Welcome to www.taxkingsandqueens.com

To-Do Lists an Important Part of Being a Better Employee What makes a good employee? Take a look at how the star employee in your office operates. Chances are that they don’t run around in a constant fog of stress and pressure. Good employees are usually calm and conscientious; they seem to always get the job done with a minimum of hair pulling and frantic rushing around. Is it just genes that these people have that allow them to work like this, or are some people just better at managing stress than others? The answer is probably not. If you take a closer look at the star employee in your office, you will are likely to see that they are so stress free and productive because they are good at managing their time. And chances are they manage that time with the help of a to-do list. The to-do list is an often-overlooked part of working life. While they are the kind of thing people expect housewives to carry around with them in their purse while they run errands, many people think they can do without them in the work place. This is a big mistake. Being productive at work is all about being able to carry out your tasks in a timely manner, and being productive at work is also about managing your stress. If you are too stressed out, your work will suffer for it. You will fall behind because you won’t be able to concentrate, and you will make mistakes you might not have made if you were able to take your time with your work. So, how can a to-do list help? To-do lists can do many things for you in your busy working life. For starters, to-do lists remove the problem of having that all important phone call or meetings slip your mind. When you have a to-do list, everything that needs to be accomplished is set out there for you, so there is no more explaining to your boss why you stood up your company’s most important client. With a to-do list, you can also see the bigger picture of everything that needs to be done, so you can plan your time wisely. Working on tasks one after another as they come up is not a smart way to accomplish things at the office. Some jobs are on a tight deadline, while other jobs can stand to wait a little while. When you set everything out for yourself in a to-do list, you will be able to prioritize your tasks in order of importance, so you get the crucial work out of the way first thing, and only move on to less important jobs when you have the time to devote to them. All of this organization will make your working life less stressful. Imagine a typical day without a to-do list. You come in to the office in the morning, you work through all of the email sitting in your inbox, you make a few phone calls, chat with some co-workers in the break room, answer a few more emails, and then bam! All of the sudden, you remember that the presentation your boss needs for the big meeting is due at 2 p.m., and you haven’t even started it. Now you resort to hair pulling and frantic working. Then, you give your boss the presentation over an hour late, and it is filled with mistakes and sloppy work. Now imagine the same day with a to-do list. You get the presentation out of the way first thing, and you have time to check it. Then you can move on to less important tasks without the dark cloud of stress hanging over you. To-do list writing is time well spent if you want to succeed at work.

Music Copyright Law Are You Violating Music Copyright Law? With the popularity of the Internet, many people are violating music copyright law and do not even know it. Music copyright law can be very tricky. There are multiple music copyrights that you must keep in mind – lyrics, composition and the recording of the music by an artist. Using someone’s music may involve you acquiring many different licenses such as mechanical, synchronization, performance and publishing licenses. Music copyright law has separate copyrights for the vocal or instrumental recordings of a composition or performance and the copyright of the written lyrics and music. Standard music copyrighting practices usually entail that the writer of the song retains the rights to the right to the music composition which the studio that did the recording of the music holds the rights of the recording. Music copyright law can get very complicated. It can involve negotiations with the writers, producers, agents, heirs and more. Many artists and studios are upset with the decline in music sales. They are attributing this decline to people who are violating music copyright law by downloading music on the Internet. Music files are under the same copyright law as music recordings and the owners of these copyrights are entitled to royalties or compensation for the music that people are illegally downloading on the Internet. The simple fact is you are stealing if you make copies of copyrighted music recordings without authorization to do so. If people were sued for the music they have downloaded illegally, it could result in thousands of dollars. Music copyright law states that it is illegal to duplicate and distribute creative work. If you send someone an email with a song that you have illegally downloaded on the Internet, you could be in for some serious trouble. To put it bluntly and plainly, if you download (or upload) music that is copyrighted without permission to do so, you are breaking the law. Many people violate music copyright law and do not even understand how their actions are criminal. If you purchase a music CD you can make a copy of it for yourself on your MP3. However, if you then use that recording and put it on your website or blog and make it available for everyone to download, you are performing an illegal act. Even if you join a site and pay a fee to download music you are in violation of music copyright law. This may sound like something that would never come back to haunt you. After all, if you were caught, it would be a first time offense, right? Well, you should know that there have been first time offenders who have been fined up to $250,000 and up to five years in jail for violating music copyright law. It is so much easier to go out and pay 20 bucks for a CD. Whether you are uploading music or downloading music, educate yourself on music copyright law. No one wants to ruin their financial future and face jail time. Enjoy music, just do it the right way!

The Business of Self-Publishing (self publishing) Self-publishing has become a common practice for many writers. Writers’ reasons for self-publishing are varied, but it is commonly known that many writers want the accolades of having published work, no matter who publishes it. The freedom and business aspects of publishing work independently are desirable to many writers. A self-published writer is one who is in control of every aspect of their published work. The term self-publishing is defined as the publishing of books and other media by the authors of those works, instead of being established by third-party publishers. The advancement of technology has caused an increase in the self-publishers world, but it still only represents a small percentage of the publishing industry in terms of sales. The proliferation of media channels and web logging has contributed to the increase in self-publishers. The business of publishing books and other media independently is one that is unique and different from any other business. The most distinguishing characteristic of self-publishing is the absence of a traditional publisher. The author of the content takes on the role of the traditional publisher. The author is given editorial control of the content, arranging for printing, marketing the material, and distributing the material to consumers and retailers. The published books may be printed on demand with no inventory, which places a large amount of financial risk for the venue on the author’s shoulders. Many self-published authors end up subsidizing their work rather than making money from it. Digital printing technology has made it possible for the self-publishing concept to become mainstream in digital photo book printing. Self-publishers are able to get individually printed photo books from firms like Apple’s iPhoto, FotoInsight, Snapfish, and Printing-1. The motives for publishing work independently are varied, and there are numerous reasons for choosing to self-publish. One common reason is that the work of the author is not of interest to the commercial publisher, and otherwise not marketable. Some other common reasons for self publishing include an author’s preference to retain complete editorial control over content. Many writers are unwilling to compromise when it comes to the editing of their work, and some prefer to have their work presented “as is.” Writers may also be denied publication because they are unknown and don’t have a substantial resume. Self-publishing may also be an alternative for writers who have written material on a popular topic but that is only of interest in a small geographic area. Topics that address an obscure topic in which few people are interested may also be denied publication by commercial publishers. Writers of controversial works may also choose to self-publish, as many traditional publishers refuse to work with controversial writings. There are also some authors choose self-publishing because they want a larger percentage return from retail sales. Whatever the reason for self-publishing, authors should know that there is extensive work required in publishing a book alone. Publishing alone involves a long list of tasks, which include prepublication and publication. Prepublication includes editing or obtaining editing for the manuscript, proofreading, establishing yourself as a legal retail business, and obtaining an ISBN “Cataloging in Publication” number. The publication process involves formatting the manuscript, providing front matter and back matter, and providing cover art for the front and back covers and the spine of the book. Self-publishers must also obtain printing quotes, determine how the manuscript will be delivered to the printer, and pay for printing and delivery of finished books. Self-publishing is a business that many writers prefer to avoid, but for others it may be the only way to have the work printed and available to the public.