Writing & Publishing

The Authors Guild's 2018 Author Income Survey of 5,067 authors found median author income fell 42% over the prior decade, dropping from $10,500 in 2009 to just $6,080 in 2017. Book-only income fell over 50% in the same period, from $6,250 to $3,100. Even full-time book authors earned a median of only $20,300 -- well below the federal poverty line for a family of three. Writers of literary fiction experienced the steepest recent decline: 27% since 2013.

The 2023 Authors Guild survey of 5,699 published authors found the median book income for all authors was just $2,000 in 2022, with total author-related income at $5,000. Full-time authors fared somewhat better at $10,000 median book income and $20,000 total. The survey also revealed stark racial disparities: Black authors' median book earnings were $2,412 compared to $10,985 for white authors -- a gap of nearly 80%.

Writer earnings in film and television plunged 32% during 2023 due to both the five-month WGA/SAG-AFTRA strike and industry contraction. Employment among WGA writers fell 19.5% to only 5,501 writers -- the lowest count since 2014. The TV business itself shrank 14%, from 600 shows in 2022 to 516 in 2023. Meanwhile, median screenwriter pay had already been stagnant since 2018, representing an inflation-adjusted decline of 14%, and half of all TV series writers were being paid at WGA minimum rates.

PEN America's 2023 Manifesto on Literary Translation -- a landmark update to their 1969 bill of rights -- documented that translators remain 'underpaid, often absent from book covers, and regarded as adjuncts to literary production.' Survey data cited in the manifesto revealed that 83% of literary translators identify as white, with only 2% identifying as Black, underscoring deep racial inequities in access to the profession. Most publishers do not prioritize promotion of texts in translation, perpetuating a cycle of low print runs, poor sales, and narrow readership. The manifesto called for universities to stop undervaluing literary translation as scholarship, for publishers to credit translators on covers, and for the field to address historic racial and gender exclusions that limit who can afford to work in an already poverty-wage profession.

Playwright commission fees typically range from $3,000-$5,000 for developing writers, and few playwrights earn a full-time living from dramatic work alone. The crisis deepened in 2023-2024 as regional theaters closed at a rate of 2-3 per month, including venues in Chicago, Seattle, Greensboro, and Maryland. Non-profit theaters surveyed by the New York Times expected to reduce programming by an average of 20% in the 2024 season. North Carolina Theatre closed permanently, and pandemic-era relief funding ran out, with institutional support expected to keep declining.

The DOJ successfully blocked the $2.75 billion Penguin Random House-Simon & Schuster merger, arguing the combined entity would command 49% of the market and drive down author advances. Judge Pan cited risks of "coordinated effects" and referenced the 2012 Apple e-book collusion case. Federal officials demonstrated the merger would "lessen competition" for book rights, resulting in fewer books published and less variety for consumers. The publishing industry had already consolidated from dozens of major houses to the "Big Five" with minimal government interference.

NPR documented a surge of AI-generated 'scam' books flooding Amazon's marketplace, with copycat titles appearing within days of legitimate releases. Author Marie Arana found an AI-generated lookalike of her book LatinoLand on Amazon the day after its release, while Kara Swisher's 'Burn Book' was immediately surrounded by AI-generated biographies with similar covers. Draft2Digital reported 2024 publishing volumes running approximately 50% higher than usual, driven largely by AI-generated manuscripts. Amazon responded by requiring AI disclosure on Kindle Direct Publishing and limiting authors to three new titles per day, but the flood of low-quality AI content continues to bury legitimate authors in search results and cannibalize their sales.

Amazon controls an estimated 70%+ of the U.S. print book market and 67% of e-book sales, functioning as a near-monopoly gatekeeper for author discoverability. From 1995 to 2022, independent bookstore locations declined by 64.2%. Amazon has used books as loss leaders for over two decades to capture market share, while its dominance forces publishers to accept terms that result in lower royalties and advances for authors -- including the controversial 25% of net e-book royalty rate that the Authors Guild has called inadequate.

PEN America's Freedom to Write Index 2024 documented at least 375 writers imprisoned in 40 countries worldwide -- the highest number of countries recorded in the Index's six-year history, up from 339 writers in 2023. China remains the world's top jailer with 118 writers behind bars, followed by Iran (43) and Saudi Arabia (23). Asia-Pacific and the Middle East/North Africa regions together account for 76% of all imprisoned writers globally. The number of imprisoned women writers rose to 59 (16% of total), up from 51 in 2023. Online commentators accounted for 203 of those jailed, while 127 journalists were imprisoned for their work. The count has risen every year since the Index began, from 238 in 2019 to 375 in 2024, revealing an accelerating global crackdown on literary and journalistic expression.