With the rise of many great free fiction websites, we wonder: Are we are headed toward a future where fiction writing is largely an unpaid labor of love? Will an expectation grow among readers that writing 'should' be free?
Right now, many writers publish for free to gain recognition, and one day hope to sell the novel that will get them paid. But with advances for literary novels going down to $5,000 - $10,000 we can see that hope become less and less justified. Is the abundance of free content contributing to that decline?
Many have an ethical stance that free is better - a cultural conversation and free exchange of ideas that we all benefit from. But does that makes writing a hobby, or a vocation for the trust-funded? Writing is a craft which can require a lifetime to master. If novelists are squeezing writing in after day jobs, will literature suffer?
Or, will the proliferation of free material make people need editors and aggregators they trust more than ever? Will readers be willing to pay to support that effort? What do you think?
Is it a problem? If so, is there a solution?
Electric Literature
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