Unassailable truths...

Unassailable truth # 1 - if I do not sell enough copies of this book I may not get the next one published. However what constitutes 'enough copies' varies widely from publisher to publisher. Sometimes they apply their sales counting formulae in intriguing ways. But publishing is a business. Book sales = good. This is why I do try to promote my books. (Horrible question that I don't want to contemplate - how many books have I sold through my promotional efforts to date?)

Unassailable truth # 2 - authors/illustrators do not agree on whether they should charge for appearances or not. What I can tell you is that the income from the sale of my books this year would almost pay for my coffee habit but nothing else. I would be whippet thin if I lived on my book income alone (or dead). My income from public appearances is 7 or 8 times that. Don't get too excited, I still couldn't cover my living expenses, even if they were significantly reduced from their current levels. And I cannot rely on invitations to speak, read etc... being regular or even continuing. Which makes my SO a patron of the arts. Suffice to say many authors/illustrators rely on a range of income sources to survive. I don't know that charging for visits /readings /appearances is the ideal model to support authors and illustrators. I wish there was more grant money available to assist full time creatives to pursue their art and not be faced with the sometimes difficult side of charging for visits. And more fellowships etc..which didn't involve travelling far from one's family (yay - go the Beatson Fellowship! Not only generous but understanding and forward thinking too). The way many fellowships etc..are structured means my role as mother precludes me from applying. Anyone who is not a mother/parent therefore has more fellowships, awards, grants etc they can apply for. This isn't a criticism of those with more freedom to apply for a wider range of things, but more a lament that such things are out of reach for me. Having my children goes a very long way to make up for that but all the benefits of such awards would sometimes be very handy and would look fab on the CV if i was a successful applicant (and of course hard times mean more competition for these things). And maybe a tax break for the arts patronage my SO is required to take on because he loves me would be good as well.

Unassailable truth # 3 - doing an exam at home is harder because there are a million more distractions and a greater sense of pressure to perform. Ack... Give me a 3 hour exam in an echoey community hall any day.