This week I received the PLR statement for the year 1st July 2008 to 30th June 2009. For those who have never heard of Public Lending Right, this is a system introduced in the UK some years ago to provide a nominal sum of money for authors/illustrators for every book of their's borrowed from public libraries. The amount varies from year to year, indeed it is increasingly slightly every year because the 'pot' is shared by less books (library stocks are nowhere near what they once were) and hence less numbers are being borrowed. This is also reflected in my books, for it is the earlier books which are still on shelves that are being borrowed. The newer releases have either yet to get there or were not released in time for the year in question.
Payment will be made next month, won't take me on holiday but I should get a couple of nights out on the proceeds. This year the rate is 6.29 pence (up from 5.98 last year) per book, payment being made for a minimum of £1 and a maximum of £6,000 per author.
Similar schemes already exist in a number of European countries, most recently the Republic of Ireland. So if you have contributed to a book in some respect you should register and list each piece which may be borrowed, after all it costs nothing and is something every author and illustrator is entitled to receive.
Further information can be found at https://www.plr.uk.com and includes information on those schemes overseas.
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