You Can Write a Best-Seller and Still Go Broke: Slate article

[marshwiggle]

In another category, there are a handful of physicists who have been able to doube their income or more, due to successful textbooks. I have the feeling though that we've hit the peak with textbooks.

With "version churn" intended to destroy the market for used books, and online assignments, etc. as part of a "subscription" with new textbooks, (in order to create ongoing revenue streams), I can't really see where this is going to end up. The reality is that there just doesn't need to be one new first year physics textbook every few years, let alone dozens.

[apl68]

Since my job doesn't require publishing (and I have a ton anyway), there may well be a time in my future when I stop sinking free time into publishing articles nobody will ever read for zero remuneration and start trying to write bestsellers which someone might read for some complementary remuneration.

I'm not short of ideas, and it's probably a better use of my time. It's just that I've gamified academic publishing for myself and it's hard to give up on the points and high score.

I just write because I like to write.  No need to make a living at it, as I'm not in a profession where that's needed.  Well, that's not exactly true.  I have weekly newspaper columns for my job, and other things to write as part of the job.  It's not publish-or-perish, though.  Anyway, I like to write, and have found that getting to do so just has to be its own reward.  It would be nice to find somebody willing to publish some of it so that more people could see it.