"Internet Famous"

I wanted to say something about the difficulty in making a living from the Internet under the prevailing culture that everything should be given away for free. It's a position usually fervently espoused by, typically, a particular type of author — the type with a publishing contract and their own ad network — the type who can happily give away digital versions of their books because they've already got the five-figure advance sat in their bank account. (Mentioning no names...)

I'm not sure how much of that survived. In the end, Erin and Cal sat down, started talking, and sort of hijacked proceedings. If ever a writer complains to you that they're at the mercy of their characters, don't treat them like their mad — treat them like someone in an abusive relationship, or like the jewellery store clerk who's apologising for the shop being closed in the middle of the day while frantically mouthing "We're being robbed".

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