You Won't Make Great Money as a Novelist

Writing the Great American Novel (the GAN).

It's a dream for many an English major and English teacher. We all see the huge contract with a generous advance, as well envisioning publishing parties in New York with hip people like Michael Stipe and Malcolm Gladwell in attendance. We also envision being able to stop working - teaching or bar tending or landscaping or working in sales - because we all know that published authors make millions of dollars.

Alas, it's really not so.

This week on Salon.com "bestselling author" Patrick Wensink comes clean about how little money he made for his independently published book which spent weeks atop the Amazon bestseller list. In reality, publishing is a complicated industry, and there is really not that much money to be made by selling books.