According to Jennifer Schuessler writing in the NYT's writer blog Paper Cuts , "a 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."
Actually that's not too bad. Though as Nassim Nicolas Taleb demonstrates in his brilliant (and quite entertaining) THE BLACK SWAN, a few writers rake in millions while most eat beans.
What about great writers? Surely they must do well?
Lapham's Quarterly has compiled a fun and shocking list of great writers' day jobs. (Thank heavens for the Post Office!)
Do you really think you should earn more than Charlotte Bronte, William Faulkner, and Kafka ?
If you hesitate even for a second, it's time to reread Jane Eyre. $1,838 she earned, Miss Bronte, taken care of someone else's brats, while she wrote Jane Eyre.