Mark Lawrence: 10 Years Full-time!

Friday, 14 March 2025

10 Years Full-time!

It is (give or take a fortnight) 10 years since I became a full-time author!

I was made redundant 😮

The story is here: https://mark---lawrence.blogspot.com/2015/04/redundant.html

I had, of course, been a part-time author for 4 years before that, since Prince of Thorns was published in 2011.

All in all, it was a good move, albeit one that circumstance kicked me into. When you have a mortgage and children - one of them profoundly disabled - it's nerve wracking to exchange a regular paypacket and a (seemingly) stable job for uncertain piecework. Against the odds though, it has worked out so far, and for that I am very grateful.

I've now been published by 36 different publishers in 28 languages and have sold over 3 million books worldwide.

In English Prince of Thorns has sold 720,000 copies - the UK paperback is in its 31st printing.

54% of those sales have been via my US publisher, 46% via my UK publisher.

I remember reading my contract back in 2010 and seeing a clause that marginally increased my royalty on any sales after 100,000 copies. I snorted at that line. It seemed so abstract. They might have well have added, 'And if aliens land it will go up to 10%'. I genuinely thought I would sell at the very most 5,000 copies. And it was a reasonable upper expectation.

You can never tell what will happen next, good or bad.

Very many thanks to all the readers who have kept picking up my books and who have thereby sustained me for the past decade. It's much appreciated.

My publishers!

UK Harper Voyager

US Penguin / Ace

Australia Voyager Australia

Bangladesh Paper Voyager

Brazil Darkside Books

Bulgaria Bard Publishing

Canada Penguin/Ace – Canada

China ChongQing

Czech Republic Talpress