In Episode 43, we discuss the answers to four big questions about writers and money:
- What is a writer? (No joke – this wasn’t an easy one.)
- How/where do they make money?
- How much money do they make?
- Why are we talking about any of this?
This episode is a starting point from what we found out from our initial research – the knowledge base from which we start this Season 2 on money and writing and day jobs and quitting day jobs. In some cases, we talk about how hard it is to find answers – but even where there are no quick answers, we fill you in on the current debate in the writing and publishing world.
You’ll see that we have so many links in the show notes, so if you have time only to look at a few things we mention, here are our Top 5:
- Authors Licensing and Collecting Society 2018 survey
- This super-helpful Jane Friedman piece from 2018 about the issues with these income surveys
- The Tayari Jones interview for Authors Guild
- The Billfold post about how writing is not a job, and this response to it by Lincoln Michel
- Authors Guild Wages of Writing report for 2015
(Technically, that’s 6 – sorry.)
(Also, sorry for the bad quality of Olivia’s sound – it was a mic malfunction, which we will fix next week.)
You can listen to the episode right here on this page, or get Marginally on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, or wherever get your podcasts.
As always, we’d love for you to take a minute to rate and review us in your podcast app, as this helps other listeners find the show.
Check us out on social media:
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- Olivia is on Twitter (@roamingolivia), Facebook and has a TinyLetter (@roamingolivia).
- Meghan is on Twitter (@meghanembee).
You can listen right here on this page, or get Marginally on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, or wherever get your podcasts.
As always, we’d love for you to take a minute to rate and review us in your podcast app, as this helps other listeners find the show.
Theme music is “It’s Time” by Scaricá Ricascá.
In this episode
Authors Licensing and Collecting Society 2018 survey
A Guardian report about the earlier ALCS survey
Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment Statistics – Writers and authors category
BLS Independent Artists, Writers, and Performers industry statistics
BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook – writers and authors
Writers’ Guild of Great Britain
Society of Professional Journalists
American Society of Journalists and Authors
Jane Friedman piece about income surveys
Episode 40 from August with KJ Dell’Antonia
Her book How To Be a Happier Parent
Jane Friedman again (“industry insiders” estimate 70% don’t earn out advance)
Houston Chronicle on authors’ salaries
Olivia’s book Understanding and Addressing Suicide Attacks
Tayari Jones interview for Authors Guild
Tayari Jones’s book An American Marriage – just longlisted for National Book Award!
BLS stats on postsecondary teachers
The crisis in adjunct benefits and wages – here and here
Billfold post about making more money publicizing the book than from writing the book itself
Laura Vanderkam on getting paid more and working less
The Billfold – how much freelancers make and writing is not a job
Response to this is the Billfold piece by Lincoln Michel (including how the genre world pays more)
Will Self talking about how the novel is doomed because his advances have fallen – in 2014 and again in 2018
Jonathan Franzen talking about doing less publicity
Oprah-Jonathan Franzen feud (beginning and how they made up over Freedom)
Tana French (and a New Yorker piece about her)
Manjula Martin and her book Scratch
n+1 editorial about how small magazines suffer from things like Who Pays Writers?
Author Earnings survey & results
Authors Guild Wages of Writing report for 2015
Episode 33 interview with publicist and poet Abigail Wellhouse