Author Eithne Shortall started her writing career as a newspaper journalist. Her first novel, Love in Row 27, became a bestseller when it was published in 2017, and her second book, Grace After Henry, was shortlisted for the Irish Book Awards and won Best Page Turner at the UK Big Book Awards. The 37-year-old’s latest novel, The Lodgers, has just appeared in bookshops. Shortall lives in Dublin with her partner and two young children
What did you learn about money while growing up?
The satisfaction of earning my own money. I wasn’t allowed to get a proper part-time job until I was finished school but I was allowed to babysit. So I did my best to build up a babysitting empire. That funded my teen shopping until I had done my Leaving Certificate and started working as a waitress – which remains the job I think I was best at.
You reportedly signed a six-figure deal with a US publisher for your second book and your debut novel was optioned for a TV series. What’s been your most lucrative gig?
That stuff sounds great in a headline but when you break it down, it’s a little less exciting.
A two-book deal is paid out in stages over three or four years. If most people added up their salary over a three-year period, it would amount to six figures.
That said, it’s still a rare privilege to be able to make a living from writing and I am very grateful. In term of effort in for income out, the most lucrative gig is having a book translated: they pay you for the foreign language rights but you’ve already written the book.
When my debut was published, the UK advance was modest but I got six times as much for the German translation of it.
What did you learn about money while growing up?
The satisfaction of earning my own money. I wasn’t allowed to get a proper part-time job until I was finished school but I was allowed to babysit. So I did my best to build up a babysitting empire. That funded my teen shopping until I had done my Leaving Certificate and started working as a waitress – which remains the job I think I was best at.
You reportedly signed a six-figure deal with a US publisher for your second book and your debut novel was optioned for a TV series. What’s been your most lucrative gig?
That stuff sounds great in a headline but when you break it down, it’s a little less exciting.
A two-book deal is paid out in stages over three or four years. If most people added up their salary over a three-year period, it would amount to six figures.
That said, it’s still a rare privilege to be able to make a living from writing and I am very grateful. In term of effort in for income out, the most lucrative gig is having a book translated: they pay you for the foreign language rights but you’ve already written the book.
When my debut was published, the UK advance was modest but I got six times as much for the German translation of it.
