Tea at Trianon: Writing Books Remains a Tough Way to Make a Living

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Saturday, October 7, 2023

Writing Books Remains a Tough Way to Make a Living

And few people understand how much work it is to write a book. It is a huge demand on one's time. From Publishers Weekly:

A new author income study released by the Authors Guild provides a dizzying array of numbers and breakdowns about how all types of authors—traditionally published and self-published, full-time and part-time—fared financially in 2022. With such a deep trove of statistics, the survey offers something for everyone, but the main takeaway is that most authors have a hard time earning a living from their craft.

The survey, which drew responses from 5,699 published authors, found that in 2022, their median gross pre-tax income from their books was $2,000. When combined with other writing-related income, the total annual median income was $5,000. The median book-related income for survey respondents in 2022 was up 9% from 2018, adjusted for inflation, with all the increase coming from full-time authors, whose income was up 20%, compared to a 4% decline for part-time authors.

While the combined income (book income plus other writing-related income) of full-time, established authors (those who had written a book in 2018 or before) rose 21% in 2022 (to $23,329) from 2018, the median income was still below poverty level. Earnings solely from book-related sources increased from $9,997 to $12,000 in that period. The importance of nonbook writing-related income to authors cannot be overstated: 56% of respondents reported that such activities as journalism, conducting events, editing, ghostwriting, and teaching more than doubled their income.

The report did have some good news for aspiring authors, finding that the top 10% of established authors who participated in the survey had median book income of $275,000 last year. On the flip side, the bottom 50% had median book income of $1,300.

The survey, conducted by the Codex Group, also took a close look at how traditionally published authors fared compared to self-published authors. Here, the report delivers what appears to be an important emerging trend. While in 2022, the median book-related income for full-time self-published authors was $10,200—much less than full-time traditionally published trade authors, who earned $15,000—established (five-plus years of publishing experience) full-time self-published authors more than doubled their book income in 2022 compared to 2018, to $19,000. Over that time, established full-time traditionally published trade authors’ book income only rose 11%, to $15,000, demonstrating that experienced self-published authors are now significantly more effective at boosting their earnings than their experienced traditionally published counterparts.

The survey suggests, however, that publishers may be paying more attention to the threat from self-publishing. Newer full-time traditionally published authors (those who published their first book in 2019 or later) saw their income rise in 2022 to $18,000, compared to $15,000 for their established counterparts. Publishers have plenty of incentive to lure self-published authors. The survey found that the overwhelming majority of authors under 55 years old earned the majority of their book income by self-publishing. Even among authors 65 and older (which comprised the largest reporting demographic), 41% reported earning the majority of income from self-publishing. (Read more.)