Duh. No one but an idiot writes for the money.
An agent on Twitter threw out the idea that the publishing model needs to change–specifically, that advances should be smaller or occur not at all. Discussion, naturally, ensued. Some of the responders had my fingers itching to grab a salmon and introduce them to some sense. *
Stated repeatedly, in varying ways but all meaning the same, was “I don’t write for money! I just want people to read my work!”
My reaction, in the short version, would then be “so post it on the web.” You get read, and you get the hell out of the way of those who want to be professionals.
News flash: Professionals do not work for free. Would you expect an architect to just give designs away? Or a doctor to never charge? How about a lawyer who does only pro bono work?
“But those guys go to school for years!” Yeah, and what have you been doing to learn your craft? I know that I’ve been writing for nearly thirty years, studying books and websites and writing some more. Will you tell me that much time isn’t worth anything?
I, too, want to be read. Not only am I pretty proud of what I’ve done, I love for my work to be enjoyed. That’s why there are bits and pieces stuck all over this blog and over on LJ. I am not seeking to get published because of the money; I want to share this joy with anyone I can. But the money is part of what I hope to attain, mostly so at some point I can give up the current day job and earn my living doing what I love most, what I was born to do.
In case you hadn’t noticed, people respect authors little enough as it is. (Don’t believe me? Tell a stranger you’re a writer, but no, they’ve never heard of you.) They don’t understand; please don’t make it worse. Please don’t further devalue the work we do.
Again–you can attain quite a following on LJ, if all you want is to be read.
* it occurs to me that I may not have mentioned my propensity to beat people with aquatic life before on this blog. I won’t explain it now. Simply trust that the size and ickiness of the fish chosen are meaningful.