Although I believe the idea of copyright is a good one, there is a lot done in the name of copyright that isn’t. Some very bad legislation has been passed in the name of protecting copyright, and some of the claims of harm done are simply ludicrous. This TED talk illustrates just how ludicrous some of those claims are.
Glen Dean, AKA Soldier/Geek
I wrote a review of In Search of Lethality: Green Ammo and the M855A1 Enhanced Performance Round in March and gave it four out of five stars. Given the very technical nature of the subject, creating such an easily-readable account is no mean feat.
His other two books also look good. I’d already bought Soldier / Geek: An Army Science Advisor’s Journal of the War in Afghanistan some time ago, so I just picked up Weapons of the Zombie Apocalypse for free.
Thanks Glen!
This blog post was featured in Carnival of the Indies, issue 20.
A friend’s laptop recently died, and with it a whole load of important documents. It was under warranty, but warranties don’t cover data. Backups are important, but people tend to think they’re difficult. So here’s an easy and free way to backup your most important stuff.
Image by Sean MacEntee (Flickr)
Sign up to Dropbox using this link: http://db.tt/EsJcGBG (using that link will mean that we both get extra free space on Dropbox)
You get 2GB of space for free, or you can pay to get more. 2GB isn’t enough to save everything, but it should be enough to save the really important stuff. There are various ways to get extra free space, or you can pay for more space.
Once you’re signed up, install Dropbox on your computer. It will create a folder called “My Dropbox”. Anything you put in that folder will get copied to Dropbox’s servers, and if you install Dropbox on another computer, the contents of that folder will get synchronised between the computers. Your files will also be available via the Dropbox website, and if you have an Android or iThing, you can also install Dropbox on there to give you access to your files on your phone/tablet.
Put all your important stuff in your Dropbox folder, and it’ll get backed up. If you accidentally delete a file, or save over it, you can restore to an older version for up to 30 days.
Dropbox also has some other features that some people might find handy – you can share folders privately with selected people, you can make particular files public, easily create online image galleries, etc. In its simplest form, though, it provides simple and automatic backups.
Wargame Vault are running a wish list sale from the 14th to 20th of May. They will make a note of what is in your wish list at the start of the sale, then give you 25% off those titles that are participating in the sale.
All of my books will be participating, so if you’re intending to buy some soon, add them to your wish list now to take advantage of this sale.
If you’d like to be notified of sales like this in future, send an e-mail to list-join@russellphillipsbooks.co.uk to join my mailing list. Mailing list members get advance notice of sales and new releases, as well as discount codes for all my books.
30 years ago today was my 12th birthday. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher stood on the steps of 10 Downing Street and said, “Just rejoice at that news”. Oddly enough, she wasn’t referring to my birthday, but the recapture of Grytviken on South Georgia. This was something of a milestone in the Falklands Conflict, being the first place to be recaptured from the Argentinians.
The military commanders advised against an attack on South Georgia, as it required splitting four ships off from the rest of the task force ( fifth ship was later dispatched to reinforce the South Georgia group). The commanders wanted to keep the task force together and concentrate on recapturing the Falkland Islands themselves, but the British government wanted an early victory to ensure continued public support for the conflict.
It wasn’t an easy victory. The British didn’t suffer any casualties, but they did lose two helicopters. One helicopter pilot, Lieutenant Commander Stanley, was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for skilful and courageous flying, which saved several lives. None the less, the Argentinian garrison surrendered and the government had their victory.
30 years ago today, Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands. 255 British servicemen gave their lives in the war that followed. More than double that number have committed suicide since the war ended.
Statistics like that are the reason I support The Forgotten Heroes. They support the veterans that, all too often, the government ignores. Please consider making a donation to help them continue to do so. www.theforgottenheroes.co.uk
I’d like to thank everyone who took the time to complete the survey that I recently posted on my website. The results are interesting, and there were some useful (and in come cases, complimentary!) comments added.
The survey is now closed, the prize draw has been completed, and e-mails have been sent to all of the participants. I used the Random.org Third Party Draw Service to conduct the actual draw. In other words, Random .org conducted the draw as an unbiased third party. You can check that you were included in the draw, and whether or not you were a winner, by entering your e-mail address at the draw’s detail page.
This blog post was featured in Carnival of the Indies, issue 19.
Note: this post is specifically aimed at UK authors, but some of it may apply to authors in other countries. I am not a lawyer or a tax advisor. This post reflects my own experiences – it is not professional advice.
Currency Exchange by TaxBrackets.org
To take advantage of this, you need an IRS-issued tax identification number (ITIN). Getting one is quite a convoluted process, so this post is intended to help you get your own ITIN with a minimum of difficulty.
The steps are as follows:
That sounds simple, but I’ve read some horror stories about how pedantic the IRS can be. It’s worth bearing in mind that the IRS have a vested interest in rejecting your application, since approving it means that they don’t get your tax money. Take care when filling in your application, and make sure you read all the documentation (and this post) carefully.
According to the IRS’s instructions for filling in form W-7, you need “A signed letter or document from the withholding agent, on official letterhead, showing your name and evidencing that an ITIN is required to make distributions to you during the current tax year that are subject to IRS information reporting or federal tax withholding“.
To get this letter from Smashwords, you must have accrued at least $10 in royalties. Once you have, you can go to your payee information page, then click the “Request a letter for your W-7″ link to request that they send you a letter by post. It should arrive within four weeks.
Amazon offer a PDF that you can download, fill in and print. I was a little suspicious of that, since the signature has been scanned. This is what I used, however, so it would appear to be good enough. The Tax Information for Non-US Publishers help page in Kindle Direct Publishing has a link to the PDF. Open the PDF, fill in the name and date fields, then print it.
At this point, it is also a good idea to select the “Defer Payment” option on the Smashwords payee information page. When your ITIN is on file, you can select “Pay Me Now” to get your royalties, without the 30% tax deduction.
The Taxpayer Identification Numbers (TIN) page on the IRS website has a link to a downloadable PDF of the W-7 form, and links to more information. The W-7 PDF can be completed on your computer or by hand. I filled it in on my computer, partly so that I could keep a copy, partly to avoid any issues caused by illegible handwriting.
I read somewhere that you must use blue ink to fill in the W-7, or it will be rejected. If you fill it in on your computer and print it, make sure you use a colour printer so that the parts you have filled in are printed in blue. Also make sure that you don’t use abbreviations (eg enter your country name as “United Kingdom”, not “UK”)
In the “Reason you are submitting Form W-7″, tick boxes a and h. In the Other box, enter “exception 1d royalties”, and enter your country and treaty article number (12 for the UK). See the image below:
Reason you are submitting Form W-7: Click to see full size version
Note that dates must be entered in US format (Month/Day/Year), not Day/Month/Year. In section 6b (Foreign tax I.D. number), enter your national insurance number. In the phone number section, it’s not entirely clear what format it should be given in. I wrote “+44″ in the brackets, then the area code (without the leading 0) and number in the rest of the space. It wouldn’t let me fill it all in on the computer, though, so I had to write it in by hand.
You need to send the W-7 form, the letter from Amazon/CreateSpace/Smashwords, and proof of identity to the IRS. I used my passport as proof of ID. Other documents are accepted, but you’ll need two documents if you don’t use your passport. See the IRS documentation for details of what is accepted. It’s a good idea to keep a copy of the letter and the completed form, so that you know exactly what you sent to them should there be any queries.
The IRS will accept a notarised copy of your passport, but it has to be notarised by an officer of the IRS. Luckily, there is an IRS office in the London Embassy. You can visit them in person or post it to them with a covering letter. If you call in person, check the opening times on the website before travel. If you post your passport, post it by Special Delivery. The IRS in London will check your application and let you know if there are any mistakes, then send it on to the IRS in the US if all is well. I got my passport back within a week, and my ITIN letter after about two months.
Fill in a separate form W-8BEN for each company that you deal with. Make sure that you follow the instructions (PDF version). As an individual, you should put “N/A” in line 2 (Country of incorporation or organization). Put your ITIN in line 6 (U.S. taxpayer identification number), and your national insurance number in line 7 (Foreign tax identifying number).
Smashwords ask that you put your Smashwords username (screen name) on the form – put this in line 8 (Reference number(s)).
In line 9, tick boxes a and b and enter “United Kingdom” for the country in part a.
Sign and date in part IV. Enter “Self” under “Capacity in which acting”. Finally, send the form to the US companies that you deal with.
Go to your Smashwords payee information page, and go to section 3 (Tax Identification). Enter your ITIN in the relevant box, select the “Pay Me Now” option, and click Save. When you next go to that page, the ITIN will not be displayed, but you will see a “Your tax ID is on file” notice to the side of the ITIN box.
Once the W-8BEN form has been processed by Smashwords (this is normally done at the end of the month), your payee information page will have a notice at the top, similar to this one:
Smashwords W-8 Received Notice
Everything should now be set up for you to be paid your full royalties, without a 30% deduction. I found the process convoluted, but didn’t have any problems. If you do have problems, the links below may help.
For a number of reasons, I’ve decided to stop posting book reviews. I’ve deleted review copies of books that I have received but not yet reviewed.
I was taking my 4-year old son to school this morning, when he asked, “Dad, are there any soldiers around here?”
I started to say “Well, there’s a Territorial Army barracks over …”, but he interrupted “No, I mean real soldiers”
I don’t think he even knows what the Territorial Army is, but it amused me.
