on The Creative Penn:

These are extraordinary times and every day sees dramatic change due to the global sweep of coronavirus COVID19. There will be many impacts on our lives, but one thing we will all need is immediate cash flow and this can be a problem for authors.

In the UK, an emergency fund has already been launched, but with physical bookstores closing, and speaking and teaching events canceled, many authors will struggle.

If you publish through traditional publishing, royalties can take many months to arrive. You can’t control the schedule of payment and you don’t get any details of the customers.

If you publish independently through online publishers like Amazon, Kobo, Apple, Google, and other distributors, you will get your money sooner — but it will still be 30-60 days later and once again, you don’t get any details of the customers.