Myers and SoA condemn pressure on authors to 'perform'

Award-winning author Benjamin Myers and the Society of Authors (SoA) have criticised the pressure on writers to become “personalities” rather than be judged on their work as literary events increase.

Myers told The Bookseller he felt authors were increasingly pressurised to perform rather than just write, with his views echoed by the SoA’s c.e.o. Nicola Solomon.

The Walter Scott Prize-winning novelist elaborated on his feelings of anxiety which he revealed in a Guardian article earlier this month. In the feature entitled "I was half-insane with anxiety: how I wrote myself into a breakdown", he spoke of mounting pressure over writing and publicity commitments which caused him to experience burn-out.

Myers told The Bookseller: "So many good things happened surrounding the publication of The Offing and the re-issue by Bloomsbury of my backlist, but once the dust had settled it occurred to me that I had driven myself into the ground by trying to fulfil every obligation, answer every email, do a lot of press and radio interviews and be in a hundred different places–all while also hitting journalism deadlines, developing various things with production companies and so on, and maintaining a life at home too."

Myers believes that authors are under more pressure now than a few years ago to be performative rather than simply write because of the demand for literary events. "Writers are, increasingly, expected to be performers, comedians and raconteurs and the simple fact is that this is entirely counter to the writing process, which is introverted and isolationist,” he said. “The thriving festival circuit also means writers are expected to entertain, even if their true talent lies in writing. I‚Äôve been at many events where it‚Äôs evident that everyone is enjoying themselves, except perhaps the writers, some of whom are there under duress."

While he understands publishers’ desires for writers to perform, Myers feels it has become too pressurised. He believes in general publishers should be more understanding of introverted authors. "I completely understand why publishers want their writers to be out on the promotional circuit," he said. "There is only a small window of opportunity for most books, and this is a business. But many writers become writers because it is their chosen method of communication and to be thrown into a media scrum can be very stressful. There are also practical things to consider: promoting a book for weeks or months on end can be a costly business because you don’t get paid for most of it, and most writers have other jobs, they have children to take of etc."

Myers revealed that last summer when he was "going through a time of total exhaustion" two bestselling authors privately contacted him to say they had been through the same, offering advice.

In regards to solutions, Myers–who moved from indie publisher Bluemoose Books to Bloomsbury in 2018–believes promotional plans should be made more flexible. "I think promotional and marketing campaigns could be better tailored to individual writers’ strengths. If you have a fear of public speaking, you shouldn’t be made to do it.

"The financial side of things is a big factor also. Really, how much extra work should a writer be expected to do on top of the actual writing of the book for the £5,000 average advances that are being paid?"

He advises new writers to "master the art of saying no". He added: "Protect yourself, as no-one else will do it for you."

The Society of Authors‚Äô c.e.o. Nicola Solomon (pictured left) agreed. "Writers are rarely able to simply be writers. They are their own marketers, they perform their own work, they‚Äôre asked to become ‘personalities‚Äô, they‚Äôre asked to share the personal stories behind the themes of their fiction although they chose fiction as a vehicle for those themes for a reason. And then beyond that, they are their own business managers, fundraisers, and more.

"At the heart of all this is the challenge to make a living from your work... This is particularly the case for authors, as advances and average incomes fall, funding opportunities become less certain, and the tax and benefits environments become more challenging to navigate.

"We see this daily in the queries we get from writers, and of course this is before you even get to the uncertainty caused by existential threats like changes to the publishing landscape, the risk of copyright becoming a bargaining tool in a future trade deal, piracy, even the development of novel writing AI systems."

Myers won the £25,000 Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction for The Gallows Pole in 2018, which was then published by indie Bluemoose Books. Bloomsbury bought his backlist in 2018, with its new edition of The Gallows Pole published in 2019. The Offing is published in paperback by Bloomsbury Circus on March 5th 2020.