Writing is both an occupation and an industry input: writers produce books, journalism, educational materials, technical content, academic works, and other published formats. In the United States, about 135,400 people held writer and author jobs in 2024, while the UK publishing market generated £7.4 billion in 2025. The figures below separate workforce measures from publishing revenue and identify the relevant country and measurement period.
Contents
- U.S. writers and authors: workforce and pay
- Where U.S. writers work
- U.S. employment outlook
- UK publishing revenue and trade
- UK consumer publishing formats and genres
- UK education publishing
- UK academic publishing
U.S. writers and authors: workforce and pay
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported about 135,400 jobs held by writers and authors in 2024. This is an occupation measure, not a count of every person who writes professionally or earns occasional income from writing. The occupation includes writing and authorship work across multiple industries.
The median annual wage for U.S. writers and authors was $72,270 in May 2024. The corresponding median hourly wage was $34.75. Median figures divide the occupation into two equal groups, so they describe the midpoint rather than the average or a typical freelance invoice.
Pay varied substantially across the occupation. The lowest-paid 10% earned less than $41,080 annually in May 2024, while the highest-paid 10% earned more than $133,680. This spread is useful context when comparing an occupation-wide median with individual writing careers, which can differ by employer, specialization, experience, and work arrangement.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics also reported different median annual wages by employing industry in May 2024:
| U.S. employing industry | Median annual wage | Measurement period |
|---|---|---|
| Information | $73,070 | May 2024 |
| Educational services | $71,340 | May 2024 |
| Professional, scientific, and technical services | $69,020 | May 2024 |
| Religious, grantmaking, civic, professional, and similar organizations | $66,490 | May 2024 |
These industry medians should not be read as a ranking of every writing specialty. They describe writers and authors employed within the listed industries and use the Bureau’s occupation definitions. Source: Writers and Authors: Occupational Outlook Handbook.
Where U.S. writers work
Self-employment was a major part of the U.S. occupation in 2024: self-employed workers accounted for 63% of writers and authors, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That proportion helps explain why occupation-wide pay data should be interpreted alongside work structure. A self-employed writer may operate through contracts, assignments, royalties, or a mix of income sources, while an employed writer receives wages from an organization.
Among the specific employing industries reported for 2024, professional, scientific, and technical services employed 11% of U.S. writers and authors. The information industry employed 9%, educational services employed 3%, and religious, grantmaking, civic, professional, and similar organizations employed 2%.
Together, these figures show that writing is distributed across several parts of the economy. The percentages are shares of U.S. writers and authors employed in the named industries, not shares of each industry’s entire workforce. They also do not represent the complete distribution of all writers, because the source highlights selected industries and separately identifies self-employment.
U.S. employment outlook
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projected that U.S. employment of writers and authors would grow 4% from 2024 to 2034. The same projection covered about 13,400 openings per year on average during that period. Openings include opportunities created by employment growth and by the need to replace workers, so annual openings are not the same as the projected net increase in jobs.
A separate national employment matrix reported that writers and authors accounted for 0.1% of total U.S. employment in 2025. That source projected an average of 11,900 annual openings for writers and authors from 2025 to 2035.
The two projections use different periods and report different annual-opening estimates. They should therefore be kept separate rather than combined into a single forecast. The 2024–2034 projection comes from the Writers and Authors: Occupational Outlook Handbook, while the 2025–2035 figures and the 0.1% employment share come from Occupational projections and worker characteristics.
UK publishing revenue and trade
The Publishers Association reported UK publishing revenue of £7.4 billion in 2025, up 3% from 2024. The UK publishing home market generated £2.6 billion, also up 3%, while publishing exports generated £4.7 billion, up 4%.
Revenue was split between print and digital publishing in 2025. Print publishing revenue was £3.8 billion and was unchanged from the prior year. Digital publishing revenue was £3.6 billion, up 7%. These figures describe revenue categories for UK publishing and are not a direct measure of writer earnings or publisher profit.
The 2024 comparison provides a separate baseline: UK publishing revenue totaled £7.2 billion in 2024, up 1% from 2023, and publishing exports generated £4.5 billion, up 3% from 2023. The 2024 results are reported in Audiobooks and fiction drove growth in 2024, while the 2025 results are reported in Publishing reaches highest ever revenue in 2025.
The UK publishing categories below show why a single industry total can conceal very different market movements. Consumer, education, and academic publishing each had a distinct revenue level, geography split, format mix, and growth rate in 2025.
UK consumer publishing formats and genres
UK consumer publishing revenue reached £2.6 billion in 2025, up 3%. The consumer home market generated £1.6 billion, up 3%, and consumer exports generated £1.1 billion, also up 3%. Print accounted for 79% of UK consumer publishing revenue.
Consumer print revenue was £2.1 billion in 2025, up 2%, while consumer digital revenue was £558 million, up 7%. The format figures point to faster digital growth even though print remained the larger revenue category.
Genre performance also differed. UK consumer fiction revenue was £1.1 billion in 2025, up 8%. Consumer non-fiction revenue was £1.0 billion, down 3%, and children’s publishing revenue was £493 million, up 7%. Digital audiobooks produced £255 million, up 10%.
| UK consumer publishing measure | 2025 result | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Total consumer publishing revenue | £2.6 billion | +3% |
| Consumer print revenue | £2.1 billion | +2% |
| Consumer digital revenue | £558 million | +7% |
| Consumer fiction revenue | £1.1 billion | +8% |
| Consumer non-fiction revenue | £1.0 billion | -3% |
| Children’s publishing revenue | £493 million | +7% |
| Digital audiobook revenue | £255 million | +10% |
The 2024 consumer figures show a different year’s pattern and should not be treated as a restatement of 2025. UK consumer publishing recorded 696 million net units in 2024, up 5%. Consumer digital revenue was £566 million, up 17%, and audiobook revenue reached £268 million, up 31%. Source: Audiobooks and fiction drove growth in 2024.
UK education publishing
UK education publishing revenue was £636 million in 2025, down 4%. The home market generated £167 million, down 13%, while education publishing exports generated £469 million and were unchanged from the prior year.
Print remained the principal reported format in this segment: UK education print revenue was £538 million in 2025, down 2%. The result indicates that education publishing experienced declines in both total revenue and print revenue, with the home market falling faster than exports.
For comparison, UK education publishing revenue was £640 million in 2024, down 3%. The 2024 and 2025 figures are separate annual measurements from the Publishers Association. The 2025 results appear in Publishing reaches highest ever revenue in 2025, and the 2024 result appears in Audiobooks and fiction drove growth in 2024.
UK academic publishing
UK academic publishing revenue reached £3.7 billion in 2025, up 5%. The academic home market generated £860 million, up 7%, and academic publishing exports generated £2.9 billion, up 5%.
The 2025 academic total was substantially export-oriented by the reported market split: exports were measured at £2.9 billion compared with £860 million for the home market. That geography distinction matters when interpreting the sector’s growth because the total includes both domestic and international activity.
The previous annual dataset reported UK academic publishing revenue of £3.5 billion in 2024, down 1%. Within that 2024 measure, UK academic journal revenue was £2.5 billion, up 3%, and academic digital revenue was £2.7 billion, up 4%.
The 2024 journal and digital figures are category measures from that year and should not be added to the 2024 academic total. They describe overlapping dimensions of the market rather than separate, mutually exclusive revenue pools. The 2024 figures come from Audiobooks and fiction drove growth in 2024; the 2025 total and market split come from Publishing reaches highest ever revenue in 2025.