Publishing Company

Bookkeeping is what turns an indie author LLC from a pile of royalty deposits and expenses into a real business record. This guide explains how authors can track income, categorize expenses, set up a Chart of Accounts, run monthly bookkeeping, read a profit and loss statement, and use ScribeCount al

Hiring help is part of growing an author business, but the IRS cares whether that person is an employee or an independent contractor. This guide explains how indie authors should think about worker classification, contractor payments, 1099-NEC forms, W-9s, payroll obligations, and misclassification

Every LLC has to choose a management structure, and most authors choose it without thinking much about it — because at one member, it doesn't matter yet. This guide covers what member-managed and manager-managed actually mean, the authority a manager holds, and why this decision is worth revisiting as your publishing business grows.

If you want to drop the "LLC" from your publishing company's name on everything your readers see — your ads, social media, business cards, website — you need a DBA. This guide covers what it is, how to file it, what a Public Notice looks like, and when to use which name.

BOI reporting rules changed dramatically in 2025. This guide explains what Beneficial Ownership Information reporting originally required, how FinCEN’s March 26, 2025 interim final rule exempted domestic US companies, and what that means for indie authors operating US-formed publishing LLCs.

An LLC can protect personal assets, but it does not pay legal bills, replace lost equipment, cover cyberattacks, or protect against business interruption. This guide explains the types of insurance indie authors should consider, including general liability, professional liability, media liability, cyber liability, property coverage, workers’ compensation, and business interruption insurance.

Authors with an LLC taxed as an S-Corp must pay themselves differently than authors operating under default LLC taxation. This guide explains reasonable salary, owner distributions, payroll taxes, estimated taxes, corporate veil protection, and when an S-Corp election may make financial sense for a growing publishing business.