We have discussed the financial struggle faced by the majority of published writers in a recent post, but the subject came back to the fore after a short piece in the April edition of Writers Magazine.

The piece covers the story of Catherine O’Flynn, and author who had her book, What Was Lost, rejected by fourteen literary agents, yet won the increasingly prominent Costa First Novel Award. In response, the Independent’s Literary Editor, Boyd Tonkin, offered his input on the expectations of new authors.

“Many illusions about the wealth of up-and-coming authors arise because the media publish wildly exaggerated estimates of the sums involved. Next time you read about a £1m advance, try dividing that by ten – at least.”

He goes on to say that the hope of giving up the day job is less than realistic:

Plenty of acclaimed writers of fiction never give up their previous occupation, or else acquire a new on (in teaching or journalism, for example)”

That last statement troubles me as it is far too black and white to offer a complete picture, and one should note the use of ‘acclaimed writers’, which, as O’Flynn’s experience with literary agents demonstrates, can be entirely disconnected with successful or popular writers.

Many writers may not give up the day job more out of choice than financial necessity. They may simply not be the kinds of authors who have a whole stream of novels queuing to get out, or, and with the level of effort required to produce a novel, not wish to be a novelist full-time. Being a successful, or acclaimed writer, surely does not exclude the possibility of doing it part-time.