June 27, 2005
I originally wrote a long post today about the business of writing. In it I gave some facts about my finances. After a few hours of thought I decided, You know? They really don't need to know that. I was always taught that it was impolite to ask about people's personal finances, and although I've got a few rude friends who sometimes ask me, I'm generally unwilling and uncomfortable to let people know.

Yes, I think it is probably useful information for aspiring writers. Sorry, but today anyway, you'll have to get it from somebody else.

Well, in a fit of decisiveness, I deleted the whole damned thing. So if you read it, well, good for you. And if you didn't, too damned bad. When Publishers Weekly, the New York Times and The Drudge Report start talking about Mark Terry's six-figure book advance and his multi-million dollar movie deal, then I guess there isn't much I can do about it, but until then, let me put it this way: I'm making enough money to get by. I make about as much money writing as I did in cytogenetics, but I'm much happier and I don't have a commute. Do I want to make more? You bet. Do I dream of a 6-figure advance and 7-figure movie deals? Yup. I read a blog today about DVD residuals for scriptwriters, and it's pathetic, but the guy who wrote the script for Big Fish got a check for $100,000, and even though he honestly says that's good money, the point he was making was that the studio was making about $28,000,000 off DVD sales alone and the scriptwriter gets about .01%.

So in some context and with some people I might be willing to talk about the specifics of writing income. Just not today and just not here.

Best,
Mark Terry