As a mum of four young people aged between 21 and 24, who need careers and homes but don't have wealth behind to help, I think this is a very justified argument. The only thing I would say, as a professional writer, is that many authors themselves are struggling and most of us don't feel included in the cult of the auteur that you cite at all. We do our best to thank everyone in the acknowledgements but I think it is important to acknowledge that the majority of us, also well educated, and even when working full time, still earn less than those we thank. I think perception of writers' earnings is slanted by big names and celebrity authors. The reluctance of the publishing industry to talk about salaries also includes what writers really earn, and there is so much emphasis on big publishing deals that 'the cult of the auteur' you cite, eclipses the reality of the author. We earn so little per year that there is also a real problem for working class and even lower middle class writers. Our union, The Society of Authors, says this https://societyofauthors.org/Where-We-Stand/fair-remuneration I think it is time for both writers and publishers to work together to create a fairer industry. I think you should talk to The Society of Authors about this too, and they would be very sympathetic.
Thanks Anne. I didn't intend to be flippant in my "cult of the auteur" comment, but I can see it could come across as such. I'm an author myself, or at least, I am almost one, so I am sympathetic to this argument. I would love for authors to work on this too – perhaps a minimum advance is something that could be discussed? I do intend to reach out to the Society of Authors too. I do all of this in my free time, so I am not as joined-up as I should be, but I'm trying. I talked a little more about "auteurism" in my earlier newsletter "what editing is".
I didn't take it as flippant at all, and am totally behind you in what you say. I think what worries me, as an author, is that there is a bit of a taboo about talking about earnings, and I know that people in general seem to think that authors earn so much more than they do, and I worried you did too. I have deleted some more comments and musings because I realised this is a public forum and the publishing world is a small one, but I think that talking to The Society of Authors and getting them behind you is a good idea. You are being really brave but you shouldn't have to do this on your own, and I'm sure there are organisations, even in publishing, who would want to stand with you on this, and I can tell you authors would definitely support you. This article is over 2 years old and The Society of Authors were talking about unfair distribution of profits even then: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/mar/05/philip-pullman-calls-for-authors-to-get-fairer-share-of-publisher-profits
As a mum of four young people aged between 21 and 24, who need careers and homes but don't have wealth behind to help, I think this is a very justified argument. The only thing I would say, as a professional writer, is that many authors themselves are struggling and most of us don't feel included in the cult of the auteur that you cite at all. We do our best to thank everyone in the acknowledgements but I think it is important to acknowledge that the majority of us, also well educated, and even when working full time, still earn less than those we thank. I think perception of writers' earnings is slanted by big names and celebrity authors. The reluctance of the publishing industry to talk about salaries also includes what writers really earn, and there is so much emphasis on big publishing deals that 'the cult of the auteur' you cite, eclipses the reality of the author. We earn so little per year that there is also a real problem for working class and even lower middle class writers. Our union, The Society of Authors, says this https://societyofauthors.org/Where-We-Stand/fair-remuneration I think it is time for both writers and publishers to work together to create a fairer industry. I think you should talk to The Society of Authors about this too, and they would be very sympathetic.
Thanks Anne. I didn't intend to be flippant in my "cult of the auteur" comment, but I can see it could come across as such. I'm an author myself, or at least, I am almost one, so I am sympathetic to this argument. I would love for authors to work on this too – perhaps a minimum advance is something that could be discussed? I do intend to reach out to the Society of Authors too. I do all of this in my free time, so I am not as joined-up as I should be, but I'm trying. I talked a little more about "auteurism" in my earlier newsletter "what editing is".
I didn't take it as flippant at all, and am totally behind you in what you say. I think what worries me, as an author, is that there is a bit of a taboo about talking about earnings, and I know that people in general seem to think that authors earn so much more than they do, and I worried you did too. I have deleted some more comments and musings because I realised this is a public forum and the publishing world is a small one, but I think that talking to The Society of Authors and getting them behind you is a good idea. You are being really brave but you shouldn't have to do this on your own, and I'm sure there are organisations, even in publishing, who would want to stand with you on this, and I can tell you authors would definitely support you. This article is over 2 years old and The Society of Authors were talking about unfair distribution of profits even then: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/mar/05/philip-pullman-calls-for-authors-to-get-fairer-share-of-publisher-profits
You could have been writing about me. Brilliant article, thank you.
Thank you for this.