Dreams do come true – for some writers

Dreams still do come true – but only for a very select group of writers. A recent story comes from Brisbane Australia and relates how a first time novelist has a one million dollar contract for her book. Not only that, she has a healthy advance on her second novel. I share the sentiments expressed in the following column:

A 29-year-old debut novelist from… Brisbane, Kate Morton, has struck the big time, netting a sweet $1 million for her novel The Shifting Fog, as well as advances on her second novel.

Many writers will feel that same sensation as I on reading this news – while it means there may yet be hope for us plebs too, there is also that ugly streak that makes us go green with envy (or is that just me?).

No – every writer and probably quite a few bloggers, dream of hitting the big time like that. For most of us, we can just dream for a few seconds, and then down to work again. The reality is this: for every $1 million contract there are thousands of miniscule contracts of a few thousand dollars at best. And for every small contract there are tens of thousands of writers with no contracts – just rejection slips papering their walls. And then there are the millions of bloggers who write for nothing except the love of the craft. Blockheads all of us!

The rest of the article I quoted from can be read here.