Earning the highest honors in literature does not necessarily translate to a livable wage. When Margaret Verble published her debut novel Maud’s Line, it skyrocketed to become a Pulitzer Prize Finalist, cementing her status as a powerhouse in literary historical fiction.
Yet, despite the massive critical acclaim and the prestige of a Pulitzer nomination, her annual writing income still hovers strictly between three and five figures. She has never crossed the six-figure mark. She is brutally transparent about the economic reality of her genre, stating clearly that she does not know a single literary novelist who survives solely on book royalties without the safety net of a university professorship or a spouse’s salary.
The only reason she can afford to be a working novelist is because she generated her wealth entirely outside of the publishing industry. Margaret openly credits a successful prior career and an inheritance from her father for providing the financial bedrock that allows her to write.
This outside capital means her literary income simply functions as a specialized fund to cover research trips and writing materials, rather than paying for her mortgage. She watched the financial floor of the industry collapse firsthand. In 1982, she was paid $300 for a simple magazine article, a rate that allowed working writers to pump out a modest living. By 2013, the internet had so thoroughly eroded media economics that a major magazine paid her just $75 for a short story reprint.
Because she is completely insulated from commercial pressure, she refuses to rush her art. She famously rewrites each book at least nine times, a slow, meticulous process that is only possible when you aren’t writing against the threat of eviction. Having navigated the upper echelons of traditional publishing, she reserves her harshest criticism for the modern alternative.
Margaret views the self-publishing industry as a predatory trap for emerging fiction writers, calling it a “sad scam” and a “money-sucker.” She warns that young authors are making a terrible mistake by paying to rush unpolished, badly written books into print, ultimately enriching tech platforms while permanently embarrassing themselves in the process.
If you want the full picture, including deep dive interviews with 100+ writers where I’ve sat down with authors, poets, ghostwriters, and freelance reporters, alongside New York Times bestsellers, Pulitzer finalists, and Academy Award nominees, make sure you subscribe to How I Make Money Writing.
No Comments