Things are looking bright at the moment — and not just the weather. People seem to be buying Burke and the War of 1812 and some have even been in touch to say how much they are enjoying it. Right now, being an author, even a not-particularly-well-known one, feels pretty good. And that’s important, because warm fuzzies are what writing brings, rather than any great material rewards. So now, warm fuzzies notwithstanding, is a good time to look at the realities of life for the overwhelming majority of writers.

Why you can’t find an audio version of my Burke books

Recently somebody asked me to recommend them an Audible book written by an indie author. They drive a lot in the course of their work, so most of their ‘reading’ is on audiobooks in the car. They said that I’m always encouraging them to try indie authors instead of just going for bestsellers, so they were going to give it a try.

I duly checked out some of my favourite indie authors and soon realised that hardly any have audiobook versions of their work.

There’s a simple reason for this. Paying a narrator is expensive and indie authors simply don’t generate the levels of sales that are needed to meet the narrator’s fees.

Narrating is hard work and narrators bring a lot of skills their job. I know, because I tried to narrate my novella, Dark Magic, myself and I don’t think that the result is nearly as good as if a professional had done it. (You can buy a copy for just 99p if you want to hear for yourself.) Recording a full length novel will take three or four days and the voice artist will reasonably expect a substantial amount of money. This is completely fair enough, but does rather beg the question of why a voice artist expects to be paid properly for the days of work that they put in while the author cannot generate enough money to pay their narrator, even though they will have spent months writing the book.

Please feed the authors

Underlying the problem with paying for narration, as with so many book-related issues, is that our culture does not believe in paying for books. In the recent scandal of Meta illegally copying millions of books to train their AI, Meta has claimed that the books have no “economic value”. In one of the lawsuits currently underway, Meta is quoted as claiming “none of Plaintiffs works has economic value, individually, as training data.” It’s a view presumably shared by those who download pirated copies of my books. (I’ve given up filing “cease and desist” claims against sites offering illegal copies of my books because as quickly as one site is shut down another opens.)

Writers contribute to this idea. Many regularly make their work available for free from time to time as a promotional ploy. I offer the occasional book for sale at 99p. A more fundamental problem is that the product of our labour is regularly sold ridiculously cheaply. All my books are available on Kindle for £3.99 or less. Perhaps I should put the prices up. Do feel free to respond, letting me know.

Writing isn’t cheap

Although the book is available in paperback, most sales of Burke and the War of 1812 will be on Kindle. Of the £3.99 cover price, I get around £2.76.

I’m lucky, because my family are spectacularly supportive and between them and some very good friends, I can get by without paying for professional editing and proof-reading, both of which are expensive. I prepare my typescript for publication by Amazon myself and by now I can do a decent job without wasting too much time, though many authors pay someone else to handle this.

All this means that the only cost I have to carry myself is the cover design. Mine cost £100 each. Authors who pay for editing, proofreading and preparation for publishing can easily spend thousands of pounds getting their book ready for market.

Because I write historical fiction, I can spend quite a lot on research costs. Some of the research is definitely fun. For Burke in the Land of Silver, I rode a horse high into the Andes until we were turned back by snow. For Burke and the Lines of Torres Vedras, I travelled to Portugal to see the remains of the fortifications. I enjoyed both trips, which is just as well as neither book generated enough money to pay for them. Fortunately, I enjoy historical conferences too, as these don’t come cheap. Less obviously enjoyable is the pile of reading matter that has to be worked through before writing can start. Many of the books I use were written in the periods I write about and are therefore out of copyright, but many are not and they have to be bought and paid for before any writing takes place.

Research trip for Burke in the Land of Silver

I’m not even going to think about the incidental costs, like hosting and other fees on my website (where you’re reading this blog) or membership of writers’ associations.

Any author who expects to make their fortune out of writing is unwise. Some may, but most won’t. Many will end up well out of pocket for their efforts.

Why we write

I think that writing could well be regarded as the sort of compulsive behaviour which, in other areas of life, could be regarded as a form of mental illness. Speaking for myself, it is something I’ve always wanted to do and which I’m glad to have been doing for the last fifteen or so years. I’m lucky. I’m retired and I can afford what is a (more or less) paying hobby. But most people – including many whose books you might enjoy – can’t put in the years of work that build their skills without seeing any tangible reward for their efforts. And even people like me, who can afford it, find themselves asking, increasingly often: what is the point?

Does it matter?

That rather depends on whether or not you enjoy reading decently written books by people who have the time and resources they need to keep writing them. Already, most books are being written by older, middle-class white people. The economic model of writing hardly encourages diversity and things are likely to get much worse.

But do people still enjoy reading? Obviously, many do, but the number is falling dramatically. Research last year suggested that half of all adults in the UK do not regularly read for pleasure and that a third say that they used to read regularly for pleasure, but rarely or never do now. Amongst children aged 8 to 18, just a third questioned in 2024 said they enjoyed reading – the lowest level since the question was first asked in 2005.

Perhaps, in a world of digital entertainment, reading has just had its day. Perhaps Meta is correct: books have no economic value. Maybe we don’t pay our authors, because we do not really care about the books they write.

It might be time for authors, including me, to call it a day.

What can you do?

You might well agree that a world with a great deal fewer books is a better world and people like me should just stop adding to the pile of unread literature. (Ironically, as people spend less time reading, technological changes mean that ever more books are being published.) If you agree, do comment to say so. It’s a point of view that deserves to be heard and explored.

If you think books are important, there are things you can do.

• Buy more books, obviously. It especially helpful if you buy books from the great pool of unknown writers, rather than the handful of established bestsellers – or singers/film stars/whatever whose names have been attached to someone else’s writing.
• Please don’t steal books. Pirated copies are common. I used to take the view that I’d rather people stole my books than that they didn’t read them at all but the scale of theft has got to the point that some authors and publishers are giving up on sequels because recorded sales of early books in a series are too low to justify continuing. It isn’t just about the money: if a book is pirated there is no record that it was read at all. Plus stealing is, you know, Wrong.
• If you can’t afford books (and, at the prices they sell at nowadays, that seems unlikely) use libraries. In the UK, authors get paid when you borrow books from the library. And a good chunk of what little I make from writing comes from people who read my books on Kindle Unlimited.
• Tell people about the books you enjoy. Better yet, write a review on Amazon or other review sites. It doesn’t have to be an essay. Twenty words, sharing the pleasure a book has given you, are better than the 500 words you never actually get round to writing.
• Let writers know that you enjoyed their books. The main reason Burke and the War of 1812 got written was because people I have never met let me know they wanted to read it. (True story.)
• If you are a parent, read with your children.

If reading matters, writers matter. Please support your local writers. Or any writers. Without writers there will be no books and I think that will make the world a poorer place.

Thank you.