A good selling book earns an author an average of 10 to 15 per cent of the selling price. Bestsellers go towards 20 per cent. But how much does that really pay off? KVB Books, the research arm of the Royal Booksellers Association set out to find out. Jurriaan Rammeloo presented the first preliminary results of his research on 27 November. Not something to get very happy about, it turned out.
Of the 18500 people whose books sold at least one book in the Netherlands in 2017, 1700 kept more than 1,000 euros from it, but also no more than the legal minimum wage. Calculated over the whole year. 51 authors are left with an income somewhere between subsistence and modal, and 73 people have written their way towards the Balkenende norm: the Dutch top 20 keep an average net €180,000 a year from book sales. Think luminaries like Herman Koch. Not very motivating figures for those who cherish the dream of having an existence as a writer, including nice writing lodge in Ibiza.
Devil
The figures presented by KVB Boekwerk explicitly refer only to book sales. Rammeloo said he did not include income from grants, media appearances, lectures, columns and other side jobs that resulted from being a writer. That nuances things somewhat, of course. Although it is not to be expected that someone who is left with 1,000 euros from book sales in a year manages to add at least 18,000 euros of income through being a writer. There will be a few, but we should not expect more than a good dozen. Of course, the lion's share of gigs and other fun jobs goes to those top earners. The devil always shits in the same pile, a malicious sourpuss would say.
That things are not going very well with the gig either, by the way, is true. This was reported by Anne Zeegers, director of The Writers' Central. Her club brokers performances by writers in libraries and schools (and other non-profits). It is getting harder to put small names away, and there is also often too little budget available at the clubs that want a writer to perform. To make matters worse, more and more writers are doing it for free. Logical, on the one hand, if the income from sales is pitiful anyway, but you do mess up the market (thanks again for paying for this article, dear reader).
Dilemma
During the presentation, the question was raised whether something could be done about this dramatic state of affairs. 18500 Dutch authors is a bit much. Especially if you take into account that the number of authors is not decreasing, while fewer books are sold every year.
There was a clamour to make fewer books then, to make the offering more manageable. After all, publishing houses still have a reputation for putting hundreds of books on the market, hoping that one will become a bestseller. Stricter selection at the gate would then be a logical step, but it is difficult. Suppose you as a publisher restrict yourself, but the competitor does not, then the bookshops will suddenly be full of that competitor's work while everyone wonders where you went.
Influencers
So if voluntary restraint won't do the trick, then maybe with more marketing? For a while, a buzzword festival ensued with 'influencers' 'instagram', 'followers' and 'young people', but not too much was expected of that. At least: everyone who takes themselves seriously already does, or at least, says they do. The fact remains that, in practice, many publishers still rely heavily on their familiar network of bookshops and media. Developing communities around writers, as Das Mag and De Correspondent are trying to do with varying degrees of success, is not yet very common in publishing circles.
And something will have to be done there anyway. Now, most publishing houses still float on those few bestselling authors they have in their stable, but that market is moving fast. The boss of the General Publishers Group said there was no concern in the industry about the rise of self-publishing, but there was plenty of concern about declining sales in general.
Big in Japan
But fortunately, there is also good news. Top Dutch authors are doing extremely well in Japan. Hendrik Groen - in translation - is even in first place of the book sales top ten, while Toon Tellegen is in third place, shortly followed by Tommy Wieringa. The Dutch Foundation for Literature, also present at the presentation, reported this happy event with due pride. According to the Fund, this success is partly due to a radio programme by the Japanese public broadcaster, which discussed Hendrik Groen's novel and the subject of euthanasia. Toon Tellegen experienced his big breakthrough in Japan last year, thanks in part to translator Saki Nagayama and Shinchosha Publishing. His novel The desire of the hedgehog sold more than 130,000 copies in Japan in 2017 and more than 10,000 copies in Korea.
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