Quote:
Originally Posted by TechnoCat
I think that depends more on the author than the genre. Entrepreneurs exist in all businesses. Including books. Harry Potter (Rowling) was written without any deal or advance. Tolkien wrote The Hobbit over roughly seven years with no publishing deal or advance. So many writers had their breaks with work they'd written before getting a contract or advance.
The real purpose of the advance is not to enable the writing, but to ensure that the publication house owns rights to publish it when it's ready.
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With all due respect, alternatives such as patronage , whether private or government, commission, or fan involvement, are far more problematic than the publishers. Self publication doesn't work except for certain types f fiction. Without publishers, I don't see great works of historical biography or of investigative journalism into an industry ( like "Four Fish" ) or corrupt political institutions ( like "All the President's Men").
You need someone more than one person sitting down to type on their computer after their day job to do the kind of work needed to write books like that.