Amazon Refutes Claim That It’s to Blame for the Decline of Author Earnings

A recent report from the Authors Guild concluded that Amazon’s dominance of the online book market is largely to blame for the “crisis of epic proportions” facing writers’ earnings in the US. The writers’ body report was published last week and stated that median income from writing fell to $6,080 in 2017, which is down 42% from 2009, and literary authors are affected the worst.

As The Guardian writes, the report stated this raises “serious concerns about the future of American literature,” and went on to place the blame largely on Amazon’s ever growing dominance of the US’ online book market, of which it currently controls 72% of. “This puts pressure on [publishers] to keep costs down and takes a large percentage, plus marketing fees, forcing publishers to pass on their losses to authors.” stated the report.

However, Amazon has refuted the claim and, on Wednesday, stated: “The Authors Guild has acknowledged that there are significant differences between the data it compared in its recent survey and years prior, noting that ‘the data does not line up’. As a result, many of the survey’s conclusions are flawed or contradictory. For instance, the survey also shows that earnings increased almost 17% for traditionally published authors and 89% for independent [self-published] authors, and that full-time authors saw their median income rise 13% since 2013.”

It’s true that the report found that “authors first published prior to 2014 increased author-related income no matter which publishing strategy they used.” Income of writers published via traditional means rose by 17% from 2013 to 2017, to $10,150, whereas self-published writers’ income increased by 89% over the same period, to $3,400. Full-time authors also saw their median royalty income increase 13%, to $12,400, since 2013.

The report went on to show that the combined average royalty income for published authors across the board, including those who wrote part-time, was down 11% in 2017, when compared with 2013. It showed that while self-published authors were earning more overall, they earned 58% less than traditionally published writers did in 2017.

Mary Rasenberger, the executive director of the Author’s Guild, defended the survey and said that the 17% rise in traditionally published works quoted by Amazon didn’t include the entire pool of writers surveyed, only those who had been published and earned money in 2013 and 2017.

“As we have explained to Amazon and state on our website, if you include all surveyed authors – including those who first published since 2013 – the number is lower: median annual earnings from all writing-related sources of $6,080 versus $8,170,” she said. “As the Authors Guild states on its website, the recent survey does not align perfectly with the data from our prior surveys because we surveyed a much broader pool in 2018, which we felt was important to get a full picture of the author landscape today. That does not make the conclusions ‘flawed or contradictory’ … we believe that the data does indicate a general income decline for published authors as whole, as well as Guild members.”

Amazon has stated that the average income of earning US authors is currently $43,247, but the Authors Guild says this is largely skewed by the multimillion-selling authors who engaged with the survey. The Authors Guild believes the median offers the most accurate look at income, as authors that successful are “far and few between.”

“The biggest takeaways from the survey are that respondents who identified themselves as full-time book authors still only earned a median income of $20,300, well below the federal poverty line for a family of three or more. That baseline fact should cause some concern,” said Rasenberger. “Also, earnings for all authors from their books alone declined 21% to $3,100 in 2017 from $3,900 in 2013.”

She went on to state that it was a good sign that self-publishing income had increased, and that the overall writing-related earnings had stayed similar to 2013, rising for those who had been publishing for over five years. “This suggests that authors who are still in the business are getting better at finding ways to bring in supplemental income related to their writing.”

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