Ahoy

THE dream job for UK adults is writer.

It tops entrepreneur, property developer and actor. Then comes author, followed by business person, hotel/b&b owner, medical professional, environmentalist and financial services professional.

Wow, I thought. I’m in it twice – as writer and author and I’m still skint.

Of course that’s relative. I’ve made my living writing in journalism all my life, as a reporter and columnist, and made a few quid from my first half dozen books, but I’m not J K Rowling. No-one is.

The Harry Potter author earns £71 million a year, according to online book retailer Wordery. They break that down to £195,000 a day, £8,132 an hour or £136 per minute.

Let me be honest, that’s a bit better than Examiner rates.

Rowling is the best paid author in the world, with much of her money coming from film and marketing rights. But for most wordsmiths, it’s hard to make a living. In the UK, the top 1% of authors account for nearly a third of all book sales. In the era of e-books, publishers often go for the safe bet of celebrity writers and established best selling authors for a guaranteed return. Unknowns struggle and accordingly, only one in 10 writers earn the minimum wage.

Yet it is an enduring ambition to want to write. In a YouGov poll in 2015, 60% said they would like to make a living from writing.

Showing a sense of irony, the Society of Authors wrote in response: “So would we.”

These days, people can become self-published authors through Amazon and Kindle. All you need is hard work. It takes a lot of effort to turn out 100,000 words but it’s great to have your own book on your shelf alongside J K Rowling.

Writing is fun and rewarding and everybody has a story to tell. But if you want to make more money, it might be better to consider running a b&b.