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Analysis by Thomas Page. Set in the middle of awards season but with a program content to wait it out for next year's cycle. Ahmir 'Questlove' Thompson is here to scratch that itch with his. Definition and synonyms of scratch a living from the online English dictionary from Macmillan Education. This is the British English definition of scratch a living.View American English definition of scratch a living. Change your default dictionary to American English.
Review by Melanie Davis
As an author, I looked forward to receiving my copy of Scratch: Writers, Money and the Art of Making a Living. The truth is, unlike most professions, the exchange of money and value of service in the writing world is kept largely undisclosed. In writing and publishing, there is a culture of secrecy when it comes to what writers are being paid, if they are even paid at all.
Writers’ Personal Journeys to Success
Manjula Martin, the founder of Scratch magazine and editor of this book, collected the thoughts of numerous contributors on the subject of being paid for writing, many who share their personal journeys to success (as most are published authors, often with the coveted “advance” and all that goes with being chosen by a major publishing company).
I enjoyed the storytelling of the book immensely, learning how a combination of hard work and fate brought each of the contributors to where they are today, which is to be accomplished enough to have been selected to be included in this book. Some of the stories are cautionary tales of what not to do, or ways they were taken advantage of, while others gave the reader a much better idea of what it means to be a signed author with an advance and the associated deadlines to be met.
Scratching Out A Living Sparknotes
The Real World of Ghostwriting
My favorite chapter in the book is titled “Ghost Stories” by Sari Bottom. The process and pay of being a ghostwriter may be the most elusive information of all in the writing industry. Sari holds nothing back, but reveals how much she has charged clients and gives a realistic perspective of what a ghostwriter can earn, as well as what other expectations can be placed on the service, which I hadn’t considered (such as receiving a percentage of a book’s advance or continued royalties on book sales after being paid to write the book).
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In this chapter, Sari states, “You’d be surprised—sometimes it’s the wealthiest and/or best-known clients who pay the least.” She shares the range that people often charge for ghost writing, anywhere from $10,000 to $40,000 with top writers getting fifty. (Now I finally have a ball-park!) She also reveals that she has another level of service, “…for clients who can sort of write, but need a lot of guidance and editing work.” She calls it “editorial hand-holding” and charges by the hour, typically $50 – $90.
Culture of Isolation and Secrecy
Not all chapters in this book are useful. Some of the contributors refuse to shed any light on what they earn, which is counter to what the book is supposed to be about and only further affirms the culture of isolation and secrecy in the writing world. I wonder why Manjula chose to keep these chapters, but their presence doesn’t take away from the overall value of the book.
Other things I learned from reading Scratch is that the coveted advances aren’t the Holy Grail we often think of them. They are usually spread out over many months or years and are taxed, with book agent percentages being taken out, and don’t make for much of a living, which is good to know going into the writing and publishing bubble. Most of the authors featured in this book write for multiple outlets and have numerous streams of income in order to actually make a living as a writer.
Even the most successful authors featured in this book, such as New York Times bestselling author Austin Kleon, complain about the difficulty of financial security after reaching the publishing pinnacle. He is known for regularly telling other authors, “Don’t quit your day job.”
Reviewed by Melanie Davis, bestselling author of The Triumph Book: HEROES.
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How has Latino immigration transformed the South? In what ways is the presence of these newcomers complicating efforts to organize for workplace justice? Scratching Out a Living takes readers deep into Mississippi's chicken processing plants and communities, where large numbers of Latin American migrants were recruited in the mid-1990s to labor alongside an established African American workforce in some of the most dangerous and lowest-paid jobs in the country. As America's voracious appetite for chicken has grown, so has the industry's reliance on immigrant workers, whose structural position makes them particularly vulnerable to exploitation. Based on the author's six years of collaboration with a local workers' center, this book explores how Black, white, and new Latino Mississippians have lived and understood these transformations. Activist anthropologist Angela Stuesse argues that people's racial identifications and relationships to the poultry industry prove vital to their interpretations of the changes they are experiencing. Illuminating connections between the area's long history of racial inequality, the industry's growth and drive to lower labor costs, immigrants' contested place in contemporary social relations, and workers' prospects for political mobilization, Scratching Out a Living paints a compelling ethnographic portrait of neoliberal globalization and calls for organizing strategies that bring diverse working communities together in mutual construction of a more just future.Product Details
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'Through robust ethnographic vignettes, nuanced historical context, and thoughtful analysis, Stuesse paints a vivid picture of Latinx, Black, and white worker's lives both inside and outside of Mississippi chicken processing plants. . . . Stuesse pushes the boundaries of what it means to engage in applied research and for whom our research benefits.'-- 'City & Society'