A survey just published and done for The Authors’ Licensing and Collection Agency by academics at Queen Mary University of London, found that the top 5% of authors, which in the UK I imagine means the likes of Ian Rankin, JK Rowling and Jeffrey Archer, earned 42% of all income received by professional authors.
It now harder for authors to make a living, paradoxically because there are more and more people writing books and faced with such choice, it seems many readers stick to the authors they know and like.
Whilst it’s often quoted that the average writer makes £11,000 pa, 1 in 6 respondents in the survey said they made nothing from writing in 2013. To end on an even more sombre note, only 11.5% of authors now earn a living solely from writing, down 40% from a decade ago.
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