Income for US authors falls below federal poverty line – survey

Authors Guild says median income for members has fallen 24% in five years, with piracy, Amazon and publishing economies contributing to slump in earningsThe earnings of more than half of American authors fell below the US federal poverty level last year, according to a survey from the Authors Guild.Analysing responses from 1,674 authors in its first survey since 2009, the US organisation found that the median income from writing for an American author in 2014 was $8,000, down 24% from $10,500 six years ago. The majority (56%) of writers, it said, earned less from all of their writing-related activities than the $11,670 judged in 2014 to have been the minimum income needed by a one-person household in the US. Related: Amazon's 'pay-per-page' plan could alter writing as well as royalties Related: Literary launches: how crowdfunding is fuelling the avant garde Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2015-09-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Margaret Atwood among thousands of authors demanding compensation from AI companies

Margaret Atwood, James Patterson and Suzanne Collins are among thousands of writers endorsing an open letter from the Authors Guild urging AI companies to obtain permission before incorporating copyrighted work into their technologies. ... Continue reading at CBC

[ CBC | 2023-07-18 21:52:26 UTC ]
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‘There’s an industry-wide mental health crisis’: authors and publishers on why the books sector needs to change

After a survey revealed the stresses that authors face when placed in the spotlight for the first time, publishing houses and industry bodies have pledged extra training and pastoral careAuthor and publisher welfare has been a hot topic in the books industry of late. Publishing houses, trade... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-07-18 15:13:43 UTC ]
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Authors Join the Brewing Legal Battle Over AI

Two new class action copyright lawsuits ramp up the growing scrutiny of large language models and other generative artificial intelligence tools. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-07-14 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Print Book Sales Improve, Falling Only 1.6% Last Week

A flat sales performance by the adult category and smaller declines in the children’s segments than has been typical in recent weeks resulted in a smaller decline in total unit sales of print books last week. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-07-13 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Gallery Books Will Publish Britney Spears's Memoir This Fall

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-07-12 04:00:00 UTC ]
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YA author shoots to No 1 on Amazon bestseller list after viral TikTok video

TikToker Jerrad Swearenjin approached Shawn Warner during a book signing because he looked ‘super defeated’A debut author struggling with sales became Amazon’s No 1 bestseller this week after a video of the writer at a quiet book signing went viral on TikTok.58-year-old Shawn Warner was sitting... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-07-07 13:47:16 UTC ]
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Blurred Lines: A Reading List of Metafiction

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Authors file a lawsuit against OpenAI for unlawfully ‘ingesting’ their books

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[ The Guardian | 2023-07-05 14:33:31 UTC ]
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Bestselling authors Mona Awad and Paul Tremblay sue OpenAI over copyright infringement

Two bestselling novelists filed a suit against OpenAI, claiming the company used intellectual property to 'train' its artificial intelligence chatbot. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-07-01 14:28:47 UTC ]
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Authors leave Hungarian publisher in protest at sale to Orbán-linked college

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[ The Guardian | 2023-06-23 11:38:44 UTC ]
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This Bestselling Author Says Publishers Rejected His New Thriller Because He’s White. I Read It, and I’m Not So Sure.

If you believe that the role of a novel is to instruct readers on correct moral positions, then Trial is a masterpiece. Continue reading at Slate

[ Slate | 2023-06-20 16:38:36 UTC ]
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Authors of ‘And Tango Makes Three’ Sue Over Florida Law Driving Book Bans

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[ The New York Times | 2023-06-20 14:25:50 UTC ]
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Queer Indie Bookstore Splits Profits with LGBTQ Authors

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-06-16 04:00:00 UTC ]
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[ Book Riot | 2023-06-13 20:12:27 UTC ]
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[ Engadget | 2023-06-12 10:55:39 UTC ]
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[ The New York Times | 2023-06-02 09:00:39 UTC ]
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Authors Guild Issues Contract Clause Changes to Account for AI

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-06-02 04:00:00 UTC ]
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[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-06-02 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Amis, Hitchens and Larkin: bad behaviour and a messy personal life were once a gift for authors. Not any more | Martha Gill

Flaws used to feed their sales but now writers are expected to be saints‘As you get older you realise that all these things – prizes, reviews, advances, readers – it’s all showbiz, and the real action starts with your obituary.”Martin Amis first started spinning in favour of his future... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-05-27 17:31:09 UTC ]
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