It's interesting to know how much things cost and how much people are paid in their careers. And I love those "It's Good To Be [Fill in Celebrity Here]" shows, where they announce the exhorbitant sums the celebs pay for a stay in a hotel or how much they pay for their dogs' pedicures. But with authors I really like, I'm childish enough to not really want to know too much. I like to think, whether it's true or not, that writers write because they're compelled to write. That they would write if it was not only not lucrative, but if writing was outlawed on pain of death. If an awesome author makes good money, rock on. But I don't want to know. It's my middle-class, Midwestern upbringing coming out. Talking about money is bad manners. And prying into others' finances is even worse.

I'd be very interested to read the business-end of a novel's progress, from pre-commission onwards. In September, I shall be meeting with people to get my head around this kind of thing re writing radio dramas, and I'm very much looking forward to that too.

I'd be interested.

I would be interested as well. I think it is hard for an aspiring writer to get good information on this particular subject. Kind of like an insider's club. All I've been hearing lately is doom-and-gloom stuff, like the average advance is around 3000 dollars, and how large chain stores use their computerized inventory tracking of an author's previous book to determine the next book's order. So if, for whatever reason, the previous book didn't sell, well...

I have a hard time seeing how anyone makes a living at this. Hearing from someone who does would be not only be highly informative, but a bit of a morale booster as well!