What is PLR and why should authors know about it?
A bit of an impromptu blog post today, but today I received one of the best emails an author receives all year - from the British Library, with a link to my PLR statement. And on the statement was the amount of money my books had earnt from libraries across the UK in the past year.
This money will be winging its way into my bank account in the not-so-distant future.
There is also a similar scheme for books borrowed from libraries in Ireland (Irish PLR).
So I thought it was my public duty to write about this wonder in case there are any authors out there reading this blog who have no idea that this is A Thing, and also that this is an additional revenue stream for all published authors and not to be missed!
(Especially given that most authors are not, as many believe, rolling in money, a la JK Rowling 🙄)
What is PLR?
PLR stands for Public Lending Right and is basically a payment that the government makes every time someone borrows your book from a library.
It’s possibly one of the only things the government does to support authors and although it has come under threat of being abolished several times, thankfully so far it hasn’t been.
The rate per loan for this year is 13.69p, which means every single time someone borrowed a copy of your book from the library last year, you accrued 13.69p.
You might have already worked out that this amount is more than most authors get when they sell a 99p ebook, so it’s definitely not something to be sniffed at.
The maximum payment available is a whopping £6,600 per year, which is an incredible additional income for any author.
And it’s not just authors who are eligible - illustrators, photographers, translators and ghost writers are all able to receive some remuneration for their contribution to a published book.
How do you get PLR for your books?
You simply have to register all the books that you have worked on, in all formats, with the British Library.
You’ll then receive payment whenever they are borrowed.
It used to be dead simple - you just had to create an account with the British Library and inside the account you could add all your books.
However, the British Library was subject to a massive cyber attack in 2023, and so at the time of writing, you aren’t able to register books online.
Instead, you have to email them and they will send you a form to fill in.
Is there a deadline for registering your books?
Yes. In order to receive payment the following spring, all books must be registered by the end of June.
Unfortunately if you miss this deadline, you won’t be eligible to receive backdated payments, so do make sure that ALL your formats for ALL your books are registered in time.
What if I’m based abroad?
As far as I am aware, you have to be a UK resident in order to receive PLR payments. Sorry!
There are similar schemes set up in 35 countries across the world, so if you are based abroad, it’s worth investigating if there’s something similar that you could benefit from where you live.
I do know however that there isn’t a similar scheme in the US, although I believe there is a campaign to launch one. If you’re a US author, it’s certainly worth asking your agent or author friends about it.
What about ALCS?
The Authors Licensing and Collecting Society is a similar scheme that enables writers and authors to receive payment anytime someone makes a copy of your work (for example people making photocopies of pages of your book in a school).
While fiction authors won’t find they earn much from ALCS, this is a great scheme for non-fiction authors and journalists, and definitely worth registering either way.
They also collect PLR money from countries abroad with which the UK has reciprocal agreements.
You can find out more about ALCS here →
So if you haven’t already, please do go ahead and take a few minutes to register your titles (and remember to register ALL formats too, so hardback, ebook, audio as well as the more obvious paperback).
You will thank your past-self next spring!
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