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The divide between a boy and a girl's role in life.

4/21/2015

10 Comments

 
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The UK Royal baby girl could be worth £1 billion to the economy over its lifetime. A girl? Hooray for women. If born today, he or she will share a birthday with the 89 year-old Queen.

So, why would a girl be more beneficial to the country? As well as the boost to baby clothing sales, a Princess would be able to establish trends throughout her life, which will be great for the people who design her clothes and those who can make look-a likes.

Meanwhile, just one in ten authors can earn full-time living from writing. Of those, women were found to earn 80 per cent of the income of their male counterparts in a study conducted by Queen Mary, University of London.

Oh, dear. Back to the old male-female divide, with women the losers.

Writing is not the dream job people think. The new report highlights the low earning many endure for their art. Only one in ten authors can afford to earn a living from writing alone, a drop from 40 per cent just a decade ago. A typical professional writer earned less than the minimum wage.


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The Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society highlighted a top-heavy market, with just five per cent of authors earning 42.3 per cent of all income from professional writers, and a struggle for those working in non-fiction and academia.


The bleak picture, compiled from a survey of nearly 2,500 writers, has been attributed in part to the changing publishing world, which sees houses less willing to take a chance on new authors and more likely to commission “safe bets” and celebrity writers.

A remarkable 17 per cent of all writers did not earn any money in the year in question, 2013, despite 98 per cent having work published during the period of shortly before.  Source: The Telegraph. 

My husband constantly points out that publishing houses sell paperback books for 1/3 of the price of mine. I explain that a large quantity is cheaper to produce and they're probably making a loss to get the novels in front of the public. Mine are released by small publishers with no fringe benefits.

Writing fulfills a need in me—I live to write. I'm going through a process of editing my next fantasy at the moment. Several more first drafts of novels sit in files waiting for further work.

Take that occupation away from many older people and their life would serve no purpose. What would I do with my vivid imagination? Things would be different if I had family around me, grandchildren to tell stories to, teens to advise and adults to settle differences between.

So—before you set out on a writing career, work out your aim. You can't count on earning money.

Be you a prince, princess or writer, a working person or stay-at-home parent, how does the balance between male and female affect you?





10 Comments
Alana link
4/20/2015 08:19:20 pm

As the primary breadwinner of my family for years, the male/female divide has affected me, my family, and our income for year. Women still make less then men in the United States. Perhaps they don't have to be twice as good to achieve half as much (an old saying here) anymore, but wage equality still has not been achieved.

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Lata Subramanian link
4/20/2015 08:22:55 pm

yes, writers are an undervalued lot. It's best not to expect any money out of writing and do so for the sheer pleasure of it. I am sure anthropologists in the future will drool over stuff we have written

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Swathi Shenoy link
4/20/2015 08:45:36 pm

I am graduating in few months and I am thinking about a career which involves writing! I guess I should plan wisely.

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Toni Nelson link
4/20/2015 09:27:29 pm

When you think of the royal family you can't help but think of Diana. She had a huge impact on her country and her boys. As for wages unfortunately many times men do make more than women.

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Ajay Pai link
4/20/2015 10:08:56 pm

HI Francene, I would like to view it in a different angle. Just because the women clan took care of the household, men were able to reach the heights they have reached. The contribution of women is equally important and relevant. But, most of the times it is underrated.

I love to be addressed as a writer and wish that I start earning too through this medium. (maybe am too greedy).

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Amy link
4/20/2015 11:16:12 pm

Dearest Francene,
This is a bit grim, to be sure, for us writers, but for me it's a wake-up call to the fact that writers need to be more creative and innovative if they want to actually make some money at doing what they love! Female writers, even more so! And I view much of my husband's success with a bit of pride, knowing that he'd never have been quite as successful without a good wife (me) ;) by his side, encouraging him, taking care of his day-to-day affairs, feeding him, and raising his children with him.

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Shonda link
4/21/2015 05:39:39 am

Writing is a hard career choice, male or female, no? My grandmother and her son, my father are both published authors. My grandmother in genealogy and children's books. My father in sci-fi. The trials they both went through to publish, earn $$ from their pursuits were difficult, but I know my grandmother used a male name to publish way back when. Males do tend to make the lion's share in many industries.

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Tandy Elisala link
4/21/2015 06:26:04 am

Interesting tidbits about writing and the differences between men and women. I think a little princess would be a welcome addition to the Royal family.

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Laurel Regan link
4/21/2015 07:52:33 am

I write because I love to write, not because I ever expect to make money doing it. Sad but true!

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Ina Tales
4/21/2015 04:58:11 pm

This sounds so bleak :( But as you said, some of us are obsessed with writing that money never crosses our mind. Francene the more I am reading your posts, the more i am getting interested in your stories. You write to the point and it makes a reader gain a lot in such a short time.

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    Francene Stanley
    From England, I use news items in my novels which you can see below, all linked to an Amazon near you.

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