This is something a lot of authors sometimes struggle with - their first book they have had ages to write, and edit, and polish, because they HAD to in order to get an agent. And then the agent worked with them some more to edit and polish it, so it would stand out to get picked up by an editor. And then the editor works with them some more to really hone the final product into something phenomenal.
And then book two usually starts drafting somewhere after book one is sent to print, and it comes straight to the editor to do structural edits. No room for years of moulding, and no additional stage with agent (usually, although some authors can do this!). And it can feel wild and rushed and a very abrupt gear-change. PARTICULARLY because the lead times on publication are so long (the ideal final manuscript delivery is 14 months before publication) that if we want book 2 out within a year of book 1, you need to have book 2 finished before book 1 is even printed.
SOME writers can do this!! Miles Cameron, for example, is a writing machine who reliably delivers 2 books a year. BUT he has also written over 50 novels and it is his full time job. Very few authors are full time authors.
In 2022, The Society of Authors published findings that suggested the median annual income for authors in the UK is £7000. The majority of authors on our list have other jobs, and this is true for most authors publishing today.
So writing around a job, and then taking into account any Life Happenings that happen, PLUS the long lead times for books, means that publishing annually can be VERY tricky.
If you want to help authors earn more so they can write more?
Buy their books! I can confirm that hard sales data is pored over when renewing contracts and acquiring books and deciding print runs. All sales through digital retailers, bookstores and supermarkets are tracked by Bookscan, and that data informs EVERY DECISION we make. Editors desperately want to throw money at every book we acquire, but if the data doesn't support it we're limited in what we can do - if we offer far too high and a book doesn't sell enough to clear the advance rate, it becomes a big black hole in finances that can hurt author retention. Keep an eye on deals on eBooks and audio as well - buying cheap on a deal still helps!! Remember, an author won't start seeing royalty income until their advance fully earns out. Pre-ordering books is also a great way to support authors: it helps them chart better on release-week, which can support future contracts, AND it gives future you a lovely present of a book.
Borrow their books! In the UK at least, authors receive income via ALCS and PLR, which gives them money for use of their work and every time a book is taken out from a library. If you're an author who is published in the UK and not registered with ALCS and PLR yet - get on it!
Review! Review Review Review! If you have read a book and loved it, Amazon reviews, Goodreads reviews, and reviews on bookseller websites are incredible resources. The better a book rates on Amazon, the more it gets boosted. (algorithms, grrrr) Equally, if you sign up to Netgalley, we often put titles up there TOTALLY FREE in exchange for honest reviews. All Gollancz's books are listed under our parent company, Orion.
Engage with authors and their publishers on social media! Social media is THE WORST, we all know it. That's why we're here, in this bastion of what can only be termed anti-social media. However, social media is the main resource publishers have for promoting their books because it is FREE and can get to a lot of people. It's also another way of helping us track how excited people are for a book - particularly ahead of publication, when we only have pre-order numbers to work from. Not just watching/viewing but also actively liking and commenting on content about your favourite authors is hard data we can use to help, and - again, algorithms, ugh - the more content about your favourite authors is engaged with, the more it gets recommended to new people, to help them find new readers. It's a vicious cycle, but by god it's one you can weaponise to help your authors. Gollancz's main channel at the moment is our instagram, but we also have a growing tiktok that is being run for the girls, gays and theys by the phenomenal Millie and Corinne. And of course, there's muggins here running the tumblr, but given the nature of tumblr it's mostly feral boosting rather than actual announcements and it tracks very differently. If you are on any of those other platforms, AND we publish anyone you like, this sort of support is a great free way to help boost boost boost.
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