Writing Stiffs
By JENNIFER SCHUESSLERA 2008 study of the creative economy from the National Endowment for the Arts reported that full-time “writers and authors” earned a median annual salary of more than $50,000.
That may not make you feel rich in Manhattan (or even South Dakota, which scribblers are apparently abandoning in droves), but a nifty chart put together by Lapham’s Quarterly suggests that some of our great writers didn’t do any better in their day jobs.
According to the chart, Charlotte Bronte somehow survived on $1,838 a year, adjusted for inflation, working as a Yorkshire governess. (Room and board were included, but laundry was not.) William Faulkner made about $18,000 as a postmaster, though the job apparently allowed plenty of time for mah-jongg and poetry.
Tempted to bail on the creative life and go to law school? Think again: Kafka brought down only about $40,000 a year doing legal work in a Prague insurance agency, though he did get to ponder such subjects as “Measures for Preventing Accidents From Wood-Planing Machines.”
(Do today’s novelists pay enough attention to the workplace? More on that question here.)
Worth a look at the comments after the original post, too. I liked 'the art tells you what to eat.' observation. Brings a while new meaning for 'not hungry enough for success'.
James
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