It has been an interesting process getting the book onto Amazon especially around the tax side of things. I outsourced the book formatting to make sure that the reading experience was of professional quality. I would have spent hours tinkering with the format trying to follow Amazon’s rules etc. but for the sake of a few quid it would have been time wasted.
If you haven’t got around to purchasing a copy yet, have a look at the preview on Amazon and also have a look at the two excerpts on this website, links below:
If you buy a paperback, all of the £6 cover price goes to the charity, if you download, approximately £2.38 is generated as a royalty. If you have already read the book, please consider leaving an honest review on Amazon, every click helps!
For now, the novelty is still fresh and I am glued to my Amazon download report!
On the back of a wet April and following a bizarre rib injury involving a skip, I turned out for the first charity sportive of my season, this time accompanied by my 9 year old daughter, Harriet. She was determined to ride the 10km without issue and in the hope that she would see some of her friends too. I had attempted to explain that we needed to prepare for the ride during the previous day but this had fallen on deaf ears. The task of prepping two bikes fell to me; and then I had a last minute change of heart and decided to take my mountain bike given the bridal paths we were due to ride.
Sunday, 27th April was ‘Stand up to Cancer’ day in Wantage. An event organised by the redoubtable Ray Collins and staffed by many willing volunteers. The ride formed a part of this action packed day, in addition to cyclists, there were 5k runners and a group of Konga-thoners (a bit like Zumba but Konga). The square was packed and it was a good chance to catch up with people I don’t usually see locally.
My fellow challenge riders from the Isle of Wight ride (2013) were there too. I sported my ‘Big Isle Be Back’ (BIBB) challenge jersey for our ride; a jersey that I am proud to wear and I know that Phil and Mark feel the same, we definitely earned the right over 24 hours and 243 miles. If you are in anyways curious as to what a ride of this length does to mere humans, please have a look at my 3 part blog here:
We also caught up with the foreign BIBB team member, Brian (German blood, lives on the Isle of Wight). He had made the trip with two of his colleagues from the Anthony Nolan Trust and had set up their stall next to the information tent. You can read more about Brian’s amazing story here:
We arrived in the square around 9am, Harriet disappeared to find mum who happened to be manning the information tent with Sarah, Phil’s partner. I was left with two bikes and a ruck sack trying to make my way through the crowd to the start point. Harriet appeared in time for the line-up, we chose a spot half way down the field and waited for the off. A couple of her school friends joined us along with their parents and we all set off together.
Two things immediately occurred to me as we crossed the line: Harriet has never ridden in a group before (or peloton as us amateur athletes like to call it in conversations at the pub ;o)) and I had a ridiculous amount of kit for a 10km ride. It became clear that riding in a group wasn’t going to be an issue for any of the kids, they simple talked amongst themselves remaining oblivious to the outside world. In fairness, they didn’t stuff their brakes on at inappropriate times that often so all went smoothly for the first couple of miles out of the town.
The weather was kind with some sun; things were progressing nicely until Harriet asked what ‘that hissing sound’ was. Being a little hearing impaired in my left ear, I couldn’t discern anything but hoped that some poor sod wasn’t going to have a puncture. Approximately 300 metres later my front tyre was looking quite poorly.
Harriet and her friends sailed on with the other beleaguered parents as I turned my bike upside down and struggled to get the inner tube out. Since getting my posh road bike, I have paid little attention to my mountain bike, it needs a good clean and de-grease plus the front brake bleeding. My road bike, of course, shines and you could eat your dinner off the drivetrain. To add insult to injury I forgot to use the foam sleeve on the CO2 cartridge and burned my fingers; cycling is about enjoyment apparently.
With the tyre done, though a little under inflated, I now had a good opportunity to flex my lungs and catch up. There was a nice incline followed by some downhill stuff, I managed to catch up with the group in Ardington. After a few bridle path sections to Wantage, there was a short stretch along Ormond Road to negotiate along with a few other cyclists and motorist intent of getting somewhere quickly. Once we had turned into Church Street things were slightly more relaxed. A warm welcome awaited us in the town square, the kids had done really well as the route was by no means flat.
The rest of the day was spent supporting the event and finally, lending a hand to clear the square once things were finished. The community really comes together on occasions like this, it’s great to see. Once again, a cracking effort by Ray and his team, roll on the carnival in June!
Further reading…..
If you liked this blog please take a moment to check out my book describing the solo Land’s End to John O’Groats ride in 2012, all profit from sales to www.criduchat.org.uk
Please click the cover image for the Kindle version or click here to order a paperback copy. Thank you!
I have recently been looking at getting Point North & Pedal published as an e-book; this has been an interesting exercise in researching a topic I know nothing about. Amazon’s help pages and FAQ’s are good although the process is quite convoluted, especially the tax situation with the United States.
My manuscript is currently being formatted as a ‘zipped HTML’ file which, apparently, Amazon prefers for Kindle. I have set up a Kindle Direct Publishing account with Amazon and provided various bank details and international payment reference numbers provided by my bank. Obviously all in preparation for the huge amount of royalties that will wing their way to my modest little bank account. In addition to this I have created a JPEG cover for the book and a TIFF product image (the picture that you see when browsing Amazon).
The main barrier to actually publishing for Kindle is invoking the US Tax Treaty with the UK, to do this I need to apply for an Individual Taxpayer’s Identification Number (ITIN) from the US Internal Revenue Service. If I do nothing, Amazon is forced to pay 30% of my net royalties to the Federal Government. Amazon paying its taxes you say…a little unlikely but apparently they have to or they will be doing hard labour in pink shirts that say ‘I am cheating the social state and especially sub-prime mortgage victims’; this will require a big t-shirt but then everything is big in America.
Completing the required W7 form is easy but the catch comes with providing suitable identification, in this case that would be my passport. To get the IRS reference number, I have a couple of options: send my passport to the IRS office in Texas with Form W7 or visit the US Embassy in London to have a copy of my passport certified before sending W7 to Texas.
The IRS counter works on a first come, first served basis and opens a limited number of time per week. The main benefit of doing things this way is I get to keep my passport. Interestingly, I am not allowed to take any electronic devices (they must be stored off-site at a cost) and entry to the embassy is via and airport style security check with body scanners and probably huge Marines that have necks thicker than their heads. If they are tooled up I am not going to argue….
Assuming that everything is in order and I get seen before the office closes at 4pm I can send everything off to Texas. Unfortunately, it could be 3 months given the size of the IRS and also the fact that the Federal budget issue thing shut them down for a period of time recently. I have no idea of the length of the backlog but will maintain faith in their system; after all, this is the nation that landed men on the moon.
It’s not that 30% of any royalties will be a large amount of cash but it’s the principle of thing. I feel slighted that I have to apply for this ‘concession’ given the very Special Relationship that I must have with our US allies. Additionally, it’s a complicated, bureaucratic bit of nonsense that will not beat me…
Roll on publication date! God bless America!
Further reading…..
If you liked this blog please take a moment to check out my book describing the solo Land’s End to John O’Groats ride in 2012, all profit from sales to www.criduchat.org.uk
Please click the cover image for the Kindle version or click here to order a paperback copy. Thank you!
The last 7 days have been busy but rewarding; we have been raising funds for 3 charities via a number of events plus I have been selling the book to all and sundry.
I have already blogged the Breakthrough Breast Cancer bake sale that was held last weekend; this raised an amazing £669 for our Team Nightrider challenge ride in June. It was great to meet and chat with people who had turned out to support us, in addition, our team captain and his partner turned up from Manchester way to lend a hand. His passion and enthusiasm for fundraising is second to none.
I played cricket on Sunday, enjoying a freezing cold 40 overs on the hill at Challow. I desperately want to retire from cricket, it hurts to play now. The great irony is that I am fitter now than I have ever been but my joints will not allow me to play like my 25 year old self. It was good to play against Letcombe and chat to players like me who have been around for ever.
Monday saw the arrival of the first 100 books, now the work of fulfilling orders begins. Most of the set-up around posting books out had already been done so it was a case of logging the sale and dispatching them. The next step was to contact those who had expressed an interest and work out how to get their copy to them without posting. Ray took 5 copies to stock at Ledbury’s in Wantage and has sold at least 3, the Village shop in East Hanney also have 5 copies which I hope to sell on the back of a letter to the Hanney News.
Sales have been brisk; the first 100 have almost gone and I need to order a second box. Breakeven is 50 books but I know that I have a dwindling market now. I have saved a lot of the marketing for the second box plus I have a piece coming out in the local press later in May. Facebook is an awesome network when it comes to letting people know what you are doing. I have been contacted by people because of the sharing that goes on, it’s very uplifting when a new e mail comes through confirming a purchase from someone you don’t know.
The third lot of fundraising was completely by chance and I will blog this separately. Once again, our amazing community clubs together to get things to happen.
