by Cathy Pickens

SinC has always advocated for its writers. In the early days, women earned significantly fewer newspaper and magazine reviews and less shelf space than male authors, so SinC began monitoring reviews and promoting its members. However, its advocacy for individual writers meant that, under the IRS rules, it didn’t qualify for tax-exemption. But in 2009, after we joined the Authors Coalition of America (ACA), we had to pay taxes on about $150,000 per year. [Under international treaties, ACA collected royalties for international photocopies for which individual authors couldn’t be identified. The funds were distributed through 23 writers’ organizations in the U.S.]

Treasurer Kathy Wall and the board knew it was time to revisit our IRS status so that more monies could go to supporting programs. The nitty-gritty was dull, but SinC is now a tax-exempt 501(c)(6) “business league” (not a charitable organization). The ACA questionnaire members complete sets our share of the funds. Now, tax savings on ACA and other income adds to our rich array of workshops, industry studies, monitoring projects, online education, and outreach programs to libraries and bookstores, benefiting all SinC’s writers and readers. So, we all play a part in supporting and educating each other, which was our goal from the start.
 

About Cathy Pickens:

2010-2011 President Cathy Pickens is an attorney and former college professor, and the author of the Blue Ridge Mountain Cozy Mysteries mysteries (Joffe Books), formerly Southern Fried Mysteries (St. Martin’s/Minotaur). A lifelong native of the Carolinas, she’s always been fascinated by stories of crime told with a wry twist.

Website: https://www.cathypickens.com/

For More on the History of SinC: https://www.sistersincrime.org/page/history