I recently received my first royalty payment for SOCKWORLD.  It was all of two figures, enough for dinner for two in a cheap restaurant.  Well, I haven’t dined in a restaurant lately.  Better make that dinner for one, with a twenty percent tip.  Better make that fifteen percent.  My first published story appeared in a literary journal in the 1980’s.  More have been published over the years, all in non-paying literary journals.  This is the first time I’ve been paid as a writer, so, though it is a small amount, it is kind of a big deal for me.

I have said all along that getting my book published was never about the money for me, and that is still true, but, in so far as the money is an indication of how well the book is doing, the small amount of royalties is disappointing.  I have not given up at all.  I continue to try to get the book noticed with all the means available to me.  Publication came at the end of nine years of rejections, so I am not one who gives up easily.  In the meantime, I buy a copy a month to make it look like the book is selling steadily.

It is possible, indeed likely, that I will not break even on the book — there have been expenses like contest entry fees, the cost of maintaining an author’s website, paint and canvas for the book cover, etc.  Not breaking even is not great, but it is OK.  There was a time when I thought I could make a living as a cartoonist, and a time when I thought I could make a living as a painter.  (I couldn’t).  I’ve been writing for just as long but never thought I could make a living at it. 

How many people do make a living as writers?  Well, we know newspaper reporters make a living at writing, though, with most print newspapers on life support, it is a precarious living.   News writers of old were, according to legend, known to spend a good chunk of their paycheck on liquor.  Today’s reporters probably spend that money on anti-anxiety medication.   Let us narrow the investigation to creative writers, well, novelists.  I don’t imagine even one poet makes a living solely from poetry, unless they work for Hallmark, writing classics like, ‘you’re so fine, you’re so sassy, and you’ve got a smokin’ chassis – happy birthday Grandma!”  Of the roughly gazillion novelists working today, how many make a living solely from writing?  I could find no solid statistics.  My guess would be 5 to 10 percent.  That may be high.  Even our greatest writers often end up teaching college classes to pay the electric bill and get medical insurance. 

After almost a year since publication I asked my editor to show me the money.  He showed me the money.  The next time I ask I’ll be prepared.  I’ll bring a magnifying glass.