A Distant Soil by Colleen Doran

This article was originally written several years ago on the old blog, and has been moved here complete with most of the comments. The material is still timely!

Following up on our jolly article about Mark Twain’s get rich quick schemes, the sad truth is there is no surer way to get poor quickly and permanently than by becoming a writer.

While a very small percentage of writers rake in the cash, the low income echelons increase as the internet and book pirating cut into writer’s profits. According to this survey, the average writer in Britain makes no more than 4,000 pounds per year (about $6,000)! Of course, many of them continue to believe they will break that exclusive club of top ten percent of income earning phenoms, despite all evidence to the contrary.

“Jane”…is now on her fourth book, in her forties, with a devoted band of readers. They see her on stage at literary festivals, elegant and eloquent and just a little bohemian, and think: “There is a writer who’s made it.” They don’t know that the advances have dwindled down to £10,000 a time (from which the agent and taxman take their share; and for a book that usually takes about two years to write). They don’t see the bills threatening to make her sell her house.

Jane doesn’t want me to use her real name in case it upsets her publisher or fans. Neither does she want them to know that she works in the local Waitrose for cash, as well as teaching and tutoring.

“People come and see me all bright-eyed, dreaming of being a writer,” she said.

“They’ve got the idea that anyone can do it. That’s what people think: that it’s so easy. I wish! I tell them I’ve been training since I was seven.” Others do have talent. “They tell me it’s their calling. I say it will have to be. I don’t want to crush them, but the best advice if you want to eat is: ‘Do something else.’”

Copyright pirating, especially online, is a major problem for writers (and artists) whose work can be downloaded for free at any time. Writers are desperate to come up with ways to make the internet pay, but many consumers who use the internet are accustomed to getting their entertainment for free. They see no reason to buy a book or piece of art when they can have it from websites around the world.

A…crisis meeting (was) called by the ALCS at the British Library on Thursday, but some of the most distinguished names in British literature were there to discuss the plummeting income of authors and the copyright issues that threaten to make it worse. Some raged against Google’s plans to make whole books available online for free. The poet Wendy Cope lamented the ease with which you can download her own works and those of other poets for free.

“With every new technological development, our copyright becomes more precious,” said Maureen Duffy, writer and honorary president of the ALCS, “and yet seemingly less understood by those who want to use our work.”

As for artists, a professional’s income averages about $15,000 per annum, and some must now compete with websites offering high quality, downloadable images for sale, or cheap, hand painted knockoffs with no royalties paid to the artists, to say nothing of the large numbers of scanned comics now available.

I had no idea I had so many readers in Asia. Alas, few had bought A Distant Soil, but all had read it on the internet. Every time we have to pay for a household repair like the thousands of dollars worth of work on the well this week (with another $2,000 to go), I think of the people who enjoyed my work enough to get my autograph, but not enough to fork over a $20 bill.

I’m waiting to see if posting A Distant Soil will pay off in book sales. Can’t tell just now.

One thing’s for sure: the web traffic shoots up markedly whenever a new installment of A Distant Soil is posted, and the blog traffic is ten times what it was when I started blogging.

Long term gain or short term? I dunno.

Some critics claim that creators who put Paypal buttons on their sites, who advertise, or who sell work on blogs are “blog beggars”.

As creators seek out new ways to make income for themselves on the net, they are excoriated for doing so.

Apparently, self publishing on dead trees and making money on it is OK, but self publishing and making money on a website blog is not.

None of the people I know who complain about blog begging seem to be doing anything of value to curb the internet piracy that is cutting into creator’s incomes, so I have no patience for those who withdraw the source of creator’s incomes with their inaction and indifference, and then declare creators have no right to find other ways to earn income with their blogs and websites.

Artblogging has enabled many artists to walk around the gallery gatekeepers and make a living with their work. Artists who could sell no more than a few paintings a year before the internet can now make decent incomes.

Is this begging?

I have no problem hitting the Paypal donation button on a website I read regularly. People who don’t, and then complain that the blogger who seeks to make a living is a “beggar” can direct a nasty word at themselves that fits even better: “Cheapskate”.

Or how about “Skinflint”?

Or better yet “Stingy”.

And as for blog begging, I’ll (EDIT: sometimes) post art on ebay, because I fully intend to continue to make complete use of my income resources. And because I want to go ahead and build a cottage for my studio. I want to buy new steel tipped work boots, a pair of snake gaiters, and a really good pair of work gloves for all the logging and planting we have to do. And to help pay for the well pump.

My God, I am out of control with avarice, for assuredly, the girl who wants a new pair of snake gaiters and a well pump is a crazy, unrestrained shopping wanton.

I beg you to buy my art…if you want to. And anyone who thinks that it is improper for me to sell my art on my blog…neener, neener.

c

LOOK! It’s an ad! On A blog! Shameless Blog Begging!

ClMcShane: I honestly don’t understand why some people freak out against someone trying to make a living from the Internet. If I don’t think it’s worth the price, then I won’t buy it. Then again, I also make the effort to support with money the creators I enjoy, either by buying their products, or with the paypal donation. They make stuff I enjoy, I give them money, they make more stuff for me to enjoy.

That is very good news that more art is going up on the ebay, Colleen. I have the eyes page from Grrl to Grrl Manga framed and in my cube at work, and I get oodles of compliments and comments on it. And my friends loved the pink dragon and the Lost Soul page.

RFrancis: I agree, that’s a ridiculous complaint, and one need to no further than webcomic success stories (success defined by being able to make a living, of course, not rolling around in piiles of gold coins) like Penny Arcade or PvP or any of the others who have taken endless flack first for asking for donations, later for incorporating advertisement, and of course, eventually for “selling out.” Whatever that is.

I create a podcast. Currently its costs (fairly meager, thankfully) come out of my pocket. For a while, I had a sponsor whose service I plugged in-show. These days I have a link whereby someone may donate directly into my hosting costs instead of my pocket. Fortunately (?), podcasters are assumed to be amateurs (and so I am) and so nobody much cares… until one gets popular enough, and then they are beggars and sell-outs, of course.

I struggle to imagine what to do about the dark side of “new media” for creators, but I’m positive that taking whacks at them for using the same resources to try and find new income streams isn’t the answer.

All that said, the A Distant Soil trades are on my shopping list, definitely.

Colleen: You know, I buy far fewer non fiction books than I used to, because researching on the internet gets me faster results, and gives me access to almost every single thing I may want to know about any subject. Acquaintances of mine who used to make a good living writing non-fiction books are having a harder time now, because why buy a book about themes in CS Lewis when almost everything you need to know about CS Lewis can be learned from what you can read on the internet, or what you can read by CS Lewis himself? I will buy a book of essays by Lewis, but am far less likely to buy a book about him. If I do, it’s going to be a scholarly work that has some depth. I bought several small university press books on Tolkien recently.

My days of buying insta-book media tie ins are over.

Conversely, I buy the works of my favorite novelists faithfully, directly from the author if I can.

The whole blog begging argument reminds me very much of the early days of print self publishing. Those of us who weathered those times were often criticized for being vanity presses, for not being good enough to be published by real publishers, and for being conceited enough to believe that anyone should pay for our efforts.

My hit counter shows I get tens of thousands of page views on my blog every single month. There are a lot of people who read the thing, and come back for more. Is it conceited to think they might actually want to fork over 50 cents for something I created, eventually?

If even a small fraction of the people who enjoyed the art and stories I post here paid a pittance for that enjoyment, the farm would be saved.

However, we all know that doesn’t happen. Scott McCloed’s micropayment online experiments do not seem to have paid off. I wonder if more and more writers and artists will have to become performers in order to make a living. Lecturing, teaching, touring, and entertaining on the web. Forever singing for our supper.

Decrying online creators as amateurs is just silly. You’re an amateur until you can manage to breach the 50% base income requirement on sales of your work. After that, you’re a pro. And if you can bring in some income from advertising, from a Paypal button, or from selling art on the web, more power to you.

The basis of the whole argument is just plain snobbery. No upstart amateurs should expect to make money on their work! They should be expected to give it away until a REAL publisher decides they are worthy!

Well, screw that.

And thanks, CL. I am glad the art went to a good home. Another happy customer testimonial!

How upstart of me to have sold my art in public like that…and talked about it on a blog!

I am actually in a better position than ever in my career, but I know it could end at any time. I spent years just getting to the point where I could make a living as an artist. Making no money means having no savings, no retirement, no investments, no health insurance. That’s not happening to me again.

Everybody says “Aw, too bad!” when they hear the sad tale of an old time creator who dies broke while living in a trailer, but isn’t it strange that the same people would deny creators a chance to open up their creative and income opportunities with new technologies? While complaining that creators are dependent on exploitative publishers, why foster that dependence further by cutting off the chance to create what you wish, how you wish, and to make money from it?

Hm?

Allan: That phrase “selling out” is so much bullshit. Really. Why the heck are you considered a legitimate artist only if you’re starving while watching others make money off your work? Bizarre. Heaven forbid that you might actually make a little cash off what you’ve created. Hell no — if you do that, you’ve “sold out”!

Grrrr.

Tintin: I’ve probably said this alreday on the Engine, but I’ll say it again:

I’m an Asian reader- came across your work back when ADS was published by Image. I own your Donning trades and your Image singles (all except the most recent one, which isn’t available here). There’s definitely a market for your books in Southeast Asia, and I’m not just saying that because I’m an ADS fanatic.
But even if they weren’t reading your stuff on the internet, I doubt more than a few die-hard, well-moneyed fans would be buying the ADS trades anyway. The price competition is just too high. At US$20++ (if you include import tax, shipping costs, etc.) per black and white graphic novel versus US $5 or less for a locally-published manga tankuboun, in a developing country to boot, your books are a hard sell. I would love to see ADS being reprinted locally (lower Asian printing costs), maybe translated into local languages, at manga size, on cheaper paper. THEN come here and sell us your art, art books, and merchandise. I know the profit margin wouldn’t be as great as if you were selling these books in America, but it would be profit nonetheless. Last I checked, manga reprints are selling like hotcakes all over Jakarta at US $1.30 a volume- it simply isn’t worth scanlating and downloading whole books at these prices.

Allan: “I would love to see ADS being reprinted locally (lower Asian printing costs), maybe translated into local languages, at manga size, on cheaper paper.”

It’s a good idea, but it’s not one that Colleen can initiate. You, and fellow fans, have to write to the local publishers and suggest there’s a market for ADS product in your country. Publishers print what they think they can sell. If you make them believe there’s a ready-made fan-base just crying out for Colleen’s work then they may consider it. I know there are editions of ADS in several European languages for example.

Elayne: I’ve gone on the record many times as being against blog-begging, but what I mean by that and the way you’re defining it are very different.

I believe, and will always believe, that bloggers should never hit their readers up for money that they use for the purpose of continuing their blog or buying themselves cool presents. No tip jars, no pledge drives, that sort of thing. Your blog is your hobby (unless someone’s paying you to do it), and your readers should never be asked to foot the bill for your hobby. I’ve seen people do this who are far better off than me financially, and it pisses me off because I know so many bloggers who could use the money for survival (which is something I do support, if you’ve fallen on hard times I’m much more inclined to PayPal a few bucks your way).

Using your blog as a way to sell your own creativity, though — that’s just good sense. You’re not asking your readers to pay for your ISP or your bandwidth or the next cool computer gadget, you’re selling your actual art. I don’t consider that blog-begging at all. Particularly when one considers how many posts you’ve made that talk about money and how disgusted you are at charlatans and profligate folk; that tends to increase your credibility in that department.

Colleen: Tintin, Allan’s right. I have absolutely NO control over my foreign editions. Unless the foreign fans are willing to buy the work, and unless foreign publishers are willing to print it, then I personally have no way to get my work out there except in US editions. There are several European editions, as Allan says.

If Asian fans want to see ADS in low cost editions, then they have to ask for it from publishers.

One of the problems we have had is with the difficulty of translation. ADS is very copy heavy in some places and some publishers say it is very hard to translate. Perhaps they think that manga fans do not want to read a comic that is as copy heavy as mine.

I have never brought ADS art or merchandise (or even books) to sell when I went to Asia because I didn’t want to get into trouble with customs. Whatever copies I saw there were sold in local shops.

Even in wealthy countries, people had seen ADS from the internet, but small countries like Singapore may not have an incentive to publish foreign comics like mine, because almost everyone there speaks English and domestic comic sales are modest.

Elayne, great points!

If a blog has genuine content, whether it is cultural or political or artistic, I feel I have an obligation to support that blog with my money. I drop about $200 a year into hat tip jars, which is less than the cost of a paper copy of The New York Times newspaper every day for a year. A newspaper I now read online, I should add.

I have zero patience for people that want my money to support their lifestyle while not offering me value in exchange. If they have a fabulous lifestyle, and they have something I want to buy, then I am more than happy to buy more from them. JK Rowling doesn’t need my money, but I bought the new Harry Potter book! But, I have no interest in doling out the dough for someone’s new computer equipment when all they are doing is writing a personal blog.

There’s a Tolkien website with great, scholarly articles and terrific content. When they needed new computer equipment, I gave them a donation because the site is one I visit regularly and use in my studies.

Almost all self publishing is going web, isn’t it? There’s no advantage to doling out thousands of dollars for printed copies of a book, and then sitting on stacks of them, and slugging them around to conventions, only to lose even bigger stacks of money to hotel, food, and convention table costs.

At least with web publishing, you can only ever lose so much money. Once you’ve invested in the computer, web space, and online access fees, you losses will be limited to the amount of money you lose when investing your time, and your monthly access fees. And you will probably reach more readers with your web page than sitting forlornly in a convention hall being ignored.

Print self publishing can literally eat a hole in your pocket to the tune of thousands of dollars per month.

But never underestimate the amount of money your time costs. I think people just can’t get it through their heads that if your work is not paying for the time it takes to do the work, the work is losing you money.