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Digging for Foreign Gold
By Grace Tierney
Remember Cortes and his search for Aztec gold? The modern
equivalent for writers is selling your work to international
markets. It is easier than you think. More than 80% of my
published writing has found a market outside my home country.
There’s something about an outsider’s perspective which sells
writing in my experience. But getting that gold home involves
a little common sense and some research, which I hope to make
simpler for you.
The first hurdle is a surprising one – stamps. Does your
submission require an SASE (called a SAE in the UK)? Clearly,
you can’t use US stamps on something which will be posted from
Australia. Here are the links to buying stamps online from various
English-speaking countries;
US ( www.usps.com )
Ireland ( www.anpost.ie and
www.irishstamps.ie )
United Kingdom ( www.royalmail.com )
Canada ( www.canadapost.ca )
Australia ( www.stamps.com.au )
South Africa ( www.sapo.co.za , they even
run a letter-writing contest!)
India ( www.indiapost.gov.in )
You should also be able to check mailing charges there and
delivery estimates so you don’t miss your deadline. You can
also ask friendly writers/relations in the relevant countries
to trade stamps with you. Or buy an International Reply Coupon
(IRC). This is a stamp-equivalent accepted by most countries,
but not sold everywhere. Find out more here
(
http://www.upu.int/irc/en/index.shtml ). Postal/mailing requirements
are often waived for overseas writers. You may be able to simply
submit online, always check this option first.
If it’s a contest, how do you pay your entry fee in a different
currency? This is trickier. PayPal (
www.paypal.com ), the online
payments system, handles this seamlessly. If you need to get a
foreign check (that would be cheque in UK), your bank will charge
you a fee, or two; one for the check and one for foreign exchange.
Let’s assume you struck gold and you sold your writing (remembering
that you may still be able to sell secondary rights for other
countries, of course). How are you going to get paid? Again PayPal
is what you should request, as a foreign check will attract fees
upon encashment. In nearly a decade writing for foreign editors,
none of them has failed to send payment to this remotely located
writer. But I have received checks which weren’t worth cashing.
What? Yes, you need to watch the exchange rate tickers on the
business channel or online at XE (
http://www.xe.com/ucc/ ). How
much is $40 worth in your fist? 40 Canadian or Australian dollars,
€40, or £40? I try to target markets in countries with a favorable
exchange rate to my local currency. Before you submit, check the
rate.
Finally, check your local tax system for how it handles earnings
from foreign sources. Not surprisingly, governments make it easy
for you to pay tax on your earnings;
US ( www.irs.gov )
Ireland ( www.revenue.ie )
United Kingdom ( www.hmrc.gov.uk )
Canada ( www.cra-arc.gc.ca )
Australia ( www.ato.gov.au )
South Africa ( www.sars.gov.za )
India ( www.incometaxindia.gov.in
)
Once you have the international logistics of your writing under
control, the only thing remaining is to pen your best work.
Remember that America and England are famously two nations
divided by a common language
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_and_British_English_differences
).
Try to be aware of the differences and always mention your
nationality, so editors know you’re not just bad at spelling!
It can be useful to give your time zone with your phone number
on contact details, unless you enjoy midnight calls.
Of course, if your writing is good enough to be paid in gold
bars, it may be a little heavy to mail to you, but somehow I
doubt you’ll mind that.
BIO
Grace Tierney ( www.gracetierney.com
) is a writer living in
rural Ireland. Her writing has been published in Ireland,
Britain, America, Canada, Australia, and online. She’s never
been paid in gold, unfortunately. She has published three
contest listing books for writers (
www.lulu.com/gracetierney )
and is currently writing her second chick-lit novel. She blogs
on unusual words and writing at
http://wordfoolery.wordpress.com/.
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