U.K. authors to be rewarded for used book sales
A new collaboration between online retailers and writers’ organisations in the U.K. will pay authors on used book sales – for the first time.
Unlike regular book sales, authors do not receive any payments from the sale of secondhand editions of their books. However, a new scheme called AuthorSHARE, dreamed up by used booksellers, is set to change this.
The coalition between the World of Books Group, Bookbarn International, the Society of Authors (SoA) and the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS) will see writers receive royalties on used book sales for the first time. The scheme will pay authors royalties on the sale of used books purchased at World of Books and Bookbarn International.
“In a world first, authors are now able to receive royalties on sales of used books thanks to AuthorSHARE – a groundbreaking new scheme designed to create a fairer deal for authors in the used book market,” organisers said.
“Until now, authors have only been able to receive royalty payments on sales of new books. However, in recent years there have been increasing calls from within the writing community for a new approach to address the exponential growth of the used book market,” they added.
According to the organizers, the market for used books is growing at 12% annually – compared to 1% for that of new books – and is estimated to be worth £563 million in the UK by 2025.
Moonshot News is an independent European news website for all IT, Media and Advertising professionals, powered by women and with a focus on driving the narrative for diversity, inclusion and gender equality in the industry.
Our mission is to provide top and unbiased information for all professionals and to make sure that women get their fair share of voice in the news and in the spotlight!
We produce original content, news articles, a curated calendar of industry events and a database of women IT, Media and Advertising associations.
