Pity the poor souls still laboring under the delusion that book-writing can potentially be a lucrative, fulfilling career. Or, like, don't! Today, we learn of some of the pitfalls and dashed expectations that, yes, even published authors find themselves coming up against. Such as: even a six-figure advance isn't really enough to live on for a year once your agent's 15% comission has been subtracted and you've had to pay for your own permissions. Also, did you know that writing alone in your room all day can be depressing?

Yes, it's hard. Even professional bloggers like Rachel Sklar find themselves unprepared for the challenges. "I wasn't going out, I wasn't shopping.... I berated myself and may have had a few meltdowns," she says of her twice-postponed guidebook about being a contemporary Jew. Oh noes! But at least she's not as hard up as recent Kenyon graduate Brendan Sullivan, who, at 25, has "thrown away several careers and one college degree to spend my time working in bars, D.J.'ing in bars and drinking my rejection letters away." Drinking! Not shopping! Not making a lot of money! People with book deals turn out to be Just Like Us.

My Book Deal Ruined My Life [NYO]
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