What Authors Make

[Bramblethorn]

Survey of UK authors, how much they make, and related issues:

http://www.alcs.co.uk/Documents/Final-Report-For-Web-Publication-(2).aspx

...earnings of authors have been falling in real terms over the last decade with average current earnings of £16,809. This means that in real terms authors earn 19% less today than they did in 2005. Professional authors, those who spend more than 50% of their working life engaged in self-employed writing, do not fare much better. Their average earnings are £28,340 which represents a fall of 8% since 2005.

There is a high concentration of earnings with a small number of writers earning most of the money. Therefore when the typical ‘median’ earnings are considered the picture is more concerning. The typical earnings of all authors are only £4,000 and those of professional authors are merely £11,000 which represents a drop of 29% in real terms since 2005. This means that a professional author is earning less than the minimum wage from his or her writing.

It also appears that young writers suffer disproportionately as writers earn the most in their mid-40s to 50s. Further, there remains a significant gender pay gap amongst professional authors (with women earning 80% of that earned by men). However, the gender gap has essentially disappeared in relation to writers as a whole group.

...

Every member of ALCS and the Society of Authors who had provided those organisations with an email address was contacted and asked to complete the survey. The email included a link to the survey on surveymonkey. It is estimated that 35,000 people were contacted and asked to complete the survey. In total 2,454 people (7% response rate) started the survey and 1,477 people (4.2% response rate) answered the last question (ie 977 people did not complete the survey).

...

The top 10% of professional authors (those earning £60,000 or more) earn 58% of all the money earned by professional authors; and the top 5% of professional authors (those earning £100,100 or more) earn 42.3% of that money. The bottom 50% (those earning £10,432 or less) earn only 7% of all the money earned by all writers cumulatively. The Gini-coefficient for professional authors demonstrates this inequality (at 0.69) which is much higher than the national average for original earnings of employees across the UK (0.45). Thus, it appears that writing is a profession where only a handful of successful authors make a very good living while most do not.

 

[sr71plt]

I don't see this as anything different from any previous forever.

 

[NaokoSmith]

Maybe I'll stick to the day job!

 

[DreamCloud]

Yes, I am a writer. Doing quite well I might add. Currently, I am on vacation and lost a bit of weight. Things couldn't be better.

[Google Prose Translator]

Yes, I am a writer. I have a few things published on a free site. Currently I am homeless and starving. Things will not get any better.

 

[litfan10]

Among the cartoons I have hanging on the wall in my office are two that sum the financial reality of writing for me well.

One has a couple in a cafe for a first meeting. The girl asks the man what he does. He answers that he is a writer. Her response is "No, I mean what do you do for money?"

The other is from Shoe with the professor in the luncheon with the waitress asking him where he gets his inspiration to write. He answers, "My muse is my mortgage."