Mysterious Matters: Mystery Publishing Demystified
Not sure who the mysterious blogger is behind this one, but he is "right on the money" with his observations. For instance, take a good look at this recent post on Overblurbing, Underselling, and the Dustbin of History. What caught my attention in particular (and kept popping to mind over this last week) is his point #3:
... it's occurred to me recently that today's mystery authors are working harder than I've ever seen to establish themselves. The crop out there right now is fairly desperate to achieve a level of familiarity, sales, and royalties that will provide them with continued contracts and livable income. The word "desperate" may have a pejorative connotation, but I don't mean it that way. What I mean is that so many writers want so badly to be best-sellers, or at least good-sellers; more so than at any time in my career...It's something I (and some of my long-time writing buddies) have noted as well. The blogger of Mysterious Matters then goes on to offer thoughts on why this is so ... mentioning the current state of the economy, and so on. He concludes:
This is why I have said in the past, and I will say again, that writing fiction should never be considered anything beyond a hobby--especially if you have a family to support.At which point I wanted to leap to my feet and yell "Hallelujah!" or some such. Because, truly for 98% of us, this is the case. And people just don't want to talk about it, for the most part. But honestly, if you can't buy groceries and health insurance and pay the mortgage with your writing endeavors, well, another source of income is needed. And there's nothing wrong with that. What's troubling/alarming is meeting folks who think writing fiction is a way to "get rich quick." Hmmm. Kinda reminds me of the Silver Rush in Leadville ....
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