J.A. Konrath summed up a model that would work well for him in his blog...
http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2010/01/booty-call.html
http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2009/1...ublishing.html
What I appreciate is that he's working for a realistic solid middle-class living to support himself - not a bloated infrastructure above him. He's also basing his decisions on reality (the situation that actually exists) as opposed to some idealized state that doesn't actually exist.
He also bases things on real-world numbers.