Lecture 24: Making a Life as a Fiction Writer
o Depending on how much money the publisher paid for the
book, the writer might be sent on a tour of bookstores, and a
publicist might arrange interviews. Lucky writers might have
their work reviewed in newspapers and magazines. Most
published writers, however, were lucky if they sold enough
copies to earn back their advances, which meant that publishers
would at least take a look at their next books.o There were a handful of writers who got rich off their books
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who were able to live off their royalties, but the vast majority
of writers considered themselves lucky to be in print, to make
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holding down a day job.z This process is still the main way that many writers get published, and
it’s still the way most writers would probably prefer to be published.
But in the past 30 years, the publishing industry has gone through
enormous changes.
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one division of a much larger corporation. These publishers are
looking for market blockbusters that will appeal to a large and
diverse readership or books that can be marketed to a particular
niche. The PLGOLVWZULWHUV today earn smaller advances and get
less attention from editors or do not get published at all.o Second, there are now a large number of small, independent
presses that publish the authors the Big Five are no longer
willing to publish or promote. These don’t pay much, and their
books don’t usually get much attention from the mainstream
press, but their editors devote much more attention to the books
they publish, they treat their authors with respect, and they are
more likely to keep the books in print for a longer time.o 7KHWKLUGFKDQJH²DQGWKHRQHWKDWKDVGULYHQWKH¿UVWWZR²LV
the rise of the Internet, the digital revolution, and the success of