Journal logo

Only the Rich Can Afford to Write

Authors' salaries plummet despite rising book sales.

By Ziggy MothPublished 6 years ago 3 min read
Like

Shocking statistics released earlier this week reveal that despite an increase in book sales, authors are not receiving much money in return for their hard work. Authors are now suggesting that if something doesn't change, writing books might simply become too poorly paid for anyone to continue doing it.

According to The Guardian, the median earnings of an author in a year is now below £10,500. This means that half of the authors in the UK are failing to earn £10,500. To put it into perspective, that's an income of less than £850 a month after tax deductions if you're self-employed. If an author is working on their book for 40 hours a week, they're being rewarded around £5.04 an hour, less than half the estimated living wage for those living in London. Books take an awfully long time to write, anywhere from 6 months to 10 years, and leaving too long between publications can result in a loss of interest from your audience and ultimately fewer sales. If authors are being forced to take on other work part-time in order to fund their careers, they risk a plummeting popularity should they fail to produce their next work in a timely manner.

Over the past few years, the government has cut funding for the arts an extraordinary amount. In the last decade alone, local government funding for the sector has fallen by over a third. Venues that haven't closed down are now at the mercy of private funding and donations, essentially handing the arts back over to high earners in the community.

It was less than 150 years ago that education in England was made compulsory up until the age of 10. Previous to this, education was a privilege of the upper classes of society, and as a result, there is greater evidence of the voice of the upper-class throughout history. Although there has been a steady decline in illiteracy levels since 1810, 1.1 million adults in the UK today are illiterate, with a reading age lower than a typical 7-year old. Furthermore, socioeconomic background still plays a huge part in education accessibility and subsequently the likelihood of an individual becoming an author.

From networking, the quality of an individual's education, to the simple act of being told that you can be an author, coming from a wealthy background is likely to put you in much greater stead for literary success is later life. The ever decreasing salaries of authors will only contribute to this problem, stopping those who are unable to complete work for free, and live off of family money in the meantime, from being able to find the time to write. Speaking with the Guardian, Tracy Chevalier, author of The Girl with the Pearl Earring expressed her concerns, saying "Most writers cobble together a living from several sources: teaching, journalism, and odd jobs. Writing is just one shrinking source of income. Shrink it enough and people will stop writing altogether. It literally won’t be worth it."

If this were to happen, the low levels of representation of oppressed groups currently found in literature would almost disappear completely. Whilst it's possible for the middle-class to create characters that don't reflect their lifestyle, it's impossible for these characters to be written from anything but a middle-class perspective. Space for marginalised individuals in the arts is minuscule at present, the aim should, surely, be to increase that space rather than eradicate it altogether.

JK Rowling may have written Harry Potter whilst on benefits, but if her book about a scruffy young wizard hadn't turned into a $25 billion brand, and had, in fact, sold an average but still commendable number of copies, it's likely Rowling would now be working a 9-5, finding a spare few hours on weekday evenings to jot down some ideas for another chapter or two.

Placing a lack of value on the arts is doing little more than emboldening the voices of those who were already speaking over the top of everyone else.

career
Like

About the Creator

Ziggy Moth

Reader insights

Be the first to share your insights about this piece.

How does it work?

Add your insights

Comments

There are no comments for this story

Be the first to respond and start the conversation.

Sign in to comment

    Find us on social media

    Miscellaneous links

    • Explore
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Support

    © 2024 Creatd, Inc. All Rights Reserved.