Writers are loaded! by Abie Longstaff

One of the most frustrating things about being a published author is that, for some reason, everyone is under the illusion I make lots of money:
My friends think the drinks are on me.My ex-husband's lawyers claim I must be sitting on a secret fortune.And schools just can't understand why I should charge for doing book readings or running writing workshops.

Where does this myth come from? JK Rowling? Media quotes of 'six figure advances'? The reality of an author's life is very, very different. Most authors I know have day jobs or spouses to supplement their income. I work three and a half days a week to allow me to write and if I tried to live on my writing income alone I would starve.

The truth is that this year I technically made a tax loss. How? Well, when a book sells for £5.99 we authors don't get £5.99. No siree. We probably get around 20 pence. Yep. 20 whole pence. And when my book is read on Cbeebies I get the princely sum of…wait for it…£9.82. To offset these riches I have a lot of expenses: I work at home so there is my electricity and heating, my stationary, my stamps, my travel and my laptop. Even if a book sells relatively well all of these factors can easily combine to result in a tax loss.

On top of being modestly paid, writing is a notoriously fragile industry. One year a publisher may love your quirky style, another year you may find your voice 'doesn't fit' with their list. And we have all heard the horror stories of having a book lined up, agreed and ready to go, only to have it pulled at the last minute. Or the book that was due out in 2011 but was pushed back to 2015 to fit in with other publications.
So no, we don't do this job for the money or the glamour. 
Personally speaking, I write because I love it. I write because something in me makes me desperate to do it. And I write because children like my books.

So when I get a cheque for my public lending right, instead of focusing on the low income, I try to delight in just how many children borrowed my book from their local library and snuggled up with their mum or dad to read it.