Post #4336199

2026-08-01 16:20 UTC

@paul_ipv6@infosec.exchange Precisely. A good friend who is also a world-class scholar got 10K for a book that she spent 10 years writing. On one hand, there is not a huge audience for academic books. On the other hand, everyone in the publishing house was earning a living wage.

Replies (1)

@maccruiskeen@social.linux.pizza 2026-08-01 18:13

@Teri_Kanefield@mastodon.social @paul_ipv6@infosec.exchange When I worked for Mamillan in New York, my wage was not really a 'living' wage. (They were notoriously cheap in those days.) And it is a wage, a work-for-hire deal. If the book sells a little, or a lot, it is the same fee. When I was freelancing, I didn't always get a lot of choice about what I was working on. I mean if a production editor called me up and said, please proofread this vampire romance novel for no money, of course the answer would be no. It's not my book, I have no ownership interest in it. Do you think writers should be paid the same way? I mean, some writers do work that way. They get assignments, they get a fee, they do the job and walk away.

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