Cherie Priest Explains Why She Has a Day Job in Questionland

Caitlin Kittredge



Cherie Priest was going to be answering your questions in Questionland from November 1st through November 3rd. Instead, she got an early start this weekend. She's already answered more than 20 of your questions (including questions about the Civil War,whether she'd like to see a Clockwork Century role-playing game, and much more.

One of the most illuminating answers is about quitting her day job, and how it's almost impossible for writers to find any kind of financial security.

Bookstores take orders on commission, and they make their returns (of unsold books, back to the publisher) at their leisure and discretion. So sometimes returns come back thirty days after shipping, sometimes they come back six months later. There's no way to know; it varies from store to store - even within chains. Therefore, it's very, very hard to get a firm accounting on anything in too much less than a year.

As I said in my story about her this week, Priest is very generous and honest with her question-answering, and it's making for an epic Questionland experience. Get in there and ask your questions now.