In 2013, two literary records were set. The initial circulation of the new novel by the Japanese writer Haruki MURAKAMI “Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage” amounted to 1 million copies, and the writer’s fee, excluding interest on sales, was $5 million. An unknown 15-year-old Pakistani girl, Malala YUSUFZAI, will receive $3 million for a book of memoirs about how her school bus was shot at by the Taliban and how difficult it is to get an education in third world countries. We asked our staff author, writer Vladimir KAZAKOV, to tell us how much writers earn in Russia.
The history of Russian royalties is complex. This word itself, translated from Latin, means “honor”, hence the word “arrogance”. For the curious, I will say that “gonorrhea” is not from that opera; it has Greek, not Latin roots.
So, in Rome only foreigners and slaves could write for a fee. It was a shame for a real Roman to take money for odes, verses and other tragedies. Therefore, they came up with symbolic valuable prizes - a ring or some kind of golden cup. It was also considered indecent in Russia among the nobles - and literature was predominantly of the nobility - to take money for writing.
But Alexander Pushkin changes everything. This is the first time he has made writing his profession. Spitting on the vague concepts of noble dignity, he began to sell his poems. We are often told that Pushkin was a poor poet, completely in debt. This is only partly true.
Alexander Sergeevich spent a lot, squandered, and lost entire fortunes at cards. His wife Natalya Nikolaevna devoured a lot with balls and receptions. But contemporaries wrote that the poet’s favorite pastime was drunkenly throwing gold coins from the Anichkov Bridge and watching how they shimmered in the water in the sun. Why such excesses?
Pushkin’s salary in 1831 at the Collegium of Foreign Affairs, where he, however, did not particularly go, was 5 thousand rubles. in year. This is a lot of money. The Mikhailovskoye estate and 200 peasant souls that belonged to the poet gave another 3 thousand rubles. annual income.
And here are some figures from his fees:
1824 - publication of the first edition of “The Bakhchisarai Fountain”, 1200 copies, fee - 3 thousand rubles;
1825 - publication of the book “Poems of Alexander Pushkin”, 1200 copies, fee - 8040 rubles;
1827 - “The Robber Brothers” was published, fee - 1,500 rubles;
1828 - the second edition of “Ruslan and Lyudmila” was published, the fee was 7 thousand rubles.
In 1824, for “Eugene Onegin” he received an astronomical for those times 12 thousand rubles.
This is not all of the poet's fees. For comparison: a luxurious lunch in a restaurant, including sturgeon and caviar, cost no more than a ruble. And a skilled young blacksmith with his wife and two children for export cost no more than 500 rubles.
Dostoevsky counted Turgenev's money
Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky went further in the matter of mastering royalties. He managed to receive quite decent sums for novels that had not yet been written. In 1869 from Florence, in a letter to the publicist Nikolai Strakhov, he, among other things, reports: “...This is what I am forced to answer: since I always need money extremely and live only by work, I have always been almost forced, all my life, take money in advance wherever you work. True, they gave it to me everywhere. I left Russia soon two years ago, already owing Katkov 3 thousand rubles, and not according to the old settlement with Crime and Punishment, but according to the new one. Since then, I have taken up to 3,500 rubles from Katkov. "Russian Messenger" will send me money this year too, although I still owe some money there.
It takes me six months to sit down and write a novel. To write it for six months, you need to be wealthy at this time... You constantly write to me such news that Ivan Goncharov, for example, took 7 thousand rubles. for his novel, and Turgenev for his “ Noble Nest“Katkov himself gave 4 thousand rubles, i.e. 400 rubles each. per sheet. (A literary sheet is approximately 24 typewritten pages. - V.K.) My friend! I know very well that I write worse than Turgenev, but not too much worse, and finally I hope to write no worse at all. Why do I, with my needs, take only 100 rubles, and Turgenev, who has 2 thousand souls, 400 rubles each? Because of poverty, I am forced to hurry and write for money, therefore, I will certainly spoil it.”
In those years, the highest paid writers were Goncharov and Turgenev. But, in principle, Dostoevsky also received quite decent income. I could afford to travel all over Europe, play in casinos and generally indulge in all sorts of excesses.
Gorky earned money for a villa in Italy
The end of the 19th century was marked by a rise in remuneration for writers. Leo Tolstoy receives 1 thousand rubles. per sheet, Nikolai Leskov and Anton Chekhov - 500 each. The aspiring “singer of the revolution” Maxim Gorky - 150 rubles, more than Dostoevsky!
The pre-revolutionary time was simply fantastic for literary income. Gorky receives 1200 rubles. per sheet, Chekhov - 1 thousand, Kuprin - 800 rubles, Bunin - 600 rubles. That is, we take it again middle book of that time in 10 sheets, multiply by Chekhov’s 1 thousand rubles and get three years of residence in a luxury hotel like the Metropol. This is for one book. And they tried to publish every year and even more often. Chekhov, for example, realized in time and gave up the rights to all his previous creations to the St. Petersburg book publisher Adolf Marksu for 75 thousand rubles. And he successfully maintained a large family, a mansion on the Garden Ring, the Melikhovo estate, and a house in Yalta.
Prose writer Fyodor Sologub was not one of the leaders of the then rating, but a valued and high-quality poet and prose writer, author of the famous novel “The Little Demon,” paid 135 rubles for an apartment on Grodnensky Lane in St. Petersburg. per month. The writer’s home looked prestigious: expensive Art Nouveau furniture, palm trees...
Leonid Andreev built a beautiful mansion in a prestigious suburb of St. Petersburg, on the Black River. Construction, including interior decoration, cost 38 thousand rubles. Andreev received a ruble per line.
For a ruble you could buy a whole goose, for 50 kopecks. - a couple of chickens. The monthly salary of an average official was 100 rubles.
Gorky rents a luxurious villa in Italy, on the island of Capri, and supports numerous relatives, mistresses and simply hangers-on.
Mayakovsky became an official millionaire
In Soviet times, writers were also not bored. In the 20s, the highest paid writers were Vladimir Mayakovsky and Sergei Yesenin. Mayakovsky was considered an official millionaire. He ordered cars of prestigious brands from abroad, traveled a lot, and supported the Brik family.
In later Soviet times The issuance of royalties in connection with the formation of the USSR Writers' Union was streamlined. It must be said that the union, in addition to fixed prices, also provided a lot of advantages that did not exist under the tsarist regime. Rent benefits, getting an apartment out of turn, an increased pension, the opportunity to relax and create for free in numerous creative houses scattered in the best resort areas of the USSR. An opportunity to purchase a dacha in writers' villages like Peredelkino or Komarovo for a symbolic price. The state stimulated intellectual and literary work.
Venerable writers, sometimes quite mediocre, sometimes received fantastic money. For example, there is a well-known case where the now forgotten writer Anatoly Sofronov, editor-in-chief of the Ogonyok magazine, member of the CPSU Central Committee and laureate of three Orders of Lenin, received more than 200 thousand rubles for a collection of works in 6 volumes, published for the 70th anniversary. A three-room cooperative apartment in a prestigious area could be bought for 15 thousand.
But even ordinary writers were guaranteed solid, very good earnings. For example, for poetry and plays they paid two rubles per line. Plus copyright, additional payment for circulation, etc. For one book, the writer was guaranteed to receive several annual salaries of the usual Soviet man. By the way, if a writer wrote a book in Russian and it was translated into one of the languages of the peoples of the USSR, then the author was entitled to an additional 60 percent of the royalties paid for the first edition. If the book was translated into a foreign language, then the original author was entitled to 30 percent of the first royalty.
One friend of mine was a Mordvinian, he wrote poetry in Russian, he was published, then he translated himself into Mordvinian, he was published again, and that’s how he lived.
Writers also made scripts out of books. Average scenario cost 5 thousand rubles. - this is the price of a Zhiguli, a prestigious car at that time. They also wrote plays based on their works.
The leader here was Vladimir Voinovich, who in the 70s created stupid stories about real Soviet construction workers on socialist construction sites and successfully turned them into plays.
“While the performances were going on,” the writer recalled, “my fees grew by arithmetic progression. One month - 600 rubles, another - 800, third - a thousand. When the monthly fee reached 1,200 rubles, the accountant, writing out a money order for me, became nervous and shouted to her employees: “Look at the living millionaire!”
That is, the very mediocre writer Voinovich, churning out dreary plays about everyday work, received monthly the annual salary of an ordinary person only from theatrical productions. Being a writer in the USSR was prestigious, and simply very good.
JK Rowling outdid
The USSR collapsed. Different times have come. 99 percent of writers fell into poverty. But one percent began to receive even larger fees. Of course, they are not comparable to the fees of writers in the West, where the income of the top is equal to the fees of pop stars and show business. For example, Joan Rowling's income exceeded $1 billion. Of course, this is mainly money for the film adaptation of her Harry Potter, but the millions of copies of the saga also bring her considerable income. In total, about 500 million copies were produced. books about a wizard. But she is not among the leaders of the modern Western ranking. Forbes magazine published the earnings of the most successful writers over the past year.
1. James Patterson - $84 million. The author of numerous thrillers and detective stories is best known for his series of books about the American psychologist Alex Cross.
2. Danielle Steele - $35 million. The total circulation of her women's novels exceeds 800 million copies, thanks to which Steele took eighth place on the list of best-selling authors of all time.
3. Stephen King - $28 million. An unsurpassed master of horror, during his long creative life he managed to work in many genres, including mysticism, science fiction, fantasy, suspense, and drama.
4. Janet Ivanovich - $22 million. She became famous thanks to a series of adventurous detective stories about the adventures of Stephanie Plum, who, after losing her job in a lingerie store, decided to start catching criminals.
5. Stefania Meyer - $21 million. The American housewife and mother of three children wrote a series of novels about vampires - “Twilight”.
6. Rick Riordan - $21 million. Author of mystical detective stories about a private detective and professor of English medieval literature Trese Navarre.
7. Dean Koontz- $19 million Teacher in English from Pennsylvania is considered one of the masters of action-packed thrillers and horror films.
8. John Grisham - $18 million. Master of “legal” dramas and thrillers, many of which were filmed.
9. Jeff Kinney - $17 million. The online game developer and animator gained fame as a writer thanks to the children's series “Diary of a Wimpy Kid.”
10. Nicholas Sparks - $16 million. From his pen came 16 novels, the main themes of which are personal tragedies, amazing destinies, fidelity and love.
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Most of these citizens, with the exception of King, Steele, Grisham and a few Meyer, are unknown to our people. What about domestic writers?
Finding information is extremely difficult. And checking its authenticity is even more difficult. Because the circulation of books in one case is artificially low in order to avoid paying taxes, and in others they are inflated to the skies in order to emphasize the importance and popularity of the author.
On average, the author receives 10 - 15 percent of the publishing price of books sold. This is the so-called royalty. By the way, the selling price of a publishing house is on average less than 100 rubles. for a book. The rest is cheating from distributors and stores. Plus a fixed amount for the transfer of rights.
Having published two books during the “fat” years of the Russian economy, in 2007 and 2008, I received 150 thousand for the first, 300 thousand rubles for the second. Plus 300 thousand - for the third, which the publishing house never released. This is a lot, because I am not Daria Dontsova. I did not receive any royalties, and it is almost impossible to check how many books were published and how many were sold. This is the biggest secret of any publishing house. (By the way, the volume of the book market in Russia now ranges from $2.5 to 3.5 billion annually. This is a fantastic amount, comparable to the proceeds from the arms trade.) Alas, now the kind of fees that were paid to me no longer exist.
All this, of course, does not concern our conditional “stars of the pen.” According to rumors, Daria Dontsova earns about $150 thousand a month from books. I think Viktor Pelevin, Boris Akunin receive the same amount and Dmitry Bykov receives a little less. This amount includes fees for new books, reprints, royalties, film adaptations, and performances.
At the peak of Boris Akunin’s popularity, in 2005, Forbes magazine published data on his income: from July 1, 2004 to June 30, 2005, he earned just over $2 million.
In short, if you rise to the top, you can live. Another thing is that, unlike pre-revolutionary sales leaders, modern writers occupy an honorable place as writers is not entirely deserved. But that's a completely different story.
05/10/2010
This fall, Steven Spielberg was almost sued... for plagiarism. The living classic of Hollywood risked his freedom because of the film “Paranoia,” of which he was the executive producer. Indeed, the plot of this youth thriller is, to put it mildly, “with a beard.” The film's director and Spielberg collaborator DJ Caruso told the story of a bullying high school student who finds himself under police house arrest. Restricted in his movements, he sat down to watch the house opposite. After some time, the guy figured out that his polite and silent neighbor was a sophisticated maniac.
IN
disappear in the air
It would seem that there is no need to fence the judicial garden: the budget of the film is only 20 million dollars. However, Paranoia received several nominations for various film awards such as the Peoples Choice Awards and even competed for a box of golden popcorn from MTV for the best kiss of actors. And the film’s box office speaks of popular recognition - ordinary viewers bought $117 million worth of tickets. And now the heads of the Sheldon Abend Revocable Trust law firm wanted to take a piece of this American pie. They claimed that Spielberg and Co. had actually remade Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window. Hitchcock legally shot a film of the same name back in 1954 based on the story by Cornell Woolrich. And the rights to it belong to the Sheldon Abend Revocable Trust. Therefore, Spielberg cynically took advantage of Woolrich's literary heritage. However, the court rejected the plaintiffs' claims and closed the case. Yes, in both Hitchcock and Caruso, a person with limited mobility stares out of the window out of boredom and solves the crime. However, apart from this, nothing else fits: the heroes are different, the criminals are different, the murders are different, the time and place of action do not coincide... so the films are different. The case, as they say in such cases, is dismissed.
These hearings would have remained an unfortunate misunderstanding if Spielberg had not been the first director to be caught by Themis in a plagiarism case. After all, if wild actors, as a rule, are held accountable in court for fighting, drunk driving and drugs, then directors are usually accused of appropriating someone else's intellectual property. Thus, a certain Mexican filmmaker said that Mel Gibson copied some scenes from his film “Return to Aztlan” in his “Apocalypse.” Another master who paints the end of the world, Roland Emmerich, has appeared in court twice: first, a professor from Harvard accused him of plagiarism - he said that Emmerich had brazenly borrowed ideas for “The Day After Tomorrow” from his novel “The Ninth Arctic Day.” And then Emmerich was caught stealing ideas by a certain Chinese playwright. The Chinese even counted the number of scenes from two of his plays that Emmerich reproduced verbatim on the screen - 308. American screenwriter Dennis Hunter in court demanded a million dollars from Quentin Tarantino: they say that the enfant terrible of Hollywood stole the idea of the Kill Bill duology from him. The creator of Avatar, James Cameron, also got it.
Of course, the main argument of the “defense” is the memorized mantra: they say, ideas are in the air. And everything has already been invented before us, so almost any director can be accused of plagiarism if he did not pay money for the rights.
H
then how much
And what remains for the “poor” cultural masters? Interpret well-known stories in your own way. It is no coincidence that the rights to a remake, plot, or film adaptation of a book, comic book or computer game are much more expensive than the so-called original script (screenplay). The average salary for a Writers Guild of America member is only $50,000. It is for this kind of money that you can buy a high-quality script for a medium-budget film like “Paranoia”. While the amounts that producers spend on purchasing a truly fresh story almost always amount to millions. For example, Joan Rowling was sold into cinematic slavery by a Potter film for two million dollars. And she bargained with Warner Brothers for a percentage of the rental of subsequent films and all merchandising produced based on the film. Today her fortune is estimated at almost a billion pounds.
After selling the rights to the novel Below Zero, the bank account of the cult American writer Bret Easton Ellis was replenished with a million dollars. 20th Century Fox had to pay $10 million for the right to turn the Halo video game into a film. The original plot of "Terminator" - if someone wants to make a sequel or remake - will cost $29.5 million. The comic book company Marvell does not even consider offers below ten million. Thus, the production budget for the second part of “Spider-Man” increased by $20 million only because the acquisition of the rights to graphic novels about Spider-Man cost that amount. But by paying such mind-boggling money, the creators are counting on super profits. We are talking about works that have already proven themselves commercially. But no one wants to spend money on high art.
In the early 1990s, writer John O'Brien allowed director Mike Figgis to make a film based on his book Leaving Las Vegas for just two thousand dollars. In 2002, Graham Greene's widow received about a thousand pounds sterling for the rights to remake The Quiet American, based on the novel by her famous husband. However, the writer himself, when there was talk about film adaptations of novels, preferred to smoke on the sidelines. IN literally words: so, in 1949, without haggling, he parted with his classic novel “The Third” for just a few hundred pounds and... a box of cigars.
E
then in our opinion
Only the Soviet masters culture. The classic of Russian cinema, Eldar Ryazanov, admitted to Itogi: “In 1994, Emil Braginsky and I sold the rights to the film adaptation of two of our films, “The Irony of Fate, or Enjoy Your Bath!” and "Office Romance". The times were strange, Emil and I were completely unsavvy in legal matters and received pennies for it. We’ve already seen “Easy Steam” in a new form, but I’m not even going to watch “Roman.” Premiere of the film “Office Romance. Our Time" is scheduled for February 17, 2011. The production was carried out by the Leopolis film company. However, the company is not eager to discuss the legal underside of the project. There is information on the website that in the 1990s, Alexander Atanesyan became the copyright holder for the play “Colleagues” by Emil Braginsky and Eldar Ryazanov (it formed the basis of the film). Some time ago, they were bought from the director and producer by the head of Leopolis, Sergei Livnev. He also became one of the producers of the new version of the Soviet hit.
In general, fresh ideas in our new cinema are very rarely converted into crisp bills. The number of profitable films can be counted on one hand, one of them, by the way, is “The Irony of Fate: The Sequel.” It is not for nothing that producer Sergei Selyanov says in almost every interview that cinema in our country is an unprofitable business. So why not try turning to well-established old hits? Vladimir Menshov did not even suspect that director Andrei Kudinenko was making a remake of his 1976 film “The Hoax.” “I was informed about this when the picture was finished,” Menshov told Itogi, “and was invited to the premiere. Formally, I don’t even know whether the authors of the new version should have contacted me. The plot of this new film is very indirectly related to my film.” The scriptwriter of the original film was Semyon Lungin, and the new film was shot at the studio of his son, director Pavel Lungin. “The rights to the “Raffle” script have never been transferred or sold to anyone,” Pavel Lungin told Itogi, “they belong to me as an heir. We were not remaking the film, but the plot invented by my father. The script has been changed almost beyond recognition."
Today's screenwriters, directors and writers are much more pragmatic. So, according to rumors, the famous Boris Akunin asks filmmakers not to bother him if they cannot offer more than 500 thousand euros. Smart books and scripts are still inexpensive. National Bestseller Award winner Andrei Gelasimov admitted to Itogi that he sold the rights to the film adaptation of one of his award-winning novels for $25,000. The original script, according to one well-known producer, costs more - about 30 thousand euros. “On average today,” says Gelasimov, “a non-profit author is offered 10-15 thousand dollars for a book. And this is negligible. The global crisis has greatly affected film production, and rates have dropped significantly. Factor of. I recently met with an employee of a large film company and asked how much they would pay for the rights to a film adaptation of, say, a book by Lyudmila Ulitskaya. She said: “Not at all. We won’t sell such a film.” Here's the price you've been told. Zero. This is despite all the significance of Ulitskaya for modern culture. Draw conclusions."
The conclusion suggests itself: the Russian market for rights to cinematic versions and remakes is developed almost like Hollywood’s in terms of royalties. But the quality of films in most cases leaves much to be desired. We even learned how to buy and sell rights. True, so far serious money paid for plots and stories is increasingly being thrown away. Something is not visible while the Spielbergs are in their native land.
The modern market is overflowing with new authors, every day large publishing houses Dozens of new works are submitted, but most of them are refused publication. Fiction is in less and less demand; only specialized publications are still of interest to buyers. The ability to get a book for free from the Internet makes sales unprofitable and non-revenue-generating.
Average fee
The author usually offers the first work to several publishing houses. If someone undertakes the publication, an agreement is concluded that specifies the amount of the fee. Usually the writer is promised up to 20% of the cost of the book, but at the initial stage even 6-10% is an excellent option. The publisher's selling price is usually 30% of the cost, and it is from this that the calculation should be made. New authors are usually published in small editions to see the demand for the work. Up to 3 thousand copies are published by large publishing houses.
The author's fee can be calculated without effort. The average selling price of a paperback book in 2014 is 60 rubles. If 3 thousand copies are printed, and the author receives 5%, then he will put 9,000 rubles in his pocket. If he is lucky and the royalty is 10%, then his amount will increase to 18,000 rubles.
Reprinting of books
If a book is popular, if demand for it is growing, then there is a high probability of a second edition being released. In this case, royalties to the author are reduced, the percentage usually varies from 3 to 15%, but there is no need to write anything, the text is only re-sent to store shelves.
If the contract is drawn up correctly, then after a few years the books can be published in another publishing house, and then you can bargain for better conditions. Usually the price increases along with fame; if the author has earned the trust of buyers and a circle of fans has formed, then his fees can become more significant. But most writers still make money not from books, but from writing articles, reviews and other work. A book is an opportunity to make yourself known, not to get rich.
Rare chance
Today in Russia there are about 20 authors whose income from writing books is very significant. Their names are known to many; it is their recognition that allows them to be at the top of the ratings of modern authors. For example, Daria Dontsova for each new book receives about 7 million rubles, plus additional amounts from the reissue. Boris Akunin receives a little more than a million rubles for a new work, Alexandra Marinina is counting on 800 thousand.
JK Rowling was named the most expensive writer on the planet in 2014. Its annual income from reprinting and publishing books is more than $300 million. Huge circulation and publication in different countries world allows her to receive at least $500 every minute. But no author in Russia has received such fees yet.
(Quotes from the article, italics are my comments).
Forbes magazine published a list of the best-earning writers based on the results of 12 months from June 1, 2013 to May 30, 2014. American crime writer James Patterson returned to first place in the ranking. Over the past twelve months the writer earned $90 million. He is known for openly using "negro writers." With the help of such “co-authors”, Patterson publishes 14 books a year! “I’m not a great prose stylist. I'm a storyteller. There are a lot of people who don't like what I write, luckily there are millions of people who do!” In principle, I am also a storyteller who lacks these most devoted millions.
Second place in the ranking went to Dan Brown, whose income in 2013-2014 was $28 million. This guy writes rarely, but aptly. Brought him most of the money new novel“Inferno” + rights to its film adaptation. I respect Brown, although Inferno resembles a detailed guidebook, and not an exciting detective story, as he managed before.
In third place is Nora Roberts. Her income for Last year amounted to about $23 million. This woman writes detective stories at the speed of Dontsova, and they are all flavored with eroticism. The heroes are usually women. As soon as she leaves the office and goes to bed. And often you don’t even have to go out - he gets pleasure on the table. In fact, my books with erotic scenes also sell better than others on Amazon.
Only a million less than Nora Roberts, $22 million- earned another famous author of women's novels, Daniel Still. I haven’t read it, but judging by the covers, he writes a lot of terribly romantic stories.
In fifth place was Janet Ivanovich, author of a series of romance adventure novels about bounty hunter Stephanie Plum: she earned money in a year $20 million.And again an indispensable ingredient - lovingly!
Despite the rise in popularity of literature for children and teenagers, the author of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid seriesJeff Kinney managed to get to sixth position only: in 2013-2014 the author earned $17 million. After Gary Potter, kids need something to read, he has filled a niche.
Three more authors who earned $17 million each. Among them is the 26-year-old author of the Divergent trilogy for young adults.Veronica Roth, debuted in the top 12. However, Veronica Roth has every chance to rise higher in the rankings next year, since the film adaptation of the first of the books in her trilogy has seriously affected sales. Please note the age of the writer! In our country, such a takeoff is impossible in principle. Beginners are practically not printed!
In addition, they earned $17 millionJohn Grisham, Stephen King.Hats off to them!
Further on the list are several more names, including
Joanne Rowling,
released another detective story. I read it for the first time - the style is good, but the story is weak. How long will it take!
It should be noted that even those who were in 16-17 places grabbed 9 million! What can I say, don’t roll your lips. For those writing in Russian, such figures are unrealistic. In the near future I will try to estimate the income of our writers.
Interesting material about how much modern Russian writers earn. Zakhar Prilepin, German Sadulayev and other writers discuss this topic.
Boris Akunin. Photo: TV channel 24_DOC
Why St. Petersburg writers earn less than cashiers
They write poems and novels in their free time from their main work.
Vladimir Mayakovsky drove around Moscow in the first foreign car in the USSR. Sergei Yesenin was the owner of a cafe and two cinemas. Modern writers and poets cannot even dream of this. Many authors receive about 30 thousand rubles for one book (and it can take several years to write it). “MK” in St. Petersburg” found out why literary talent is so cheaply valued today.
Darya Dontsova. Photo: www.hozvo.ru
Poets only have enough for toilet paper
“I’ve never tried to live on literature,” says writer German Sadulayev (his novels were shortlisted for the largest literary awards “Russian Booker”, “National Bestseller” and “National Bestseller”. Big Book"). — Thank God, I have a small legal business. And almost all modern writers are forced to work somewhere. Because literature doesn't feed you.
Indeed, the writer Valery Airapetyan is a doctor. Andrey Astvatsaturov (his novels were shortlisted for the Dovlatov Prize, “New Literature”, “National Bestseller”) teaches at St. Petersburg State University. Andrey Gelasimov (winner of the Student Booker and National Bestseller awards) is a screenwriter. They write their novels in “free time from work” - at night, on weekends, on vacation. Otherwise you won't survive.
“Suppose the book was published in a circulation of 3 thousand copies,” says German Sadulayev. — Many writers receive approximately 10 rubles from each copy sold. That is, it is 30 thousand. True, if the novel sold well, the publishing house will release a new edition of, say, 5 thousand copies. And when they sell him too, the writer will receive another 50 thousand rubles. But this rarely happens.
For comparison, a cashier in a supermarket earns approximately 300 thousand rubles a year. And a writer who is not very well known to a wide circle of readers, but is talented and has been awarded book awards, at best - 80 thousand.
Things are even worse for modern poets. Even a migrant worker-janitor would be outraged by their earnings.
German Sadulaev. Photo: volternews.ru
“There’s enough money for a toothbrush, toilet paper, coffee and cigarettes,” says St. Petersburg poet Ivan Pinzhenin. - That's why I work as a tutor. German language and lead the holidays. Any. Weddings, birthdays, children's parties. I write poetry at night.
Unlike writers, whose books are still, at the very least, published, publishing houses look at poets as urban madmen. In most cases, they agree to publish their collections only if the poet himself pays for it.
— I have a collection of poems. But for some reason the Moscow Foundation “Economy and Development” gave me the money to print it. I have no idea why they paid attention to me,” says Ivan Pinzhenin. “In the end, I released 700 copies, and spent the proceeds from the sale on a new edition of my collection. By the way, he almost broke up. In general, I try not to get upset about all this. I always remember Alexander Blok: the first edition of his poem “The Twelve” was only 1,700 copies, and it also took a long time to sell out...
So that at least someone can hear his poems, Ivan Pinzhenin tours clubs. Most often provincial. There he reads his poetry, and then for a symbolic 100 rubles he sells his own books, which he takes with him from St. Petersburg in a large suitcase. He receives a “salary” from the club - as a rule, 60 percent of the proceeds from entrance tickets. But many people don’t go to poetry evenings. If 50 people gather, that’s already good. But Ivan is lucky; he is still more or less famous, albeit on the Internet. But no one suspects the existence of most St. Petersburg poets except themselves. Of course, no one will allow them to perform at the club.
According to the writers themselves, only commercial authors who “specialize” in science fiction can live on income from books in Russia. romance novels and detectives. Among them, for example, Daria Dontsova or Boris Akunin. Viktor Pelevin or Vladimir Sorokin are breathing behind them. But so far no one can repeat their experience. Even Zakhar Prilepin, although he last novel"Abode" has become the most a book to read in the country following the results of last summer.
“I have four children, and I can’t feed them only through literature,” says Zakhar Prilepin. — Therefore, half of all my income is not related to literature, but rather to the media sphere. In principle, small streams of “money” flow towards me from all sides. You can publish your articles in magazines, write scripts. If your books are translated into foreign languages, then you can get something for that too. I have all this, but for this I had to earn a name for myself for a very long time, work for it. In addition, there are also literary prizes, the winners of which receive very significant rewards: one to three million rubles. That is, every year about 20 writers win this money. There is, of course, an opinion that literary prizes there is its own mafia, which supposedly distributes prize money only among its own, sawing it with a handsaw. These are all tales for the poor. The money at stake is not so big that one would go on such “adventures” for the sake of it. Everything is fair, and no amount of acquaintances at the Ministry of Culture will help you win, say, the Russian Booker.
Eduard Limonov and Zakhar Prilepin
There is another source of income. The writer whose books are sold out in stores may be “outbid” by another publishing house. Almost like a football player. In this case, the publishing house acquires for a certain period (usually 3-5 years) the rights to all already published books and a couple of ones not yet written. Therefore, the amount that is transferred to the writer’s account becomes very impressive. Let's say that only one book can cost 300-500 thousand rubles... But such luck smiles only on a few.
“For many other writers, writer’s income tends to a minimum, to zero,” admits Zakhar Prilepin. “And then there’s this idiotic liberal idea that a writer should not receive money for his profession at all.” Like, in the damned USSR the state paid writers 2 thousand rubles for a book of poetry, and it was terrible, it’s totalitarianism! It’s better like it is now—when writers get nothing at all and quietly die somewhere in obscurity. Writers during the USSR received an endless amount of pleasures and benefits from Soviet power. Isaac Babel, for example, communicated with the security officers, was considered one of their people, and was at Yezhov’s birthday party. And the Imagists - Sergei Yesenin, Anatoly Mariengof, Vadim Shershenevich - had a cafe and two cinemas. Their cafe was tax exempt. And, by the way, this was the only establishment in Moscow that could work until 2 am. All others closed at 10 pm. These poets took the train and traveled on their own routes to tour the country. And Mayakovsky drove around in the first foreign car in the USSR... Of course, Yesenin’s life certainly could not be called wonderful. But he made money! He admitted that he received a ruble per line. Just like, by the way, Anna Akhmatova. For comparison, the salary of a secretary at that time was about 15 rubles, and a skilled worker - 25. But life was best for writers in the late USSR. Three good magazine publications and you can buy a car.
Literary ragamuffin
State support for literature, which was in the USSR, still exists in many European countries.
— For example, in Estonia, the state publishes books by little-known writers or poets at its own expense. Even if it’s a tiny edition of 100 copies,” says German Sadulayev. - But their writers work normally, develop Estonian, culture. The situation is similar in Norway. When they realized that they own literature is slowly dying, they have allocated a huge number of grants for writers who write their works in Norwegian and translate others. As a result, the detective story author Nesbe, for example, became a household name throughout the world. For comparison, we have the great and universally recognized writer Yuri Mamleev, who has done a lot for modern Russian literature. But his books are published in tiny editions because this literature is very complex. And he is literally in poverty! Recently he needed some help for treatment. And we collected money for him with the whole world. But this shouldn't happen! And we, finally, must understand that culture must be maintained; it will never be able to pay for itself. In the end, this is important for the self-awareness of the nation, for its pride. Otherwise, soon we will have nothing left of our own...
Yuri Mamleev. Photo: mag.afisha.ru
In addition to grants and scholarships for honored writers (their names should be determined by the expert community), writers offer to at least somehow support bookstores.
“For example, they need to reduce rent,” says writer Andrei Astvatsaturov. “Now it turns out that people who open a wine and bookstore pay the same amount to the state. It is not right.
It is possible that if the state at least somehow pays attention to literature, we will finally have great writers. There are no new names yet...
“I know a lot of people who wrote one or two books and left literature,” says writer, director of the Agency for Investigative Journalism Andrei Konstantinov. “They said: that’s it, I won’t bother anymore, because there’s a lot of work, but in material terms you get, as they say, a bag of onions.” And these people no longer grow into great writers, although they could. They get bored and leave this profession. And many of those who have nowhere to go are lumpenized. Sometimes you look at a famous writer, and he is dressed like a ragamuffin, and there is no cloud of prosperity around him. At one time, a similar situation existed in the education system. When the crisis happened, the first ragged people were professors, associate professors, and university teachers. And many young people looked at them like this: well, what can you teach me in your worn-out shoes, you’re a loser, and I don’t want to repeat your fate! By the way, we eventually lost our education system. The main thing is that the same does not happen to literature.
Text: Ekaterina Dementieva
