"When I learned that most authors have to get another job that pays, it was a huge disappointment."

Authors & Money

Authors & Money is a short series of interviews with authors, inspired by author Lindsay Galvin.

I’ll be posting as usual on Mondays with an additional Thursday interview post until I run out of authors.

An interview with Zoe Lea, Author and Social Media Strategist

Why do you think women are often reluctant to talk about money?

I'm not sure they are, the women I know talk about money a lot - or maybe that's just me! I'm the one talking about money, ha!

But I've not always talked about it,  when I first went self-employed, I was about twenty-seven and I had some advice from a family member about money that stuck with me for ages. They said that if any one asked me how I was doing financially, I was always to answer negatively.

The thinking behind it being that if you said, 'I'm doing fantastic!' inevitably some would think you were showing off, or get jealous or whatever, but as I've gotten older I realise that it's just better not to have those people around me. I only want cheerleaders and people who are genuinely happy for my success, as I am for theirs. 

What is your relationship with money currently?

Great! I'm happy with what I've got but I've got big plans for making more. It's not so much the money I want, it's the freedom and experiences that it's going to bring me and my family. 

Did anything surprise you about the money side of publishing? 

I used to think that if you were a published author, you must be rich. That book deals were massive amounts and everyone who got a book deal was made for life. I have no idea where that belief came from, some 80's film probably, so when I did learn that most authors have to get another job that pays, it was a huge disappointment.

And even today, when I learn how low some advances are, how many authors give up because it's so hard writing a book and having to do that to deadlines whilst working full time is exhausting, it makes me feel really sad.

What do you think publishers could do to improve the financial side for authors? 

I think there should be set amounts for advances depending on experience. Like if you're a new author you get this amount for your first book deal, this for your second deal and so on.

And get rid of the 99p book deals! We all like a bargain, and I can't remember who it was, but someone started a thread on Twitter about people paying £3 or something for a birthday card with two words inside, and how we all now expect to pay less than a quid for 100,000 words. That's not a bargain, that feels like daylight robbery!  It feels like a race to the bottom, I keep thinking they'll be 50p soon and it makes them feel worthless, where books and stories and all they provide are in fact, priceless.

And transparency, I wish everyone would just talk about money more.

What’s your earliest money memory?

It's of a grandparent giving me some pennies to go in my purse. I remember feeling very responsible and grown up with them.

What’s the biggest money mistake you’ve made?

It was a huge mistake but it was one of the best things I ever did. 

In my first year of university, I got taken in by a scam. There was this closed shop on the high street, and for a few days, it opened up as some kind of bargain basement. They'd grab people from the street with the promise of rock bottom prices on stock that they were selling.

A couple of my friends had talked about it at university, explaining that if you were lucky enough to be passing when the shop opened, you could grab some amazing stuff at that you could then sell on. It was a great money spinner - if you were lucky enough to be around when they opened the doors and invited people in. 

I happened to be walking past with my boyfriend, (now husband) when the doors opened and they started shouting that a massive sale was about to start. Thinking we were the lucky ones, we went in gleefully along with a bunch of other people and they closed the doors behind us, congratulating us on our luck of being there. 

It was set up like a kind of auction house with this man at the front doing a brilliant job of convincing the entire room that we were all about to make a load of money. He had a pile of black bin bags and began to convince us that they were full of amazing stuff. What bargains we were going to get! What resale value they would have! This was a no brainer! We could sell them for triple what he was about to sell them to us for.

We were so naive. At one point, I remember going to the cash machine to get out more money and one of the men on the door tried to tell me not to. You can probably guess what happened, we paid hundreds for our black bin bag of what we thought was filled with designer, very expensive, brilliant stock, to open it and find out it was a really cheap music system.

I remember feeling sick. We'd just spent all our money, money that was meant for food, bills, books etc. on something that was of very little value. The shame was huge. I felt so foolish. But it taught us such a valuable lesson - there is no get rich quick scheme and never buy things you can't afford. 

We kept that cheap music system for years, the CD player packed in, then the tape deck, but we still kept it to listen to the radio on for as long as it lasted as a reminder. And the lesson it taught us served us well. 

I remember when my son was really little and I didn't have enough money for treats for him in the food shop. I was searching for coins behind the back of the sofa, looking in the car's glove compartment, that kind of thing, and I thought it would be so easy to take out a loan to see us through until the next pay day, then I could buy the chocolate, take him to the cinema etc. but that stereo system stopped me from doing it. 

I was privileged enough at the time that it was an option. I didn't have enough money for great food, but I had enough money for basic food and that was enough. We weren't going to starve, I just had to be really careful until the next pay cheque came in and if it hadn't been for the stereo system and remembering that feeling, I probably would've taken out many loans over the years. 

What’s the best thing you’ve ever spent money on? 

Property I think, we bought a house with money we were given as wedding presents, and all our savings at the time and it seemed so huge but it got us on the property ladder. 

What would you do with £10,000?

Holiday! And with what was left over I'd like to invest it in stocks that are connected to Web 3.0 as long-term winners  - either that or cryptocurrency, but I've not done either yet as it's too volatile, but if I had a couple of grand to play about with, that's where it'd go.