Writers’ earnings have plummeted – with women, Black and mixed race authors worst hit

The writing profession is ‘characterised by winner-takes-all dynamics’ says the ALCS report. Photograph: ijeab/Getty Images/iStockphoto

There are “serious questions about the sustainability of the writing profession in the UK” and “substantial inequalities between those who are being adequately rewarded for their writing, and those who are not”, new research has found.

The report, commissioned by the UK Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS) and carried out by the UK Copyright and Creative Economy Research Centre (CREATe) based at the University of Glasgow, found that professional authors are earning a median of just £7,000 a year.