you a year of taxes and a costly annual report, sometimes over $800. This guide covers how it works and what to check before you file.

Every decision covered elsewhere in this section — your LLC's name, its effective date, its management structure, your registered agent — comes together on one form. This guide walks through a sample form from the fictional state of Delmarva, plus the field-by-field guidance state instructions leave out, the cover letter, and what to expect on filing day.

Your LLC is approved — now what? This is the complete sequence: EIN, operating agreement, bank account, licenses, taxes, annual reports, employer responsibilities, bookkeeping, insurance, business credit, ongoing compliance, S-Corp election, and growth strategy, in the order that actually makes sense.

Every functioning system has rules — sports, games, governments, businesses. Your LLC's rulebook is the Operating Agreement, and it's the single most important document you'll create, even if you're the only member. Here's what it covers and why you genuinely need one.

An EIN is the IRS's way of identifying your LLC as a separate business entity from you personally. Getting one is free, takes about 15 minutes online, and is required for your business bank account, publishing platform accounts, and tax filings. Here's how to do it — with the actual Form SS-4, a complete line-by-line walkthrough, and what to do if you ever need to cancel one.

Your LLC creates a corporate wall between your personal and business assets — but without a dedicated business bank account, a court can decide that wall doesn't actually exist. This guide covers why the account matters, your banking options, what to ask before you open one, and exactly what documents you'll need.