Bestselling author earns $200

So last week, Writer Abroad got an e-mail with the subject: Exciting news from Chicken Soup for the Soul. 

The announcement was that three of Chicken Soup’s best-selling anthologies, including the one Writer Abroad has a story in, will now be available at Wal-Mart. Yipee! I mean, Wal-Mart is Writer Abroad’s favorite store…Not. Anyone read The New York Time’s recent investigation about Wal-Mart's corruption in Mexico?

Admittedly, Writer Abroad’s first reaction to the news of her story being sold in Wal-Mart was like, hey, cool! Millions of people will read it!

Then an hour later she realized: Way. Not. Cool.

Can you hate all things Wal-Mart and in good conscious have a story you wrote being sold in a book there?

And the other killer for Writer Abroad: Even if millions buy the book containing her story, she won’t get a dime.

Happy holidays, writers. This is what happens when we get paid one flat $200 fee for a story in an anthology and that anthology becomes a bestseller.

But what choices do writers have with their little stories and articles against the few big publishers that are actually buying them these days?

Writer Abroad isn’t sure yet.

Which brings her to TIPE, an independent publishing event that will be held in Zurich, Switzerland on January 25^th. At this event, we can learn from successful self-published writers like Joanna Penn about how to keep control over your manuscripts…and your profits. 

Have any other writers out there triumphed over the current publishing industry? How can we demand better treatment and still get published?