Most British writers barely scraping a living

If you dream of earning millions from writing the next Harry Potter - dream on. New research from the Authors' Licensing and Collection Society (ALCS) shows that the average author makes just £11,000 per year.

And there's very few of them about: while in 2005, 40 percent of professional authors said they earned their entire living this way, today the figure's just 11.5 percent. This is hardly surprising, says the ALCS, given just how badly-paid the profession is.

%VIRTUAL-SkimlinksPromo%