ASA 2021 survey: the income of “unsustainable” authors
The Australian Society of Authors (ASA) 2021 survey, which received more than 800 responses from members, found that authors’ incomes continued to decline.
The 2020 survey, which was open to members and non-members, found that perpetrators’ incomes were “disastrously low.” The 2021 survey shows that author incomes continued to decline, with more than half (58%) of respondents earning between $ 0 and $ 1,999 from their creative practice, an “alarming” increase from 49.7 % the previous year.
Overall, 81% of respondents earned less than $ 15,000 in the past fiscal year, which is comparable to last year’s survey results. For full-time writers / illustrators, 58% reported making less than $ 15,000 in the last fiscal year from their creative practice, while 25% earned between $ 0 and $ 1,99.
The ASA reported that when asked about advances, 58% of respondents indicated that they had not received any advance for their publication, compared to 52% in 2020. Of those who received an advance, only 13% had received an advance of more than $ 10,000, a slight increase from 14.6% the previous year.
Although incomes are low, the 2021 survey found that most authors had not applied, or were not intending to apply for funding from the Australian Council (57%), from the Copyright Agency (58%), nor state government arts organizations (52%). However, the ASA reported that more respondents applied to government funding bodies (9.66%) than the Copyright Agency (7.49%) or the Australian Council (6, 35%), which reflected the “general sense of pessimism” of literature funding. In the 2020-2021 funding period, Literature received only 6% ($ 4.7 million) of Australian Council grants and initiatives.
The ASA called the decline in authors’ incomes and scarce funding “unsustainable,” and pushed for a national plan for literature and increased funding from the Australian Council. The leading national association is also advocating for an extension of the PLR / ELR programs to include digital formats as well as an increase in the lending rights budget.
For more information, see the ASA website.
Category: Local news
