We're in the black this year, I think, but only if the venue hire is waived, which it appears it has been.*
Allocation of Kickstarter publishing project funding
I am accounting separately for this to satisfy the backers that the money they put up was used for the purpose intended. The Kickstarter project raised £575.75 after Kickstarter's commission and dollar conversion. One backer has proved uncontactable and so one more book is due if he or she (pen name "Shakespeare" ever comes forward). All other backers have been sent their chosen rewards. In total all but £8 of that has been used up on:
a) Title setup & proof copy
b) Flyers for the launch/results event
c) Author copies (5 x 10) + postage
d) Other contributor copies x 3 + p&p
d) Kickstarter backer rewards + postage
e) Review copy
In accounting I am deducting, i.e. putting back in the value of six copies sold** around the launch time and write off a few sale or return to the local bookshop (no sales, written off) and it all balances out at £8.45 remaining. If anyone wants the exact details, I have it all on a spreadsheet.
Allocation of sponsorship of the results event funding
Similarly, I want to account for the results event sponsorship separately here to show that the money was used as intended. Willesden Green Writers's Group sponsored the results event for £300. Sound and lighting was £258. Wine and snacks were £75 minus a few bottles left over. The venue hire was to be £140, which I have kept in reserve as it appears for the time being that there may be no charge since the space was lent to us by Library Lab, which is already accounted for to the council. However, I have not had a definitive answer on this despite several enquiries. If free venue, we were probably just about on target, i.e. approx £300, after taking away the cost of a few bottles of wine I took home. If not, £140 in the red, carried forward to allocate against the entry fees.
Allocation of entry fees received etc.
The other income was from entry fees, which were 387 x £2.70 after taking away PayPal's 10% commission (average, it varies slightly depending on the exact transaction details), total £1,044.90.
Of that, £600 went in prizes. Then the website with PHP and MySQL used for the competition entry database costs £17.99 x 12 months = £215.88. The website is used all year round for membership registration etc.
If the council needs paying for the venue, which seems unlikely (see above), another £140 would be for that. Some books went walkies at the results event (one packet of five that was meant for one of the authors and three others). There was income from six copies of the book sold at the results event and shortly after.
Totals for 2011-12
Taking into account everything and carefully not double-counting the Kickstarter items we are either £9.69 in the red or that plus £140 unused, i.e. £131.31 in the black. I have separate spreadsheets for Kickstarter and Overall. Again if anyone needs the gory details, let me know and I can forward them.
Totals for 2010-11
In organising an Accounts tag I see that last year's accounts were never published, or if they were, I cannot see where. Accounts for the other previous years when there were entry fees have been published (see Accounts tag link).
I have last year's spreadsheet here and it adds up to a loss of £383.89. The number of entries and event sponsorship were almost the same as 2011-12 (380 instead of 387 entries, £300 event sponsorship) but we didn't have any money from Kickstarter.
Conclusion
If the £140 is not needed for the venue, which it seems it will not be, I will use that for a Google Adwords campaign promoting the book and the competition. If I'd taken the previous losses as brought forward, we'd still be in the red now. On the other hand without investing in advertising, things might go downhill. Oh the joys of double entry bookkeeping.
Steve
* I have updated and corrected the text of this report several times since first published. The main item I omitted initially was the cost of the web server.
** Profit from sales of books via Amazon go to the publisher, Pretend Genius Press, as also from sales via the PG shop. If books are ordered via Willesden Herald links, a small amount of commission comes back from Amazon to Willesden Herald.
Oh, and finally, in case such things keep you awake all night with worry, this all goes to the Inland Revenue as part of the accounts for my software and publishing company. If I'm ever going to save some tax on the loss, it hasn't happened yet but only due to a technicality because the income is in one year and the expenditure in the next; maybe next year I will. (Steve)
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