Authors’ incomes hit by cuts to freelance journalism budgets

15.01.10 Benedicte Page in The Bookseller

Authors dealing with the challenge of lower advances are facing a second economic blow as freelance journalism takes a sustained hit.

With print publication budgets squeezed across the board due to the recession and free content online, fewer pieces are being commissioned and lower freelance rates are being offered, eroding an important second income for writers.

Mark Le Fanu, general secretary of the Society of Authors, said: “Ever since I can remember the best advice to an author is ‘Don’t give up the day job.’ Poets in particular have always relied heavily on reviewing, literary festivals and so on and there’s a whole range of ways in which authors survive. But the crisis in freelance journalism is having a major impact—papers are struggling and all the freelance work has been hammered. A lot of people are saying they are now writing for the same amount they did 10 years ago.”

One literary journalist, who preferred to remain anonymous, said: “Much more experienced reviewers than I can now no longer get commissioned anywhere. There is an increasing tendency in newspapers to get people inhouse to do things that used to be commissioned externally. And a lot of authors are quite retiring, whereas it’s necessary to be a bit shameless at milking contacts. You can’t afford to be English about it.”

Another journalist and author said that since rates were down by one-third, “that means I have to write three pieces where I used to write two.”

Author and SoA chairman Tom Holland said insecurity was part of the writer’s condition. “But if you find you’re not getting any commissions because everything is free and online, and you look at the example of the music industry, you’re bound to think: ‘Is it the miners’ canary? Is what’s happening to newspapers going to happen to books?’”

He added that there is “a remorseless process of attrition always. People are endlessly leaving and others are endlessly coming in and giving it another go.”