Re: conlangs in fiction (was: Re: Conlangs in History)

On Mon, 21 Aug 2000, H. S. Teoh wrote:

> Yep, yep, I hate being forced to compose/write/whatever just because I
> won't have food on my table otherwise. Especially if I have to "lower" my
> standards to satisfy the crowd (or worse, the publisher who may not always
> have the same interests as the intended audience). I rather settle for a
> career I can do moderately well, and do stuff like writing/composing/etc
> on the side and put it up on the Net for whoever sees value in it.
<snort>  I can't speak for the other professions, but the average
freelance fiction writer's salary is somewhere real near the poverty
level, and unless you're Harlan Ellison you absolutely can't make money
writing short fiction--which is a pity, but if you spend a month on a
story (and many take longer), you're probably going to get $300-$500 for
it as a beginning writer *if* you sell to a pro market.

If you want to make money, McDonald's beats writing any day, alas.

YHL