EDITORIAL

Money isn’t everything

Splashy headlines about advances the size of telephone numbers and the swelling coffers of J K Rowling and Dan Brown give the impression that writers only drink champagne and eat the finest caviar. Sadly, as my feature on page 9 reveals, most writers’ budgets stretch to beans not Bollinger.

Far from the ‘six-figure advances’ trumpeted in newspapers, most receive less than £12,000. When one considers the time it takes to write a book, as historian Antony Beevor notes, they’d be better off working in Sainsbury’s. The economic reality of writing is that, for most, giving up the day job is not an option.

Should we ever write with a chequebook in mind? No! Writing is about craft and creativity, and without a passion for either we risk churning out flat prose that will never light the fire of a reader’s imagination. But that doesn’t mean we should be ignorant of commercial realities. In fact, being clear-minded on that count could help you win the literary lottery, like Mslexia subscriber Diane Setterfield.

This month’s issue of Mslexia, which I am guest editing while Debbie Taylor is away publicising her new novel and touring with the Mslexia Roadshow, is packed with information that should help you understand the market better (such as Debbie’s fascinating guide to turning your life into fiction) and produce a manuscript that will wow an editor (see Julia Bell’s Dressed to Thrill). Whether you get that big advance or not, I hope it inspires you to write for your life.

Danuta Kean
Guest Editor