Author incomes drop to average of $9K, says writers' union

TORONTO - A new survey suggests Canadian writers are earning 27 per cent less than they were three years ago.

The Writers' Union of Canada says average incomes plunged to $9,380 in 2017 from $12,879 in 2014.

The survey, titled "Diminishing Returns: Creative Culture at Risk," was conducted in spring 2018 and asked union members and other writers to share details of their 2017 income.

Publishing royalties were the main source of income at 45 per cent, while corporate and government writing and freelance work provided 32 per cent combined.

Income from self-publishing grew to eight per cent, but the study says income from Access Copyright -- which distributes copyright royalties to authors and publishers -- dropped by an average of 42 per cent.

It wasn't clear how much Access Copyright royalties contributed to the writers' income but a bar graf that accompanied the survey suggested it was less than 10 per cent.

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