Long, Charles. How to Survive Without a Salary. Toronto : Summerhill Press, 1990
Reviewed by Leigh Kimmel
This review originally appeared in Science Fiction & Fantasy Workshop Newsletter
Almost every aspiring writer dreams of being able to go full time, to not have to report in each day for a job under the supervision of a boss who doesn't care about anything but the bottom line, but rather to be able to devote all their attention to their writing. However every aspiring writer hears that familiar warning that most writers will never be able to earn nearly enough money to live on.
But that may be only part of the story, for most would-be full-time writers automatically assume that they will have to find a way to replace their entire full-time salary. However it turns out that it may not be the case, if one learns new strategies of meeting the needs that had been previously met with the salary from a full-time job.
This book starts with budgeting and reprioritizing one's life, and then goes on to teach alternate shopping techniques such as garage sales and bartering. Creative solutions to problems are emphasized, as is the re-use of worn-out or broken items for innovative purposes. The discussion of throwing away the throw-away society will please anyone with environmentalist leanings. By the time you are finished reading this book, you will believe that it might actually be possible to shuck off the chains of that day job and devote your life to your writing, if you're willing to do what it takes.
Last updated November 4, 2010