How our beloved authors get paid

 

A recent piece in The Telegraph (16/05/2021) tells us that Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh is the most stolen book from UK bookshops, and apparently Welsh is fine with that because he still gets paid!

Our authors are earning less they did just nine or ten years ago. Far less. From writing alone, a writer would be living far below the minimum income standard, they'd probably take home just over £800 a month, which is why the vast majority of writers are never solely writers. 

So, after reading what Irvine Welsh had to say about how he feels about his books being stolen, and how he still gets paid anyway, I thought I would take a brief look at how our beloved authors get paid.

When books get stolen

We'll start here since it is what inspired this piece.

Well, according to Irvine Welsh, when his books are stolen he will still get paid royalties. So, he thinks it is brilliant!

We are told that when a book is stolen from a shop, the shop has to cover the cost of the loss to the publisher. The publisher will sell the books to retailers and distributors at a discount, often on a sale or return basis, and if the retail outlets have any losses they have to cover that with the publisher. From this, the author will earn a percentage. Which will be determined by their contract.

Sales

This is probably the most obvious one.

An author writes a book, a writer gets that book published, the author gets paid. Simples. Right?

Uh . . .

Well, firstly, it depends on how they have published their work; is it through a traditional publisher, or have they self published? If they have a publisher, then what they earn from sales will be determined by the contract they have been able to negotiate with that publisher. If they have self-published, what they earn will be determined by the terms set out by the retailer and distributors through whom they sell their work.

When you self publish it is a tad more straightforward than when you sell through a publisher. And, if you want to learn more about how authors get paid from their sales (it's a little more complicated than a brief overview like this allows space for, I'm afraid), you might want to a look at this page here from The Society of Authors - it goes into a little more detail about percentages and different ways in which authors can get paid from sales.

As consumers, the main take away from this might be that the more we pay for our books, from retailers and distributors, the more the author receives in turn. And, when authors really are earning dismal amounts for their work in most cases, that really is something to bear in mind.

Talks

There are, of course, literary festivals. But, there are also schools, where authors of children's books might go to read, speak, and give the children some fun activities to do which relate to the author's books.

There are universities, perhaps where the academic writer might speak, or give a lecture, to the students.

Authors who specialise in certain areas, on certain topics, might be able to find venues appropriate to that field. For example, if you have written extensively on the business world, there might very well be companies in need of your experience and insight.

And, not only can you get paid for these speaking gigs, they are an opportunity to sell your book!

Though, as someone who enjoys talking to an audience about as much as swimming in raw sewage, I can understand that this one is not for everyone. However, there are writers who earn more from speaking engagements than from sales!

Library lending

The Public Lending Right Act 1979 gave British authors a legal right to receive remuneration for the free loan of their books by public libraries. This is a right that British authors campaigned for for thirty years!

You can follow the PLR here, on Twitter to find out more and stay informed.

You can also learn more from The Society of Authors here, along with how they are continuing to lobby for PLR.

I am unsure whether or not there are similar schemes in other countries, but the brief research that I did for this article suggests that it is not something one might find in the US. Though, as I say, my research was brief and I may be wrong.

If you are in the UK, or another country with a similar scheme, this seems to be just one more reason to make use of those fantastic places we call libraries.

There may be other ways in which authors can make money. I haven't considered them all here. For example, I do believe there is another scheme, at least here in the UK, that authors can sign up to after they have had work published. This pays them a little something for their work possibly being used as a resource for learning and research. Though, if I am right about there being such a scheme, the name of it escapes me for now. Do pop the name of this scheme in the comments, if you know what it is!

As consumers, as readers of books, it is worth us considering these methods by which authors are paid because we, essentially, are their supporters. They, the vast majority of the time, are not earning very much for what they do. Especially, if you are like me, you consider the joy, hope, and insight that they have given us.

I do hope that you found this piece interesting or, at least, enjoyable. If you did, perhaps you'd consider following/supporting me on ko-fi, a platform for creative types.

Thank you for reading, and see you soon!