Why writers are at a loss for words
W
RITING is a career that many people aspire to, with the most successful
writers earning widespread acclaim and substantial incomes. For most writers, however, the reality is very different. The Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS) recently commissioned the CREATe Centre at the University of Glasgow to conduct research into authors’ earnings, surveying 60,000 writers across the UK. It showed that the profession faces an existential risk amid significant and sustained declines in writers’ incomes and widespread inequalities.
ALCS is a not-for-profit
organisation owned by our members. We ensure that writers receive the money they are owed when their work is copied or used. We were founded by writers, for writers. Since 1977, we have collected and distributed more than £650m to our 118,000 members.
Fall in earnings
“Remaining in the industry has become untenable. The trend to increasing predation is only going to get worse and worse. I’ve been in publishing since 1993. I have written more than a hundred books for traditional publication, and edited three hundred more. Next week, I am taking a job in insurance, thanks to a friend. It’s heart-breaking.” – Survey respondent
Writers’ incomes have been falling
steadily since 2006. For many years, this decline was gradual, falling by only £1,833 between 2006 and 2018. However, in recent years there has been an alarming acceleration to this dynamic. Between 2018 and 2022 alone, incomes fell by a further £3,497, a one third reduction in earnings in just four years. Adjusting for inflation, median incomes have fallen from £17,608 in 2006 to just £7,000 in 2022, a 60 per cent decline in earnings. For most authors, writing alone can no longer sustain an income that is consistent with the minimum wage. As a result, authors rarely earn all of their individual income purely from writing. Even among those authors for whom writing is their primary occupation, less than 20 per cent rely solely on their writing for an income.
Inequality
Publishing is a tough industry, particularly for small presses. So our aim, first and foremost, is to keep being able to get the books out that we think deserve to be seen, from authors that we think deserve to be heard.
“My fear is that only people from wealthy backgrounds will now be able to get a foothold in the profession: someone from my background would find it hard to get established now.” – Survey respondent
The report also revealed deep
inequalities in the sector, between the very highest earners and the rest of the profession; between white authors and black and multi-heritage authors; and between male authors and female authors.
Ryan Matthews is Communications Officer at The Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society
www.alcs.co.uk
The writing profession is characterised by winner-takes-all dynamics typical of cultural markets. Established names and superstar authors receive a disproportionately bigger slice of the total earnings compared to the less established, but much more commonly lived experience of the typical author. This is reflected in the data, with the top 10 per cent of writers earning 47 per cent of the total individual earnings. The top 20 per cent earn on average £50,000 per year, whereas the bottom 20 per cent earn only £4,000 per year.
The decline in earnings was more pronounced for female authors with the already substantial gender pay gap expanding between 2017 and 2020. During that period, women authors saw a 21 per cent fall in their incomes, compared to a 10 per cent fall in income for men, widening the gender pay gap from 33 per cent in 2017 to 41.4 per cent in 2020. White authors were relatively
Spring-Summer 2023
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