tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post6121159609455939418..comments2024-03-25T09:56:16.164+00:00Comments on An Awfully Big Blog Adventure: How much do you earn? by Dawn FinchUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-41410367578513260112018-03-09T06:13:28.965+00:002018-03-09T06:13:28.965+00:00Dawn what a brilliant piece. I'm afraid I don&...Dawn what a brilliant piece. I'm afraid I don't even make near that 11K mark and I bring out on average 2 picture books a year and have been an author for 30 years! And yes I've filled in that form... the final stats on authors' earnings should be very interesting and somewhat depressing!<br />Dianne Hofmeyrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18222157214605257030noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-42022704892988363662018-03-08T16:02:54.619+00:002018-03-08T16:02:54.619+00:00Great piece Dawn, I think the system is basically ...Great piece Dawn, I think the system is basically broken and the only way for an author to make a living is to become their own publisher. As you say, the big publishers put no marketing input into new titles and rely on the author doing what was once their job. We may as well do it for ourselves. But it is extremely hard work and , as you say, leaves no time for writing.<br /><br />The big problem is that there are far to many really good writers and illustrators in the wold producing far too many books. The publishers know this and so does Amazon and so, in a buyers world (Amazon's and Publishers'), they can drive the price of their raw materials down to rock bottom. Unfortunately, there is a limitless supply of potential authors desperate to get published at any cost.<br /><br />This is not going to change. <br /><br />Meantime, Publishing has gone corporate and a corporation has only one duty, to return a profit to the shareholders... by any means. The people you deal with at the publishers are lovely and want to help, but the corporation has only one mind.<br /><br />Once, publishers and authors were partners in a project and often in a career. Now an author is merely a supplier. The only way to be a preferred supplier, is to have no writing skills but bring a successful brand name to a project - any old hack can knock up the writing for you. <br /><br />The answer is to become famous - or infamous - for something or nothing, and don't waste your time writing... outsource it!Shoo Raynerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14284062477047612925noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-49278833715553840582018-03-08T09:09:31.242+00:002018-03-08T09:09:31.242+00:00Thank you for this, Dawn. Your expertise as an aut...Thank you for this, Dawn. Your expertise as an author & librarian is very much valued. Wicked that, like printed words, expertise has so little monetary value in our materialist world.Rowena Househttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11548957772863528477noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-67709418103614024642018-03-08T08:46:14.752+00:002018-03-08T08:46:14.752+00:00Great piece, a lot of this chimes with my own conc...Great piece, a lot of this chimes with my own concerns about the British market. Thank you.Clémentine Beauvaishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03115567199751033932noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-91057228174023782152018-03-07T20:37:36.686+00:002018-03-07T20:37:36.686+00:00I am so depressed by all this. There has just been...I am so depressed by all this. There has just been a big concert here - a "big" name - and people were paying huge sums of money for a few hours entertainment one evening. I heard the check out girls in the supermarket discussing it and saying they "couldn't wait" to get there. <br />Yes, they will have the memory. If they also spent the same equivalent on books they would have the books for a lifetime. catdownunderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08189081688973141295noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-12189884492869906602018-03-07T16:52:59.647+00:002018-03-07T16:52:59.647+00:00You are almost right about the current situation w...You are almost right about the current situation with PLR, Penny, but the outlook is even worse in the long term. Libraries that are handed over to volunteers by local authorities no longer form part of the statutory provision and that means that none of their data feeds into PLR. It doesn't matter if they have new or old books, in PLR terms volunteer libraries don't exist.<br />This also has an even bigger impact on the book world, because local authorities are still claiming that they have these libraries open, but are recording no lending or usage data from them. This means that it looks as if library use in the local authority is catastrophically falling when people are using volunteer ones. They become a kind of ghost library - existing but generating no issue figures and no foot-traffic data.Dawn McLachlanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16806534007750892638noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-57986718693286709162018-03-07T15:45:08.360+00:002018-03-07T15:45:08.360+00:00Unfortunately, with the gradual demise of the publ...Unfortunately, with the gradual demise of the public libraries and their book-buying, the PLR will get less and less. The PLR system doesn't apply - or so I believe - when community libraries are stocked with donated & second-hand books, only when still book-resourced by their local library service.Penny Dolanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16386668303428008498noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-25169001810696843752018-03-07T13:51:03.914+00:002018-03-07T13:51:03.914+00:00It's a scandal when PLR and ALCS make more for...It's a scandal when PLR and ALCS make more for authors than the book deal. This has happened with all of my books and why I've decided to self published some. One of which has sold more in one month than a traditionally published book did it six months. Lynne Garnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05697330164705623835noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-26376161263459677312018-03-07T11:26:30.272+00:002018-03-07T11:26:30.272+00:00My experience too, Dawn - that's why I started...My experience too, Dawn - that's why I started self-publishing. Thank you for sharing. Jenny Alexanderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01115994921406734938noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-86772094900837009502018-03-07T11:20:49.640+00:002018-03-07T11:20:49.640+00:00Well said and well written, Dawn! Thank you for sp...Well said and well written, Dawn! Thank you for spreading some of these unwelcome facts. I hope that all sorts of people are taking note.Penny Dolanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16386668303428008498noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-40155866754663160212018-03-07T11:16:26.517+00:002018-03-07T11:16:26.517+00:00Great piece, Dawn - many of us have had the same e...Great piece, Dawn - many of us have had the same experiences - it's all horribly familiar!Sue Purkisshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09084528571944803477noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-28304712838442738612018-03-07T10:24:59.575+00:002018-03-07T10:24:59.575+00:00I do hope that mainstreams will tackle this, but t...I do hope that mainstreams will tackle this, but they might be too late. Indies are already putting out some of the best new books. Look at publishers like Flying Eye - gorgeous books that are tactile and high-quality and award-winning. I have two amazing new books sitting on my desk from Greystones Press including Katherine Roberts historical novel about Genghis Khan. I fear that this is exactly the kind of book that a mainstream would not take a risk on, and readers would have been denied it if it wasn’t for an indie. The list goes on. Every day I seen new authors and titles from interesting new presses, but the same old stuff from mainstreams. <br />If the big publishers don’t deal with this they could become the KFC of the book world, with the indies being that fantastic little gourmet place that you pay a little more for, but have a far more delicious experience!Dawn McLachlanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16806534007750892638noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-59053935330131582402018-03-07T10:17:55.126+00:002018-03-07T10:17:55.126+00:00I’ve had good experiences with small press. I reme...I’ve had good experiences with small press. I remember once having coffee with my then-publisher from a big publishing house(the poor woman was sacked before my book came out, not sure why, and they lied to her authors about it). She was a friend of my small press publisher and said, “We will never look after you as well as he will.”Sue Bursztynskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09362273418897882971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-80603912578686592162018-03-07T10:10:09.202+00:002018-03-07T10:10:09.202+00:00Well said, Dawn. There are many of us grappling wi...Well said, Dawn. There are many of us grappling with this dilemma. Katherine Langrishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12529700103932422873noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-79902704205593611952018-03-07T09:27:00.068+00:002018-03-07T09:27:00.068+00:00This was my experience too. Really depressing and ...This was my experience too. Really depressing and discouraging. The lack of marketing (which contracts say they will do) is frustrating. And the market is saturated anyway. But, like you say, authors can try other routes for your work. I decided there are so many other ways to enjoy writing and sharing what I write. It doesn't have to be the "big" publishers everyone has heard of. Good luck :)Hilary Hawkeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12573780178193323715noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-48671126676627318572018-03-07T08:34:12.382+00:002018-03-07T08:34:12.382+00:00Sigh! Been there, done that! The big publishers do...Sigh! Been there, done that! The big publishers don’t bother with you after your book is published. I didn’t know that or I would have worked more to promote my YA novel before it came out. They got me precisely ONE gig on a blog and a few - a very few - reviews. Most reviews were by people who owned the book already. <br /><br />Good luck with your reprint. Let us know how it goes. It can work - my small press publisher has been reprinting books by big name authors who, despite their popularity, had some books out of print. They are working very well, with lovely, fresh new covers and intros and a chance to rewrite bits. Small press is amazing! Sue Bursztynskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09362273418897882971noreply@blogger.com