The ALCS points to this as evidence of a global trend of the “devaluing of creative labour”. People are being paid less than half a living wage for their creative labour. Fewer authors than ever are receiving advances, and groups of authors who are statistically less likely to be able to support themselves through other means earn an even less affordable cut. Young authors earn less, as do older ones. Payment for Black and mixed-heritage authors is a full 51% lower than for white authors.

The gender pay gap is getting worse – men earn 41% more than women (compared with 33% five years ago). There is also a more worrying, granular luck at play. That’s a drop of more than 60% when accounting for inflation. In 2022 – a year in which multiple publishers have posted record profits while freelancers in all professions are still reeling from the impact of Covid-19, Brexit and rising living costs – the median full-time income has fallen to £7,000. When the ALCS first ran its survey of author incomes in 2006 it found that the median self-employed income of a full-time author was £12,330. Nor is it a reliable way to run an industry. The trouble with luck is that it is not a reliable foundation for a profession. But what about everyone else? Who can honestly afford to stay? Others bring their own luck to the room – they can afford to feed the slots regardless of what they get in return. Some of us are lucky enough to feed the right slot at the right time and hit jackpots of varying sizes. We arrive at what we imagined would be the creative heart of an industry, but it turns out to be a room full of slot machines.

A narrow door joanne harris amazon