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How many writers actually make a living writing???
I've read conflicting opinions on various websites but the consensus seems to be about 3% of active, published writers make a living from writing but most need to do other work to support their 'habit'. Only about 1% seem to be able to make a good living - so for every JK or Dan Brown there are thousands of others struggling - I wonder how many of the 'new breed' of self-published writers make good money?
It was announced today that Iain Banks left an estate of around £4.6m to his wife.
I know most of us - probably nearly all of us are not in it for the money - just as well - but I'd like to know who hopes to be able to achieve the dream (like me) of one day giving up the day job??
Comments
I know someone who is excellent and successful who still has to work 3 days a week.
I know some writers who have several novels in Waterstones, WHSmith, etc; have book signings; hang around with the top in their fields, and still have to have full time jobs.
Pro rates are 5 cents a word!
I am withering away through lack of stale bread.
I'll post you some crusts.
Hold on- I did, I got some ALCS money...
If I made £4k a year, I'd be on over half what I earned then - but without the Golf and the posh clothes; so by saving money on them, maybe I'd come out ahead?
Register your contributions to it now, TN.
I just don't understand why anyone would pay us. #-o
https://www.alcs.co.uk/What-we-do/Where-the-money-comes-from
While the royalties from every copy of the book sold come to us via our publisher, ALCS is a secondary source of income to the writer- just like PLR is to authors with books in listed libraries...
(In fact shouldn't all the contributors know about this??)
ALCS deduct the membership fee from their first payment - so it costs nothing to register.
I've mentioned ALCS regularly - especially when the money is due to be paid out (February/March).
It doesn't take long to register. Once you've done that, just add all new bits and bobs as you're published.
Over the years I've done well from my meagre qualifying articles and photographs.
"I don't live in the UK, can I still join ALCS?
Yes you can, although depending on where you live it might be more appropriate for you to join your local collecting society. ALCS holds reciprocal agreements with over 50 collecting societies around the world to whom we can transfer your money if we have collected payments for you. If you would like information about your local collecting society please contact us. "
Yes, but we novices don't believe it can possibly relate to us! Will check it out forthwith.
While the e-book doesn't count the paperback version does, so those TB's in the printed version of the anthology can register their contribution to it.
I have just discovered that I can buy my own books at a discount. I've been going through the punters' route and paying full whack.
I can be soooo dim.
(Comments not invited...)
And sm: :P
p.s. did you have to supply a UK bank - or is your French one accepted?
The £4,000 figure is the median income for all the people who responded to the survey, so any member of ALCS - which means the figure probably includes a significant number of people like myself, who occasionally have a small income from writing but aren't by any stretch of the imagination professional writers. The mean figure for all respondents to the survey is £16,531. The difference between the two figures suggests many people earning almost nothing from writing, with a few authors netting very large sums. (I'm sure that won't come as a surprise to anyone).
When you narrow it down to what ALCS class as "professional authors" - defined as those who spend more than 50% of their time writing (I assume that means 50% of their working hours, rather than 50% of all the time they have available, although it doesn't make that entirely clear), the figures are more promising. The mean is £28,340, whereas the median is £12,330. These figures are much closer, relatively speaking, although there will obviously be some skewing from people who spend most of their time writing yet earn very little and those right at the top of the income ladder.
There isn't a huge amount of detail given in the report, but the figures suggest to me that a typical income for a published and moderately successful author (i.e. a solid mid-lister who's had a few books published) would be in the region of £15,000 to £20,000. Not great, but a lot better than £4000.
The report can be read in full here: http://www.alcs.co.uk/Documents/Downloads/whatarewordsworth.aspx
I was amazed to see that the best area in which to make a living was writing for soap operas: the mean/median income for that sector is £73,863/£73,000 - twice what the respondents made writing novels!
I gave up because most of it I couldn't answer.
Some of us earn enough to pay bills, some write for the pleasure - and some have a foot in both camps.
Obviously we can't do it - but if you look at averages, the figures wouldn't really be of benefit.
Neighbours, with koalas? (I know they aren't bears; where's your lateral thinking?) It could work, if only as a one off.
Or - I know! A cop show called 'Kodiak'!