Author earnings could be hit by Brexit

Author earnings could be hit in the wake of Brexit following the erosion of exclusivity rights in Europe, the Society of Authors and literary agents have warned.

Society of Authors chief executive Nicola Solomon said the prospect of losing exclusivity for English-language rights deals in Europe was "a major concern” that could affect sales and see publishing advances plunge.

Solomon told The Bookseller: "If exclusivity in Europe were affected, that would be a major concern which could impact on sales. However, most such agreements are contractual, rather than dictated by Common Market free trade rulings, so this might take a long time to work through. Uncertain markets generally are bad for authors because they make publishers more cautious which can adversely affects commissioning and advances."

Lorella Belli, owner of Lorella Belli agency, however, said authors losing money as a consequence of Brexit was sadly "a fact".

"When I negotiate deals for authors, any advances publishers pay are linked to the number of copies they think they can sell,” she said. “If the markets where they can actually sell exclusively is eroded – something’s happened to Australia and now you’ve got Europe – they’re going to sell less copies. That’s a fact which might affect the money they’re offering for our authors."

This “erosion” of exclusivity has already been felt by Clare Alexander, who said she has already heard from one publisher they “will not accept” British publishers controlling European English language rights any longer. She told The Bookseller last week: “That’s a huge thing. German, Scandinavia and Holland are big markets. Coming at the same time as big questions over Australia, the other significant (English language export market), It’s very, very frightening and it will have an impact on UK publishing.”

Will Atkinson agreed acquiring exclusive European rights was likely to be "more complicated" now and impact on the size of deals. "We can’t make the argument [that we should get exclusive rights because of EU copyright] anymore," he said. "And neither the Irish or us want it as an open market. But it’s all in the deal quite frankly. Exclusive rights are worth more and that’s reflected in the deal. If the rights are worth less, you pay less."

Belli said she thought there would be an economic impact, “whatever the deal put in place” by government as the UK attempts to extricate itself from the EU. The potential loss of translation grants for smaller publishers from the EU would be another blow, she added.

"There will be repercussions," she said. "We’ve seen some already, and there are a lot of translation grants coming from the EU, especially for small publishers. Maybe these things will be replaced at some point, but will they? Everyone is trying to get money as much as they can from government: what’s the pecking order for anything cultural, after the NHS and things like that? Some of the small British publishers really rely on subsidies from the EU for translation. That makes a difference sometimes whether to buy a book."

Alexandra Cliff, senior international rights agent at PFD, agreed the impact of Brexit on authors was “a matter of real concern” but for the tax reasons.

She said: “The issue of international tax is already one that is complicated and who knows whether this may be complicated further by an exit from the EU. If tax treaties do not remain in place, authors may see their income drop from foreign rights sales.”

The average author earned just £11,000 per annum in 2013, more than £5,000 below the income level considered to be a socially acceptable standard of living, according to research commissioned by The Authors’ Licensing & Collection Society (ALCS). It further found that nearly 90% of writers need to earn money from sources other than writing.

More established authors are likely to be able to "weather" the effects of Brexit better than debut writers, according to Pan Macmillan m.d Anthony Forbes Watson, who said he thought it would be “difficult to imagine it will get any easier [for debut authors]".

Solomon added: "Basically we have to wait and see - and in the meantime we need to encourage diversity so that voices from all sectors are heard. It is clear from the Brexit result that many sectors of Britain feel unrepresented and unheard- we need to encourage and support the authors who can communicate the views and experiences of those sectors."

Author Jeanette Winterson has also warned there could be an author ‘brain drain’ in the UK. “Writers can write anywhere so there could be a mass exit from ‘basketcase Britain’,” she said. “I honestly don’t know if the UK will be a place to live, work and thrive creatively.”

However, more positively, she added: “But let’s try. Working together on the Left is important. Building an alliance that can stand against the chaos of where ‘Brexit’ is taking us.”  

Author Kazuo Ishiguro has called for a second referendum to “define the mandate that comes out of last week’s unfocused result”, while arguing that the country “cannot afford to be ruled by anger or self-righteousness”. Author Philip Pullman, has said that the referendum should not have “any place at all in a parliamentary democracy” following Britain's decision to leave the EU, arguing that the device “slips far too easily into a sort of raucous populism”.