Many
authors write books because they love to write.
It comes naturally to them.
Others feel they have something important or wonderful to share with the
masses. And some hope to earn a decent
living from practicing their craft.
Unfortunately the latest studies in the U.K and U.S. show that writers
are struggling as they earn below minimum wage levels.
According
to a new study of professional, writers in the UK, conducted by Authors Licensing and Collecting Society, the median earnings of professional writers –
those who spend at least half of their working hours to writing – fell by 42%
in real terms since 2005, and by 15% since 2013.
Fewer
writers can earn a living writing.
In 2005, 40% of professional writers in the UK made their money solely from writing. That has now plummeted to just 13.7%.
In 2005, 40% of professional writers in the UK made their money solely from writing. That has now plummeted to just 13.7%.
What
that means is most writers have to supplement their income with other jobs,
working harder than ever before.
Worse
news than that one day could be that fewer talented people pursue the
profession of writing. Could the supply
of new, innovative, and dynamic writers, dwindle, leaving the art of writing to
the less talented?
Americans
have also been confronting this for years.
A year ago a study showed that the average writer’s earnings from
writing was below the poverty level.
So
what can be done about it?
Journalism
is not paying much for talented writers.
Freelance writers struggle to get good pay for penning articles, and
because there’s a glut of writers, competition brings earnings down. Further, these publications are hurting from
a lack of advertising, thus they have less editorial space available.
When
it comes to books, writers earn less because there’s a flood of books out
there, each one averaging fewer copies sold than books averaged five or 10
years ago. Many self-published do poorly in sales..
One
solution is for authors demand higher royalties from book publishers. But it seems like the economy for writers is
scaling downward.
Blame
the Internet? Technology? The trend towards
posting free content and giving books away to promote books? Choose any and all reasons.
Writers
always seem to struggle – to get published, to get noticed, to sell books, to
get paid. They write out of love and
duty. Writers don’t know of any other way,
regardless of how much money they make.
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