There are some exceptions (e.g. J. K. Rowling, Stephen King), but generally fiction writers are not well paid. My research has shown that the average fiction writer in Canada earns about $500 a year in royalties. Since most writers earn less than $2.00 per book, it’s not surprising that the vast majority of Canadian writers have day jobs.
If you’re
interested in the income of writers, check out https://www.forbes.com/sites/natalierobehmed/2016/08/03/the-worlds-highest-paid-authors-2016-james-patterson-jeff-kinney-and-j-k-rowling-top-ranking/#4dd54eb711cc.
Of course,
even if writing only makes up a tiny fraction of income, it can still be a job
and should be treated as such. This is
the thesis of an article I read recently:
“No matter how many ‘death of the novel’ think pieces are published each
year, people still pay — in dollars or eyeballs — to read writing every day. If your writing is getting read, you should
expect to be paid, even if it isn’t enough to live off, entirely; hell, even if
it isn’t enough to pay your bar tab as you weep over your tiny royalty
statement. Writing is
a job, but will only remain one if we treat it as such” (https://electricliterature.com/yes-writing-is-a-job-even-if-it-doesnt-pay-well-b13bf4aa2e4e#.wcvyvpjvg).
I was
interested then in an infographic looking at the salaries of fictional
characters from famous British authors, adjusting the salaries of the character
jobs to 2017 British pounds: https://electricliterature.com/infographic-the-salaries-of-famous-fictional-characters-6d8c67324ff9#.mjhimeh2w.
(Currently, one Canadian dollar equals 0.61 British pound.)
It seems
that fictional characters might make more than their creators!
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