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Let's Talk About Money

I’m going to do something that the publishing industry rarely does and that writers are often too embarrassed to do: talk about money.

When I tell people I’m a writer, most people assume you are doing it for living, without realising how hard it is to make a typical UK wage of £25,000. This is because the only time most people hear about writers, it is about successful writers who have sold millions of books. The public doesn’t know that 50% of all income from books is earned by 1% of the total number of writers, or that the majority of writers earn under £5,000k a year.

In actual fact, it is almost impossible, or at least unlikely, if you’re a published author that you’ll earn even a modest £25k a year. On a typical publishing deal this would mean you’d have to sell about 50,000 copies of your book per year. And that almost never happens to non-celebrity writers. And even if you did manage it one year, the good news is you’ve got to do it again next year and the year after that etc etc. And even if you do manage it, you’re still only earning £25,000 per year, which is hardly living high on the hog.

After having two books published via the traditional route, I realised the folly of thinking I could be a writer for a living by doing it the normal way. So I set up Head Publishing to publish all my future work. Within two months of publishing the first trilogy, I’d earned more than in two years with a publisher. And now, three and a half years later, my income, though it does fluctuate, has been 30k - 36k per year. I have 14 novels in print with the 15th due out in August. I make £4.50 per paperback profit if I sell them direct from my website - which is thankfully where 80% of sales happen. On top of that you’ve got Amazon and retail store sales and Kindle too of course. Kindle sales seem to be falling and paperbacks rising right now, which is good news for my bank balance.

This happened because I soon realised earning a living as a writer is a numbers game. The more books you had out, the more money you’d make, as long as your books had an audience, of course.

The publishing industry notoriously thinks talking about money is crude, base or common and rather wishes authors wouldn’t do so. It’s all about the art, darling, they say whilst earning themselves a living off the back of the writers and denying most of them the same privilege in doing so. And of course, it is about the art - but how can you make your art when you can’t make any money to pay your bills? Making a modest living from your profession isn’t too much to ask, in my view.

I’ve always worked for myself, so running a business is second nature to me. But all running a publishing company entails really is paying an editor, a proofreader and a printer. That’s it. Beyond that it’s all about how much effort you can put into marketing. Most publishers will do a little publicity for you, for a month or two and then it’s all up to you, regardless. I am lucky in that I can surround myself with fabulously creative, talented people who can edit and design the books, put them online, on my website, on Amazon etc. But there are plenty of people working freelance who can do likewise.

I know not everyone is bothered about earning a living from their writing. Fair enough. But I am deadly serious about it. I have no wish to be wealthy, all I want to do is live modestly, pay my bills and sit and write every day of my life until I cark it. I love writing with a ridiculous passion which burns brighter every day.  So I went about the whole business in a deliberately commercial way. It is hard work - the business and marketing mind tends to stop the creative head from functioning - but it is possible.

My next step is to be able to afford to pay someone to generate publicity and PR, just to get my work more widely known. I also do freelance work and occasional speaking gigs in libraries etc. This all helps top up your income. The more things you do, the more you tend to get offered.

As I say, it is hard work and you do have to be determined and work long days, every day. I typically do a 13-hour day. I start writing at 9.00am and go on to 10.30 most days. I don’t believe you can be a normal member of society and be a seriously committed writer. There’s no sitting and watching TV, or going to the pub or having long holidays. Not if you want to make a living at it. If that sounds scary, then it is meant to be. If you’re going to do this, it is a long and ceaseless haul and it will never stop. It’s not a job, it really is a vocation or calling. It must feel compelling, because if it doesn’t, you just won’t stick at it long enough to make yourself a living. You just won’t.

But making a half decent living is possible and I can think of no finer way of doing it than writing stories that people enjoy and return to, book after book. So go on then, go and do it!

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Let's Talk About Money