When speaking to authors, I’m often reminded of a quote attributed to Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr: “The more things change, the more they stay the same.” When I wrote books for publication, a few favor-seekers would find me on social media and assume I had plenty of funds to send them gifts. If only that had been true!
Books are expensive. Aren’t all published authors rich today?
Those not in the know can drool over big-name authors’ multi-million dollar per annum earnings. But these authors are few. And by the way? A quick online search reveals that James Patterson published his first novel in 1976 and Nora Roberts published her first novel in 1981, so they’ve had decades to build careers.
What do most authors earn?
According to Indeed.com, the average writer’s salary is $62,178 annually. Some authors will drool over that figure! Naturally, an untold number of authors are earning much less. Indeed.com indicates that the average writer’s tenure is less than a year. This means many writers work from gig to gig with no employer buying them office supplies or helping to pay FICA taxes or health-care premiums.
Or maybe nothing.
If that sounds dire, consider that Pulitzer Prize-winning The Washington Post Magazine ceased publication in December 2022, resulting in employee layoffs. As I write this post, Penguin Random House has just announced retirement buyouts and layoffs. Rinse and repeat at many publishing houses and newspapers across the nation.
Back to gifts …
Whether you make millions or nothing with your writing, the decision to give a gift is always yours to make. If you need help with requests, consider hiring a virtual assistant to filter your correspondence. Ask writer friends for recommendations. If that idea isn’t affordable or doesn’t appeal to you, consider using a designated email address for strangers. Flag correspondence going to this email address as to be ignored or rejected. Respond only to those uplifting messages worthy of your precious attention.
Thank you for your precious attention to this blog post. May you enjoy peaceful prosperity!
Characterization Part 4
You have asked me for a gift,
and in my heart I would comply
to give your soul and life a lift,
but as it stands, you lucky guy,
I have no silver, have no gold,
but can offer so much more,
for I believe what I’ve been told,
that there is an open door
that takes us past this world of sin,
and that doorway is the Christ,
so at this moment, now, begin;
rise, walk, on what He’s sacrificed
right through hell’s bleak prison wall,
the greatest present of them all.
Love this so much, my brother!
Thanks, Karen!
Thank you for your words of wisdom, Tamela. They are always appreciated. I wonder if the trend towards self-publishing is affecting the publishing houses, resulting in layoffs.
Sure, let’s give them a gift—our heartfelt appreciation, our prayers, and mostly, our blood, sweat, and tears as we pour our souls out on the printed (or digital) page! Every word we write at the Spirit’s promptings can be a gift of laughter, romance, warmth, welcome distraction or uplift. That’s the gift that keeps on giving!
The poet is a a believer! Good to read this one. The finished work of Calvary, paying a debt He did not owe of the debt I could not pay.
“Plus les choses changment, c’est plus elles restent les memes.” (without the French accents)
Let’s be clear that the average income of book authors is nowhere close to $62,000 per year. I did an analysis a few years ago to compute the distribution of income for all authors published on Amazon. The results were shockingly low. The average writer who is published on Amazon was earning at that time about $3,900 per year. Yes, really.
But it gets worse. The distribution of income is highly inequitable, with a very few big winners and a very large number who earn very little. That writer earning the average of $3900 per year was still doing very well compared to the masses–that author was at the 89th percentile, meaning that 89 percent of writers did worse and only 11 percent did better.
A much better measure of typical income is the median, not the average. The median author income at the time I did the analysis was about $1100 per year. No, I am not missing any zeros. Just over a thousand bucks a year. And the definition of the median is that half of all authors earn less than $1100 per year, and the other half earn more.
Please note, these are not wannabe writers. These are those writers successful enough to have books actually published on Amazon. Also note that things have gotten more competitive since the time I did the analysis.
I appreciate your blog post, Tamela! I looked beyond the word “Stranger” and focused on Gifts. Prayer is a gift. According to Gary Chapman’s lovely book, “The Five Love Languages,” he talks about how a gift, like a symbol, does not have to cost money. Dr. Chapman also writes about the gift of “self” or “presence,” which made me think about the role of a literary agent, pouring their time and presence into a book project- a blessing.
Gifts? Oh my! I did not know this was a “thing.” Giveaways, yes, but gifts… As always, I appreciate your wise words. In reality, I think the best gift I can give is my work, and the encouragement and laughter it brings. 🙂
I don’t recall the source, but the most recent figure I read was only two percent of writers on the planet earn a living with writing. Another point is whether a writer’s time value was considered along with material costs of writing/publishing. If it is, most writers probably would have zero income and be deeply in debt.