The Truth about Author Earnings

The entertainment industry presents us with two very different ideas about writers. Either they are struggling, living in a drafty shack on Ramen noodles while pounding out their novels on an old typewriter because they can barely afford electricity, let alone a computer. Or they are multi-million dollar successes, topping the New York Times Best Seller list with every book, driving around in fancy cars, and basically living the life of luxury.

I daresay the latter idea has taken greater hold thanks to TV series like “Castle,” and the success of authors such as J. K. Rowling who lives in a castle, Stephen King who lives in a mansion, and George R. R. Martin who owns his own movie theater in Santa Fe where he shows episodes of “Game of Thrones” to his faithful followers.

As I’ve mentioned here before, the truth of the matter is that these few are the notable exception to the rule. If you start listing names of really popular and financially successful authors (Lee Child, John Grisham, Dan Brown, Danielle Steele, James Patterson, Jeff Kinney, etc.), you might wonder if I’m being honest with you. There appear to be so many. But when you consider these as a percentage of the total number of published authors in the world, they really are a very small fraction.

Publisher’s Weekly recently published the results of an Author’s Guild survey of 5,000 published American writers to find out how much they make on average from their writing. It turns out, in 2017, the average published writer made $6,080. To put this number in perspective, someone in the US working a part-time job at minimum wage would earn more than that. But the sad truth is, that figure accounts for all book-related activity, not just the sale of books alone. If we look at how much the average US author made on book sales in 2017, that number drops to a heartbreaking $3,100.

And these figures have declined over previous years.

This is why many published authors don’t rely on their writing to pay their bills. They have day jobs, or some secondary source of income (relatives, spouse, inheritance, etc.). There are a decent number of authors who are able to write full time, but all this means is that their writing pays the bills and allows them to eat. For most, that’s sufficient. They’re not writing for the big bucks. And that’s wise. But there are still plenty of published authors who need an additional stream of income to make ends meet.

If you enjoy novels, this should alarm you. The more time writers have to spend doing anything but writing to support themselves, the less books there are in the world. There are a couple of proposed solutions in the Publisher’s Weekly article, but here are a few things you can do to show your support to your favorite writers:

• Buy their books. Yes, you can get them from the library, or borrow from a friend. But if you have the means, buy them.
• Don’t pirate, and don’t encourage those who pirate. Aside from the fact piracy, whether it’s literature, music, movies, software, or on the high seas, is illegal, it also makes it hard for artists and developers to create. It’s great you want to read the author’s books, but why not show your appreciation by actually paying for them if you can instead of downloading them from a file share? And if you can’t afford the books, then borrow them from a library. At least libraries pay for the books and try to support authors.
• Tell your friends. Word-of-mouth sells more books than most other forms of advertising. If you have a blog, review your favorite books. Buy copies for relatives as gifts. Encourage everyone you know to read those books.
• Tell your local book store. If your local book store doesn’t stock your favorite author, ask them to. Book sellers don’t know what you like to read unless you tell them. And they will often order books based on customer recommendations.
• Donate to their Patreon, Ko-Fi, etc. If you have the means to support writers this way, take advantage of it. Especially if you like their work and want to encourage them to keep writing.

This is not the first time I’ve written about this, and it probably won’t be the last. It may seem a little self-serving since I have a ko-fi. But I am genuinely concerned that too many people take the arts for granted, and we can’t afford to do that. Even if you don’t support my writing efforts, please do what you can to support the writers you love.

Thanks! 🙂