Is there easy money in any sort of niche fiction-writing genre?

Long response:

I had aspirations of being a poet and professor of poetry when I was in my early twenties (I'm thirty now). Was accepted into some top MFA programs and had written a sizable manuscript of which several of my undergraduate Lit professors thought highly. When I went to pick up my final recommendation letter from my Shakespeare professor, himself a well-known poet in the American "poetry scene," he took me into his office, looked me in the eye, and said, "Please, do not do this."

He explained that he was miserable, broke, and that he spent most of his time teaching to make ends meet instead of writing. Worst of all, his work, his art, was wholly unread outside of a handful of snobbish literati. He said he'd give me the recommendation letter but it would be a much better life decision for me to write poetry as a hobby and do something more lucrative with my career.

This man was a genius; I idolized him. And there he was telling me to go make more money doing something else when poetry had been my singular passion the past several years. It shook me up. I applied and got into some great programs, but I ultimately bailed and did odd-jobs a few years before going to law school (hence the debt I'm trying to pay off asap). Now, rather than trying to figure out how to pay $150K for a Columbia MFA in Poetry, I have a few large injury cases moving toward settlement. In a couple years I'll never really have to worry about money anymore.

I write all this to say that I poured literally everything I had into that manuscript and not one person outside of my college professors and a few peers will ever know of its existence. To be blunt, no one gives one fuck about poetry in 2015. You can't survive off of it.

It may be harder to find inspiration writing for money, but there is nothing harder to endure than total obscurity as a writer or artist of any kind, particularly when you have actual talent and actual promise.

Bring on the dino-porn.

/r/AskReddit Thread Parent