Great breakdown. Of course as you say it's so easy to forget what a privilege it is to be published, and all published writers need to try to remember that (so we are debating privileges on top of privileges) But as you point out, writing as a job is not consistent either. There's no health care, or benefits. Etc. So total amount of money, unless it reaches ludicrous levels, doesn't really matter at all. You could earn 250k on a novel, but if you publish one every 10 years, that doesn't amount to a livable wage.
So the real unremarked-upon privilege in the writing world is if you are not the main income-earner for your household. Quite simply, there is essentially no way to be the main income-earner from writing books (outside of maybe a couple hundred living individuals - you might as well try to govern a small country as a career path). So most published authors either a) teach writing at a college as their main job and write on the side or b) are not the main-income earner. Being (b) is by far the biggest advantage in the industry you can have in the long run, imo. But it's the kind of invisible privilege all too easily skipped over.
Great breakdown. Of course as you say it's so easy to forget what a privilege it is to be published, and all published writers need to try to remember that (so we are debating privileges on top of privileges) But as you point out, writing as a job is not consistent either. There's no health care, or benefits. Etc. So total amount of money, unless it reaches ludicrous levels, doesn't really matter at all. You could earn 250k on a novel, but if you publish one every 10 years, that doesn't amount to a livable wage.
So the real unremarked-upon privilege in the writing world is if you are not the main income-earner for your household. Quite simply, there is essentially no way to be the main income-earner from writing books (outside of maybe a couple hundred living individuals - you might as well try to govern a small country as a career path). So most published authors either a) teach writing at a college as their main job and write on the side or b) are not the main-income earner. Being (b) is by far the biggest advantage in the industry you can have in the long run, imo. But it's the kind of invisible privilege all too easily skipped over.