What Do Writers Really Earn?

In 2008 the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society (UK) commissioned a survey to examine author’s earnings.

Here’s what they found:

The average (mean) annual earnings of a writer: £16,531
The typical (median) earnings of a writer: £4,000
60% of people who saw themselves as ‘professional authors’ required a second source of income
The average (mean) annual earnings of a writer (25-34): £14,564
The typical (median) earnings of a writer (25-34): £5,000
The average (mean) annual earnings of a writer (35-44): £24,533
The typical (median) earnings of a writer (35-44): £18,000
The average (mean) annual earnings of a writer (45-54): £35,958
The typical (median) earnings of a writer (45-54): £14,250
The genres that earned the most money (highest to lowest): TV writing, Theatre/film writing, Audio, internet and other, Books – fiction, Books – academic/educational, Books – children’s fiction, Newspapers/magazines and Books – non-fiction.

Source: What are Words Worth? The ALCS commissioned research carried out by Bournemouth University.

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http://twitter.com/thecreativepenn Joanna Penn

oh my goodness, that is depressing! Guess we don’t do it for the money!
Natalie Wright

Eye opening! Thank you for posting this reality check and prompt to hold onto that day job!
Mark

After tax and NI on top of my day job it pays less than minimum wage. People don’t write for money.
Dellani Oakes

I’m lucky if I get $25.00 every 2 months from royalties. Obviously I don’t write because it pays well.
Gary Smailes

I wanted to give writers a realistic expectation for earnings. Writing for money is rarely a good motivation.
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