Chekhov's Mistress
RE: “The confessions of a semi-successful author”
I wrote this letter to the editor of Salon.com as a response to an article about the woes of a mid-list author who once was highly paid and now has to work a regular job:
“Teachers I know don’t make enough to live in the neighborhood of their students. (Classical) musicians I know don’t make enough to pay for their instruments. They practice their art in the glory of their poverty and accept the ineluctable lack of importance that our culture puts on these higher callings. Why should it be any different for writers?
Melville comes to mind as one of myriad writers who suffered financially for their art. He lived over a hundred years ago – long before the publishing industry became dominated by “stockholders and profit margins.” No serious reader or writer doesn’t lament the banal state of the publishing industry, but there are alternatives, such as self-publishing, or small publishers. A realistic view for someone who has had an $150,000 advance (many times the average income in this country) in their past? Perhaps not. But the anonymous author of this story, who one would surmise is fortunate enough to be supported by a spouse, only seems to lament her lack of ability to make a lot of money in this ‘new’ environment. And that, I believe, is missing the point.”
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About this Post
- Posted by: Bud Parr
- Date: April 07, 2004
- Filed Under:
Wise Men Fish Here: Literature
- Comments:0
- Links to this Post: Technorati
