The February 2020 issue of Writing Magazine is out now, and my Business of Writing column looks at how writers can organise their own booksignings in WHSmiths.
Features
Sustainable Snowdonia
Issue 185 of The People’s Friend Special has just hit the newsstands, and it contains my feature on the Centre for Alternative Technology, near Machynlleth, Wales.
It really is one of those places that you have to visit for yourself, to get a greater understanding of what they do there. I was fortunate to visit back in June, when they were open to prospective post-graduates, who were looking to expanding their knowledge of sustainable building. Many of the potential post-graduates already had a degree in architecture, and were looking to augment their knowledge with gaining a greater understanding of how to make our buildings more sustainable for the future.
Tinsel-tastic!
In this week’s bumper, double issue of The People’s Friend, there’s an article about my visit to Europe’s biggest tinsel-making factory: Festive Productions, near Cwmbran, Wales.
They’re a fantastic bunch of people there, and we had a laugh as they showed me round the factory. Cheryl Roach is the Production Manager, and she gave me the guided tour. Here are a few photos that didn’t make it into the published piece.
Dazzling Displays
Selfridges are well known for their Christmas window displays (Check out this link for this year’s displays). But how much work goes into creating these displays and when do they …
Wallis’s First Dam
October marks the 40th anniversary of the death of one of this country’s most famous engineers: Barnes Wallis.
To commemorate this, I’ve written a piece for the October issue of Best of British magazine looking at one of Wallis’s lesser known escapades in the Welsh Elan Valley.
Pilgrimage to Plymouth
Simon Whaley enjoys a journey around this delightful Devonshire City.
‘Climb the oak tree,’ says the tourist guide, ‘but think laterally.’ She winks as she hands over a map of Plymouth city to help me explore. I have to admit, it’s been a few years since I last climbed a tree. But this wasn’t quite what I was expecting to do in Plymouth.
This Devonian city is sandwiched between two rivers – the Plym in the east and the Tamar to the west. It overlooks Plymouth Sound, a natural bay with deep water channels, perfect for commercial shipping and the Royal Navy’s warships and submarines.
Firth of Flowers
Check out the April issue of BBC Countryfile magazine for my Firth of Flowers piece in their Great Days Out section.
Coast … ing Along
Check out my feature in the April 2018 issue of Coast magazine, packed full of ideas of what to do with A Weekend in Plymouth.
Understanding Your ALCS Statement
I love this time of year. March is when we get our free money from the ALCS. Free money? Oh, yes! However, from the many comments I’ve seen on social media, not everyone understands their ALCS statement. Many simply look at how much they’re getting and then file it ready for their tax return. But having a clearer understanding of what you’re receiving the money for may help ensure you claim everything to which you’re entitled.
What is ALCS?
The Authors Licensing and Collecting Society collects money generated by secondary rights from various sources and then distributes it to writers. When you sell an article or a short story to a magazine, you sell a primary right – a right to publish your work, for which you should be paid. But once a piece of your writing has been published, there are legitimate ways in which it can be scanned or photocopied. Organisations and business pay for this legitimate right to copy your work.
Taxing Transformations
Remember the plans for quarterly tax returns? Simon Whaley finds out what writers need to do now, in preparation.
If there’s one piece of writing most of us detest it’s completing our tax return. So when George Osborne announced in November 2015 the Making Tax Digital scheme, whereby self-employed people, such as writers, may need to complete quarterly tax returns, many feared the worst. How much of our future writing time would be gobbled up by the need to be creative with numbers?
However, plans for this were dropped from the Finance Bill that went through parliament just prior to last year’s general election. But this tax story hasn’t been buried like a murder writer’s latest victim. It’s simply sleeping, ready to reawaken in the near future. As writers, we need to start taking steps now.