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I have never heard of a successful writer who owned a bookstore? Why would he waste his time in a bookstore when he could be writing? A writer who needs another job isn't a real writer.
I have been to Ann Patchett's book store in Nashville and it is wonderful! I heard her interviewed once and she explained that she was concerned after two indie bookstores closed in Nashville and that she didn't really have a burning desire to own a bookstore, but she also didn't want to live in a community without one. So, she stepped up. I respect that!
I have never heard of a successful writer who owned a bookstore? Why would he waste his time in a bookstore when he could be writing? A writer who needs another job isn't a real writer.
Well, I think Larry McMurtry would be considered a successful writer.
Well, I think Larry McMurtry would be considered a successful writer.
Yes.
It's one thing to own a bookstore and provide general, part-time guidance as to how it is run. It's another thing to own in and manage all its aspects. And even if one did the latter? Well, the world is full of great literature created by people who had lives and careers other than writing.
I have never heard of a successful writer who owned a bookstore? Why would he waste his time in a bookstore when he could be writing?
It's not as if they are slaving away behind the register from 9am-9 pm.
Ann Patchett is only in her bookstore here on special occasions. It's more of a labor of love, as pinetreelover said, to advance the mission of locally owned and curated bookstores.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Happy in Wyoming
A writer who needs another job isn't a real writer.
Again, she didn't do it because she needed the other job.
Plenty of good writers need other jobs before they reach the point where they can live off their book earnings.
A writer who needs another job isn't a real writer.
Quote:
Originally Posted by BirdieBelle
Again, she didn't do it because she needed the other job.
Plenty of good writers need other jobs before they reach the point where they can live off their book earnings.
Indeed.
The idea that an artist who doesn't support themselves via their art isn't 'real' is some pretty silly pretension. So to is the idea that these authors, and many others, were not 'real' until they finally became financial successes via writing (which, in the case of Melville, was until long after his death - he made some money during his life, but wasn't self-supporting with the pen):
Cormac McCarthy
Margaret Atwood
John Steinbeck
Herman Melville
Toni Morrison
J.D. Salinger
Kurt Vonnegut
It's one thing to own a bookstore and provide general, part-time guidance as to how it is run. It's another thing to own in and manage all its aspects. And even if one did the latter? Well, the world is full of great literature created by people who had lives and careers other than writing.
In fact, most aspiring authors - I mean younger people who dream of making a living as novelists - don't realize that most writers do have day jobs. If people would read the jacket bio, they'd see that right away.
Good for Patchett for being committed to her bookstore, especially with Amazon moving in across the street. Wish there were more authors like her. The article below about her Nashville bookstore was in our L.A. Times yesterday:
A writer who needs another job isn't a real writer.
Glad to know you're a "real writer" so you can set the record straight.
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