しかし、著名人による本の多くには、特に児童書がそうですが、プロのゴーストライターやその他の共同創作者が携わっています。知名度によって読者が本を手にとるきっかけを作った著名人から、ゴーストライター、そして物語に活力を与えるイラストレーターまで、作品作りに携わったクリエイター全員の貢献を認識するよう、業界各者に呼びかけます。この職人芸に携わるすべての人たちを賞賛することで、読者もより広く本を読むようになり、すべての著者と出版社にとって良い結果が生まれるだろうと、我々は信じています」。2/2

Writing a book, whether authoring an original work or translating a foreign-language book, is already a gruelling marathon of a job. Writers don't need the additional stress of trying to make ends meet on a starvation-grade pay. We hope to contribute to a meaningful solution, slowly but surely.

Fair trade in the North, otherwise known as 'domestic fair trade', has been a controversial concept. Moreover, most DFT movements focus on the agricultural sector, so a FT movement for the publishing sector can be controversial too. Nonetheless, there are good reasons for supporting such a movement.

Fair trade for authors and translators means certifying books as fair trade if the publisher guaranteed a living wage to the author and/or translator. Regardless of whether the book goes on to become a bestseller, writers deserve fair pay for their skills and labour.

Such a large-scale survey of the working conditions of authors and translators are forthcoming in many other countries including Japan, but based on anecdotal evidence and small-scale surveys run found on the web, it is not a stretch to say that the situation is no better for most writers.

For instance, a 2022 large-scale study run by CREATe in the UK showed that the median income of primary occupation authors from their books was a shockingly meagre £7,000. The same figure stood at $ 10,000 in the United States, according to a study conducted by the Authors Guild in 2023.