Michael Allen explains the big bucks behind big books
There has always been big money in publishing. I’ve never seen much of it myself, and you probably won’t either – but it’s interesting to know how it’s earned.
So we’ll start with Sir Walter Scott. In the early nineteenth century Scott was a highly successful novelist, but he was also a partner in a printing firm owned by his friend James Ballantyne. In 1825 this firm went bust. Scott was left with a personal liability for debts which amounted, in present values, to over £9.6 million. He refused the many offers of help and dedicated himself to writing more books at a prodigious rate. By the time of his death in 1832 he had almost paid off the debt, and it was fully discharged shortly after he died.