Did you read the article on Sky News on 11th May, titled I’m a literary agent – here’s what makes me sign a writer instantly and what most authors actually earn? It mentioned that the average salary of UK authors is around £4000 a year. Pretty depressing, huh? No wonder the majority of us have day jobs, or are writing after retirement, funding a literary lifestyle with a hard-earned pension, accrued from a lifetime of non-creative writing work. I’ve heard it said that some people consider creative writing a privilege not a profession and I wonder if that is part of the issue?

Anyway, the figure of £4000 prompted me to do a quick search, just to see if there was any more data to explain the figure. I didn’t find any sources to support that number, so it seems that was from the literary agent’s own experience. Instead, my general search suggested an average salary of around £7000 for UK author’s earnings. This is the same amount I found back in 2023 when I was looking into the topic for an earlier blog post, What percentage of authors make a full time living from it? Hmm. I can’t think of too many writers who could get by on that kind of money when rent and mortgage rates are at an all time high, and we’re in the midst of a cost of living crisis.

Speaking of a living wage for authors, this article on the BBC back in January, Should artists get a basic wage like they do in Ireland? If this fund were to apply to creative writers, of course I’d say yes; but then again, I have a vested interest, don’t I?

Well, let’s get objective then. Supposing funding for writers became more widely available for individuals. Wouldn’t there be more diversity of voices and stories, and ultimately a wider variety of literature from authors from all walks of life, rather than what currently checks the right boxes for the current market (which in my opinion often gets it wrong, or simply plays it too safe). If such a writing fund became available (btw, don’t even mention Arts Council funding to me, funding for individuals has been closed here in Northern Ireland since COVID), writers would be able to reduce their day work to part-time hours and spend more time writing. More writing time would mean more books produced.

As for me? Well, I get paid peanuts… oops! I meant royalties! What does that mean? Well, for example, my hardcovers sell quite well at £18.99 per copy, of which I get paid £1.90 or so a copy. Making a living from it? Writers get paid royalties which can sometimes mean as little as 10% of the retail price. Even if you aren’t good at Maths you can still pretty much understand that you’d have to sell tens of thousands of books to make a living from it.

Ah! An author can dream…

Posted by on May 23, 2026 in Writing and tagged , , , , .

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About Leilanie Stewart

Leilanie Stewart is an award-winning author and poet from Belfast, Northern Ireland. She writes ghost and psychological horror, as well as experimental poetry. Her writing confronts the nature of self; her novels feature main characters on a dark psychological journey who have a crisis and create a new sense of identity. She began writing for publication while working as an English teacher in Japan, a career pathway that has influenced themes in her writing. Her former career as an Archaeologist has also inspired her writing and she has incorporated elements of archaeology and mythology into both her fiction and poetry. In addition to promoting her own work, Leilanie runs Bindweed Anthologies, a creative writing publication with her writer husband, Joseph Robert. Aside from publishing pursuits, Leilanie enjoys spending time with her husband and their lively literary lad, a voracious reader of sea monster books.

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