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Hi Steven,
I have to say that I disagree with your point of view. Writing is not some "higher calling" - it's a job, like any other, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with writing for money, in order to pay the mortgage, and put food on the table, any more than it's "wrong" to do any other job for money. I used to write textbooks, and those were straight commercial jobs - a fixed price contract to do the job.
People who write for money aren't worse writers because of it. Would you think that a plumber who fixes your leaking pipe and charges you for it is a worse plumber than someone who fixes your pipe for love of fixing leaks?
I would say, in fact, that someone who writes for money has to be a better writer, generally speaking, than someone who writes as a hobby. If a hobbyist writes a bad book, he doesn't suffer any damage other than perhaps to his pride. If a professional author writes a bad book, he suffers from it financially.
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