Have you ever lost a document? I mean, completely vanished? You can't remember what it was called, and you've searched every single file on your computer? Well, that's what happened with my royalty list. So if you don't see yours below, let me know.
Recently, I informally polled several author friends. My question: What did you spend your first royalty check on? Something large, small, memorable, or frivolous?
I received a variety of answers.
1. New microwave with all the bells and whistles.
2. Laptop
3. Savings Account
4. Paid some bills
5. Family Vacation
6. Life Jackets
7. 6 Tacos
8. Paid off family van
9. Romantic dinner with husband
10. Disneyland passes
11. Alphasmart
12. Greg Olson painting
As you can see, there are no trips to Europe, no exotic cars, no multi-carat diamond earrings. But perhaps, it might motivate us a little more to get that manuscript completed.
5 comments:
Six tacos?! I am majorly depressed now.
Honestly, I can't remember what I bought with my first royalty check. It was $150--I remember that. AND it was almost five years before I got a check bigger than that.
I bet they were the BIG tacos though, right?
Michele, these authors didn't spend their entire paycheck on what they listed. But it was a splurge when they did get that first check. The "6-taco" guy gets paid each month, so his paychecks were a little less. Plus he's obsessed with Taco Bell, so of course he'd go and binge on tacos. If you thought hard, I'll bet you can guess who it is.
it's interesting to see what they did with their first checks. I have one publisher who pays every month and my checks there are tiny. But they help a little with bills for the m onth. That's always nice to get a little bit to make ends meet on something I published over five years ago.
A bit of a wake-up call for people who think writers are rich, huh? For me, it's almost depressing to think ahead to what I'll be spending the next check on, because I know it won't be anything fun. Bills and braces, anyone?
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