The UK’s largest retailer of used books, World of Books Group, has partnered with other used booksellers (as well as authors organizations) to launch AuthorSHARE, a royalty fund to pay authors for sales of used books. While authors will be paid each time one of their books is bought from participating retailers’ websites, each individual’s earnings are capped at £1,000 a year. Only members of the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society are eligible to be paid, but authors outside the UK can join the organization. Retailer participation in AuthorSHARE is strictly voluntary, but the hope is that the fund will expand. Learn more in The Guardian.
Jane Friedman has spent her entire career working in the publishing industry, with a focus on business reporting and author education. Established in 2015, her newsletter The Bottom Line provides nuanced market intelligence to thousands of authors and industry professionals; in 2023, she was named Publishing Commentator of the Year by Digital Book World.
Jane’s expertise regularly features in major media outlets such as The New York Times, The Atlantic, NPR, The Today Show, Wired, The Guardian, Fox News, and BBC. Her book, The Business of Being a Writer, Second Edition (The University of Chicago Press), is used as a classroom text by many writing and publishing degree programs. She reaches thousands through speaking engagements and workshops at diverse venues worldwide, including NYU’s Advanced Publishing Institute, Frankfurt Book Fair, and numerous MFA programs.
