Authors' earnings

Following a recent survey by The Bookseller on royalties and advances, which revealed widespread problems around payments, authors have suggested changes they would like to see. Some publishers have also revealed they are exploring changes, with one looking at "moving away from an advances system", while the Society of Authors has said it has seen "an increased reliance on hardship grants".

The dream of becoming a full-time writer is an exceedingly difficult one to achieve in trade publishing today. Book advances are delivered in multiple installments often spread out months, or even years, apart, requiring a sense of fortitude and a need to secure multiple revenue sources.  Read more

More than half of respondents to The Bookseller's survey on advances and royalties revealed problems, with some describing decade-long delays due to "financial terrorism", and some reporting a reliance on loans, hardship grants, and foodbanks.

A new Authors Guild survey finds that median book and writing-related income for authors in 2022 was below the poverty level.

Who would be a writer? Well, no one who wants to earn a living, if the latest numbers published by the UK Authors' Licensing & Collecting Society (ALCS) are to be believed. Median earnings from writing alone are now just £7,000, compared with £10,497 in 2018, with the decline made worse when adjusted for inflation.