This is sobering news, but not surprising: “Most authors earn less than minimum wage from their writing, survey finds”:
The research, commissioned by The Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society, found the top 5 per cent of writers earned close to half of all the income received by professional authors in 2013. The median income for professional writers is just £10,432, less than the minimum wage. Technical and academic writers are among the worst paid.
The report, compiled by Queen Mary, University of London, concluded: “There is a high concentration of earnings in a handful of successful writers whereas most do not earn much at all.”…
Nicola Solomon, chief executive of the Society of Authors, said: “While it’s always been a profession where the biggest authors earn disproportionately more, what’s concerning to see is that the inequality is getting wider.”
Britain remains a nation of aspiring authors, with a YouGov poll finding in February it was the most desired job in Britain. Of those asked, 60 per cent said they wanted to make a living from writing.
So the most desired job in Britain is writer? How many writers do we really need? Didn’t people used to aspire to being doctors, lawyers, teachers, nurses, firemen etc.? Are only jobs that seem glamorous (but usually aren’t) in style?
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