Turning words into cash

Kerching or Not Kerching?

For Charles Dickens who famously experienced child poverty, writing for money was everything. In his time, he capitalised on the serial publication of instalments of his novels and did readings to theatre crowds. Kerching!

Today it is still possible to earn significant income from writing but many writers, even established ones, are likely to have a portfolio of income to support them with their mortgage or rental payments.

In our dreams, of course, we entertain amazing up-front payments against future royalties from a major publishing house etc., like the Obamas who got around £45m for two books.

Most writers receive more modest amounts. If you are lucky to get an upfront payment as a first-time author this could be anything for a few thousand to tens of thousands of pounds. But there will be so many factors here that it is hard to predict what this might be with any given publishing deal. Also, you will need to factor in 10-15% fees to a literary agent, if you have one!

In fiction, romance, mystery, thriller, science fiction, and fantasy books can pull in the dollars. In non-fiction, self-help, business and 'how to' books can bring decent remuneration. Even so, the main thing is writing well regardless of genre or category.

Royalties

With the huge number of books coming out and the risk that these creative works may not sell, royalties can be more modest than you expect. Royalties fall into “retail royalties”, a percentage of the retail value or more commonly “net sale royalties” where discounts to booksellers are factored in.

Royalties paid on retail price will tend to be 10-15% (hard cover) and 5-7.5% (paperback).

Royalties paid on net sales will be higher at between 16%-26% to offset discounting.

Royalties may also increase (escalate) depending on overall sales. So, they may be higher say after the first 5000 sales etc. and so on.

Independent publishers may work differently, notably with a profit-sharing approach once all costs are covered with a percentage paid in the 40-60% range.

Depending on contracts, subsidiary rights may also generate income for different book formats, e.g. audio books etc.

Public Lending Rights (PLR)

We all love libraries, right? For writers they can be like shadow bookshops generating income if regularly loaned.

Published authors, illustrators, editors, translators or audiobook narrators can register with PLR to use its acronym and receive money from library loans of your writing. This can be up to a maximum of £6,600 per year if you register for PLR the UK. There are over 60,000 book contributors who already benefit from this scheme.

To register, you need to be named on a book’s title page (the book must have an ISBN) or be entitled to a royalty payment from the publisher. And your main home needs to be in the UK.

If eligible you can register all the books you've contributed to!

Author Licensing & Collecting Society (ALCS)

ALCS helps writers to receive as much income as possible from the copying of their work.

As with PLR, you can register with ALCS, provide details of your various publications, whether that is books, book chapters, poetry, journal papers etc.

ALCS collect money from around the world and pay out to your registered bank account twice a year!

Their website outlines how, since 1977, they’ve paid members more than £700 million.

Society of Authors

If you are a published author, you can apply to become a member of the Society of Authors. The great thing with joining the society is that it includes membership for ALCS (see above) at the same time! There is an annual membership fee which can be set against any tax you need to pay from writing!

As part of the membership, you will also received copies of the society’s magazine with all kinds of useful information in there about different kinds of writing and the world of publication.

SoA also provides access to a wide range of benefits, not least advice on professional issues, checking contracts, and a discount when buying books!

Speaking Fees

When people write, they don’t always think about additional income from speaking. Yet speaking about what you write or on topics you are expert in, professionally or through lived experience, can pay out!

For example, if you are a prominent academic writer, you may get quite substantial speaking fees for delivering a keynote lecture at conferences. Often this will include travel and accommodation expenses too!

My latest novel, The Wonders of Doctor Bent is already yielding invitations for paid talks!

Side Hustles

You don’t have to be a journalist to write for leading newspapers and magazines.

Many writers will mix and match between their core writing and penning news, opinion pieces or features. This can be remunerative, especially if you get a regular column offer!

Depending on the newspaper this could be anything from £100-£1000 per thousand words. Different payments may apply to particular kinds of report or feature.

Again, there are numerous magazines that will pay for your words from a few tens of pounds to £1000 with bigger ones such as New Yorker, Outside, Vogue paying substantially more.

Check out rates with the National Union of Journalists.

Beyond newspapers and magazines, you may want to explore other income through writing copy for businesses or marketing, or specialist writing for organisations.

I was once offered a job writing crosswords!

The Silver Screen Turns Gold

Having your writing get to film can be highly remunerative, depending on the deal struck. Yet there is no typical deal. It will tend to be low single figure percentages of the production budget. So let’s say if 2%, then a £1m production budget would yield £20,000. A £100m budget would bring £2m (before tax)!

A film deal can arise from fiction and non-fiction. Film and documentaries based on your writing can certainly pay out but there will likely be great variation in what writers can attract for all kinds of reasons.

My advice would be to alert an established literary agent should you get a bite here. Check out The Writers & Artists Yearbook for a list of these. They are best placed to maximize income in any deal.

Also keep in mind that the film business is very up and down, with production of films being notoriously tricky. Not every film that glitters is gold. Not every film gets made after going into production.

My first novel, Nothing Purple, Nothing Black was down for film with British producer Jack Emery at The Drama House until he became seriously ill and his company folded. I am hoping my latest novel, The Wonders of Doctor Bent will get picked up for Netflix!

Merch

You don’t have to enter a Harry Potter shop or theme park to realise that merch attaches to all kinds of books and the spin offs can proliferate before your eyes.

Clearly some kinds of writing may stack up in this exciting world of super income but don’t get carried away. Manifest all you wish but very little published writing takes off in this way. However, it can be nice dreaming!

Other Kinds of Benefit

Payments for different kinds of writing work can accumulate quite nicely. Not every benefit from writing comes as direct money in royalties or from PLR and ALCS. It is wise to bear this in mind, especially if you are planning to self-publish at some cost. Investing in your own writing can be a savvy move as publishing can raise your general profile.

If you are entering an academic career, writing research papers, books, chapters and so forth will be expected of you as a condition of employment. The more you succeed in publishing your research, the more likely you will gain promotion, and indirectly increase your income through writing.

All kinds of writing can bring additional exposure and opportunities in the world of social media, television and film etc. You may also accrue additional income from giving paid talks or from paid commissions based on the notice earlier work provides.

Tax and Accounts

It is only when you earn a bag load of money from writing that you need to pay tax right? No. If you pay tax you will need to register in the UK with HM Revenues & Customs as a ‘sole trader’ if you earn more than £1,000 in any tax year from your writing (that is from 6 April to 5 April).

Once registered you will need to submit annual self-assessments of your income from writing set against your expenses.

If you are not great with completing a self-assessment form each year, you may wish to consider hiring an accountant to do this for you.

Having an accountant really helps to keep on top of tricky tax rules. They can guide you on what can be claimed in expenses set against your income. For a start, paying each year for an accountant to do your tax returns is an expense!

Other appropriate expense claims will be for things like a proportion of energy bills for the room you use for writing, stationery, postage, Wi-Fi, phone bills, travel, subs for professional organisations and so forth.

The Grim Reaper

In the UK, an author's works stops being a ‘cash cow’ for the writer’s family 70 years after their death. So, there is plenty of time for money resulting from your writing to help loved ones after you have gone!

What do you need to do to protect post-death income? I would start by discussing this with a probate solicitor or a solicitor specializing in wills, trusts and estates.

Paul Crawford’s latest novel,The Wonders of Doctor Bent is available at Amazon, Waterstones, WHSmith, Foyles, Cranthorpe Millner, and all good bookshops. Author website: www.paulcrawfordauthor.com