CATCH UP & TIMES ARE CHANGING

CATCH UP

As I've been blogging more on my own websites I have missed attached anything to this site. And if truth be told had forgotten I still had it. Coming across it by accident I have decided to start adding those posts I have missed including over the last few months. I hope those that start reading this blog will enjoy my additions.

In the meantime, I am starting with what happened today. This is of course due to the current situation we are all experiencing and shows the desperation and upset that our trying to survive can cause.

TIMES ARE CHANGING

Having owned and been involved in a number of businesses for many years I today sat and listened to someone head up one of the hardest meetings anyone has ever had to give. Many business owners, especially in the unusual times that we are experiencing, will undoubtedly face an uncertain future. Whilst many are hoping, and want their livelihood to continue, they have to face the reality of reassessing what will happen in the coming months.

Over the years I spent in business and particularly whilst being involved in the accountancy world I met many such business owners. I saw the devastation that unforeseen events can throw at us, forcing owners to face the reality that life as they knew it was about to change forever. The hardest part was the heartbreak they knew they would lay on others who were directly involved with them. People such as their workers, suppliers, customers as well as those third parties indirectly connected.

Any decisions made are only done so after many sleepless nights. The worrying about how others will react. The thinking of what those people, as well as their own family, will do going forward. The loss of weight caused by lack of eating and the sick feeling as the inevitable moment draws closer when you have to say, “Things must change.”

Not only did I understand what the person making such an announcement today was going through I also had total empathy, having experienced that moment myself in the past. In my case I was fortunate as I had prepared for the inevitable and led my way into that moment of change.

What it made me realise is that it is often forgotten by others that those who take up the mantle of business, especially the smaller or unusual type of business, such as a small retail shop, printing services, dry cleaners or a small publishing house, are normally just one-man bands. They invest not just their money but a great deal of their time and effort in ensuring that their customers benefit to the best of their advantage. Often the amount of time they spend working outweighs the normal 40-hour week of employed people, with their week-ends being filled with those little jobs they perhaps didn’t have time to complete during the week.

This country is built on solid businesses and we will, unfortunately, see many such meetings as today, happening again and again during the coming months. However, with understanding and patience, I trust and hope that those in this situation, including the person who made the announcement today, will come through, battle-weary but stronger for it. While it may take longer than anticipated, with continued support we should see success. I know I for one will be fully supporting them all where I can.

UNIVERSAL CREDIT THREATENS FUTURE WRITERS

According to the Society of Authors it has warned MPs that the changes to Universal Credit could silence working-class writers, impeding diversity in publishing and thus making it harder to attract different types of readers.

Speaking at the All-Party Parliamentary Writers Group inquiry into authors’ earnings on Tuesday (30th October), the SoA chief executive Nicola Solomon cautioned MPs that Universal Credit - awarded as a single monthly payment to people who are on a low income or out of work (twice monthly for some in Scotland) -could be detrimental to some authors’ income, forcing them to give up writing all together.

The SoA further explained that under the old system, currently in the process of being phased out, some authors with low earnings are able to claim working tax credits to supplement their income, thus ensuring they continue writing as a profession. But replacing this with the Universal Credit means self-employed people have to meet the “Minimum Income Floor” (an assumed level of earnings, based on what the government expects an employed person to receive in similar circumstances) in order to receive benefits. This is a threshold many writers are unable to reach. "This is equivalent to the National Living Wage for most working-age people," SoA said. "Given that the median annual income of a professional author is about £10,500, well below the National Living Wage, many authors will lose their entitlement to benefits under the new scheme."

Ms Solomon highlighted to MPs in her testimony to the inquiry that authors, including the likes of JK Rowling and 2018's Man Booker winner Anna Burns, have depended on the benefits system to support their writing. In the acknowledgements of Milkman (Faber), Burns notably gave thanks for the support of benefits from the Department for Work and Pensions that - along with the support of her local food bank, various charities and the SoA - enabled her to write her acclaimed book; sales of which reached the highest volume of any winner in the BookScan era in the week after winning the prestigious prize.

Unfortunately, claims the SoA, changes to the benefits system risks driving such working-class writers out of the industry. "From JK Rowling to Anna Burns, many authors have depended on the benefits system to support their writing. But, the design of the Universal Credit fails to recognise the reality of the work of authors or other self-employed workers in the cultural sector," said Solomon told the inquiry.

"Universal Credit risks driving working-class authors and other under-represented voices out of the profession. This would have a shocking impact on the diversity of stories being told. If writing is seen as a privilege then, only the privileged will be able to write. This gives us an incredibly narrow group of people who can afford to write, which in turn will make it harder to attract new readers and lead to a narrowing of our readership base."

NB We all know that writers are not in it for the money but this action will destroy more than just the pleasure of writing as less books produced will be detrimental to our children, grandchildren and future great-grandchildren.

Courtesy of the Society of Authors

FINDING TIME TO WORK??

Well I am delighted to say I have received the first draft print copies of the second series of the Little Friends Picture Story Books - Garden Adventures. I have to say they are looking good but as is normal the print is all askew. Hey Ho that's the joy of POD which my publisher says will be sorted PDQ!!!

Anyway after going through them carefully I have done some word amendments and some image amendments and hopefully they now look better and are ready to be printed correctly.

Luckily the front covers have not been changed and unlike my copies of the first set of Woodland Adventures they include a bar code and retail price? Ha ha well, these things do happen sometimes.

I have to say people who have reviewed the books are also delighted with them so I hope once the last lot are complete I can start promoting them with a vengeance.

Having said that I must confess that when I set out to write these stories it was purely for my own pleasure. After all I am supposed to be retired so it was a way to keep the 'little grey cells working.' Although I will confess it has been an enjoyable experience being involved in the fictional writing world. And certainly different to the factual one.

And of course it has introduced me to a variety of different people who have made the last few years very interesting and enjoyable. It's true what they say you do need a hobby and once retired you wonder how you ever found time to work???