Once you have your certificate from the state and your tax certificate from the county, it’s time to make a declaration.
I am a publisher, hear me roar!
Actually, it’s just a small ad in the business section of your local paper informing the public that you’ve created a publishing company and declaring what name you’ll be doing business under. It’s a formality, but one that has to be done.
It’s formally known as an Affidavit of Publication and the state requires it. What it does is complete the process of registering your company with the Division of Corporations of whatever state you reside in. Fortunately, this is the last thing Big Brother wishes you to do, other than taxes of course. I’ll get to that some other time.
This is one of the easier steps in the process as you can do it with a phone call. Since I live in the area of Sarasota, Florida I called the Sarasota Herald-Tribune and told them what I needed.
I was quickly connected to a woman named Charlene.
Charlene wasn’t from around here. I knew that within the first few words. She was from the south, and by that I mean the part north of me. Not only was her accent strong, but she was well aware of it and made no apologies. She also had a great sense of humor. I actually had fun doing this because of her.
Once I explained what I needed she informed me that they had a template for just that purpose. Bonus. Within five questions she had the form filled out. The ad cost $25 and only had to run once. The only thing that took any time was that it required my notarized signature. So Charlene emailed me the paperwork, I printed it out, ran down to Kinko’s where I signed it and had it blessed by the notary there, faxed it back to her, picked up a coffee, and went back home. Done.
I called Charlene back to confirm that she got it and then answered several questions about my books. I like to think that she became a fan.
The ad appeared in the bottom corner of the Public Notices section four days later. It measured 1.25” x 1.25” and had, by my estimate, a size 2 font. That’s even more expensive space than my PO Box, but I didn’t complain. I’ll attempt to reproduce it here:
Notice under Fictitious Name Law
Pursuant to Section 825.09, Florida
Statutes NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVIN that
the undersigned, desiring to engage in
business under the fictitious name of
Tension Bookworks
Located at PO Box 93, in the county of
Sarasota, in the city of Nokomis, Florida
34274 intends to register the said name
with the Division of Corporations of the
Florida Department of State, Tallahassee
Florida. Dated in Nokomis, Florida, this 16th Day
of April, 2012.
Randall Wood, Tension Bookworks
Date of Pub: April 20, 2012
And that was it. My company was now official in the eyes of the state and the IRS. I used the free time leftover to write this, and my coffee isn’t even cold yet.
If you’re reading this Charlene, thank you, you gave me more time to write and for me there’s few things better.
Here’s the count so far;
Domain Name registration $20
Monthly fee x 3 months $12
Website back-up plan $13
36 months of hosting $187
Registration with the State $119
P.O. Box $52
County Tax Certificate $10
Affidavit of Publication $25
Total $438