After receiving my first royalty check for Judgment on Tartarus, I can tell you one thing for darn sure: I'm never going to get rich by writing! Of course, I really didn't expect to, and I feel sorry for anyone who truly expects to become a millionaire overnight because of their writing. ( If I had a day job, I certainly wouldn't quit! )
The real rewards of writing aren't monetary. Writing novels isn't the way to make a fast, easy buck. If you don't love to write, you shouldn't try writing professionally---it's just not for you. ( Unfortunately, a lot of people these days believe they're capable of writing a hot bestseller! )
The raw, unvarnished truth is that only 1% of books published sell 250,000 copies or more. And authors receive a mere pittance for every copy sold. With the growing popularity of e-books, as well as other devices for reading, authors make an even smaller amount from each e-book sold, further lowering their royalty income.
Publishers complain that they aren't making a profit on most books they publish, can no longer afford to pay authors advances, or even to publicize their books! Short story markets are drying up at an alarming rate. Many magazines that used to publish fiction ---even online magazines!---have ceased publication. The future for authors of fiction, in particular, looks rather bleak.
We can only hope that a) the lousy U.S. economy improves markedly---soon!---and b) the generations coming up will become/remain avid readers. In my opinion the future of books of all kinds, magazines, publishers, and authors depends heavily upon these two factors.
Please---keep on reading!
MRTighe
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