WHY DO AUTHORS USE THEIR CRAFT?
Given Singapore’s little market, writers surely never live by royalties alone. In Singapore, the typical royalty rate for a text with a 1, 000-copy write work is S$ 950.  ,
” There’s no real way to get paid to be a poet full time around”, said Mr Pasakorn.  ,
Despite the fact that writers are able to apply for funding through the National Arts Council, they are often unsure when their next paycheck may arrive.  ,
If I actually sit down and work on a project unrestrainedly without having to go back to my day job, will I be able to pull myself next month? said Mr Pasakorn.
As such, some writers also keep their day jobs.
” We live in Singapore. It’s not like there’s some sort of town or land where the cost of living is 10 days cheaper, and individuals live it together in one large kampung”, said Mr Yam.  ,
” I do like great things. I like having an iPhone”, he quipped.
Also, while Ms Zhao has seen great success with her book offers, she is still holding on to her day job in the technology sector.  ,  ,
” I think if reading were to become my sole source of income, I did feel much more tempted to write what I believe will be well-known and promote well, rather than what I love to write,” she said.  ,
Authors may also be entitled to an advance, which is a sum of money paid to them upfront when they sign a contract with a publication. This layout is typically made for more well-known authors, and the amounts can be a four or five-figure amount.
However, the industry standard is that one has to “earn out” one ‘s , progress before earning royalties, meaning an artist would only get extra payment once overall profits are higher than a book advance.
The same goes for , reward money from writing contests tied to release deals.
For instance, if the prize money is S$ 25, 000, the author would have to buy enough books for S$ 25, 000 before they can begin collecting revenues in book profits.  ,
Quantifying the imaginative effort put forth to create a book can be difficult and superficial, despite the prize money’s size.  ,
” I wrote Kappa Quartet in a year. I wrote Lovelier, Lonelier , in four times. It’s also S$ 950 in terms of profits”, said Mr Yam. Moreover, his latest text, Be Your Own Bae, collects reports that were a century in the making.  ,
How can you make up for all that day with such little income? … But we do it anyway because we love it” . ,
Sharing Mr Yam’s sentiments, writer Mr Myle Yan Tay said:” If I think about the hours I get into this versus the monetary returns, I’m going to go insane” . ,
For Mr Yam,” the real success of a book is n’t always measured by its commercial success, but by how it is thoroughly received”.  ,
He added that a better way to assess achievement might be how a text influences and shapes the way other people write in the nation.  ,
Mr. Kon finds it challenging to balance his time job with a total commitment to reading, but it is fulfilling and necessary.
It represents who I am, in my opinion, unforgettable. For me, it’s always been a employment of like”.
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Despite some obstacles, the Singapore artistic scene is usually vibrant, and authors who TODAY spoke to suggested that more could be done to promote SingLit.  ,  ,
While Mr. Nair and the rest of the intellectual industry are content with authors who have established themselves internationally, he wondered why Singapore does not have those same options.
” Do local producers need more help? Is it about the government? Or is our business really very small, and we cannot help authors”? Mr Nair said.
” If we can support creatives, artists and other fields, I do n’t see why we ca n’t support our writers”.
Ms. Lee Koe argued that there could be more assistance given to writers to advance their art, starting with better book advancements so that more people can work as full-time writers.
She added that the secret is instilling high-quality, interesting works of art in Singapore.
At Sing Lit Station’s new contact for manuscripts for its annual Script Bootcamp, Mr Yam said the numbers remained good, with 16 artistic non- fiction scripts submitted.
Mr. Yam was pleased with the participation because fiction is less well-known than non-fiction fantasy.
” In that sense, the intellectual field is still very attractive. It’s also full of people with desires, with passion and the energy to meet it”, he said.
To that end, Mr Yam believes that Singapore’s intellectual landscape will never be short of great local plays.
” The difference lies possibly in Singapore’s unique difficulty of having a very hostile relationship with its own musicians”, he said.
Mr. Yam noted that Taiwanese users would prefer to read books written by foreign authors. ” They would n’t give the time of day to local authors, and I think that’s too sad.
” I think SingLit is so important, it is the poetry of five million people who exist nothing else on this world,” said Mr. Yam.
There have certainly been significant efforts made to encourage visitors to pick up native authors ‘ writing.
Nodes and Read! initiatives by the National Library Board ( NLB ) are among them. Fest, where the people you engage with Taiwanese writers through author talks, discussions and hands- on workshops.