Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
Believe me (speaking as a former author), writing for many is just a job like any other - a way of putting food on the table and paying the mortgage. This "romantic ideal" of people "writing for love" is all very nice, but, with all due respect, I really don't think it bears much connection with the "real world".
If you want people to carry on writing books, please support them by buying those books (whether paper books or eBooks).
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And again the "real world" you're talking about is a world that's rapidly disappearing in the face of a new "reality" brought on by file sharing. I do buy books, I do support authors, but the old models are crumbling. The quaint notions of copyright are all but dead in the face of the internet generations. Writers in this new "reality" will write for love, for readers, for the sheer joy of creation. The romantic ideal will become the norm when the publishers fade away, and the way they're acting at the moment, it can't be too long. A whole new culture of exciting, individual voices will rise up and be heard, maybe even subsidised by the readers. Paying the mortgage, putting food on the table, will require a real, boring job just like everyone else.
I think you hit the nail on the head with your first sentence, if a writer is treating their work as 'just like any other job' then why is said writer bothering? Christ, there's a lot of easier, less emotional ways to make money. And I hear that McDonalds is hiring year round.