The Business of Authoring
2009 TAA Conference Presentation

Please note: Recordings may not be copied, shared, or distributed.

Panelists: Marsha Huber, Associate Professor of Accounting at Otterbein College, a CPA, and author of two books on restaurant accounting; Charles Williams, Professor of Sport Management in the Department of Tourism, Recreation, and Sport Management, at the University of Florida, and author of Personal Fitness: Looking Good/Feeling Good; Robert Christopherson, Professor Emeritus of Geography, American River College (1970-2000), and author of the leading physical geography texts in the US and Canada (additional panelist to be announced)

TAA has long-held that authoring should be treated like a business. This session will show you how to do that. Charles Williams will talk about why it's important to keep your authorship separate from your full-time job at the university. Robert Christopherson will talk about how to set up a home office for authoring, and specific strategies for managing your home office, including how to organize it, what equipment to purchase, etc. He will also share how he has used the home office deduction on his federal income taxes since 1998, and how that it handled through his accountant. The session will also include tax tips for authors. CPA Marsha Huber, will cover important considerations when taking the home office deduction —  the plus side includes taking the deductions, but a down side can come into play when you sell your home. She will also cover:

• How you can protect your deductions —  automobile deductions, travel, and entertainment all have recordkeeping requirements.
• Address common questions such as should I buy or lease a car? How do I write my automobile expenses off? Can I write my trip off that I take overseas to work on a book?
• Retirement issues — can taxes be deferred by putting monies into retirement plans? What are the best plans?
• Does entity choice matter when it comes to taxes? Should an author be a sole proprietorship, LLC, or corporation?
• How do I report royalty income? Is it self-employment income?
• Lastly, what are the IRS "hot" buttons and how to avoid an audit.

About the Panelists:

Marsha Huber currently serves as an Associate Professor of Accounting at Otterbein College in Westerville, OH (a suburb of Columbus). She is also an Academic Administrative Dean's Fellow in developing new programs for the college. Marsha is a CPA, who started her own practice in 1989. She specializes in small business and restaurants, authoring two books on restaurant accounting for the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Marsha is also a speaker on the topic of accounting education, classroom assessment, and philanthropy with invitations to speak, keynote, and/or present at various colleges or conferences on higher education and accounting education. She is now in the process of writing her first book on "appreciative learning" in higher education.

Charles Williams currently serves as a Professor of Sport Management in the Department of Tourism, Recreation, and Sport Management, at the University of Florida. He has served as an administrator for over 25 years as assistant department chair, program director, and assistant/associate dean. He has published 26 books and developed eight commercial videotapes and three CD's. In addition, he has developed three educational computer programs. His most recent project involves the development of fourteen e-books on CD for the college level. They are entitled "Health and Physical Activity Series" and are published by Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company.

He has received awards from his professional organizations at both the state and national level. In 2005, Dr. Williams received both the Texty and McGuffey Awards from TAA for his publication Personal Fitness: Looking Good/Feeling Good that is used throughout the United States and has been adopted by the Department of Defense schools for use in Europe and Asia.

Robert W. Christopherson is Professor Emeritus of Geography, American River College (1970-2000). He was selected by American River College students as "Teacher of the Year" and received the ARC Patrons Award. He is the author of the leading physical geography texts in the US and Canada all published by Pearson Prentice Hall: He and his nature photographer wife Bobbe have completed nine expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic regions since 2003 gathering information and photos for his books: Geosystems, 7/e, © 2009 [Texty winner 1998]; Elemental Geosystems, 5/e, © 2007 [Texty winner 2005]; Geosystems Canadian Edition, 2/e, © 2009; and Applied Geography, 7/e, © 2009. He attended Cal State University-Chico, and Miami University, Oxford, Ohio. His first textbook was published in 1992. His textbooks have received several national textbook awards. Also, he was recognized for excellence in teaching with the 1999 Distinguished Teaching Achievement Award from the National Council for Geographic Education and the Outstanding Educator Award from the California Geographical Society in 1997. TAA presented him with its Presidents' Award in 2005. He has spoken across the US and Canada to hundreds of colleges, groups, and professional meetings.