How will authors get paid in the new publishing environment

[Ed Feist]

The following link is from the TOC Newsletter (Tools of Change for Publishing)

http://toc.oreilly.com/2008/04/how-do-publishers-and-authors.html

[Tom Cooke]

I agree with the assertion that the days of huge advances are over for most of us. The monsters of the mid way will still get their big bucks upfront, but for those of us that plod along as mid level writers are going to have to take our paltry pennies on a quarterly basis.
I'm not sure that the alternate income streams in the article are viable. Tips? Maybe if I was a pole dancer. Other than that I don't think many of us would go through the grief of writing for tips, except perhaps writers of teen angst and pity poetry, which would be alright for them. Unfortunately my teen angst and the Edsel departed at about the same time.
Quite frankly, I think the answer to how we get paid in the age of new technology is by working harder. By making our product a more valuable commodity to the new reader. By utilizing all the new technologies and marketing our product better. Shaking more hands and kissing more babies won't make your work any better, but it sure will sell more books. We as writers have to realize that our job is no longer sitting in a cubby hole and cranking out great art. We still have to do that of course, but to survive in the coming marketplace we are going to have to add a new layer to our skills and become promoters and salesmen.
To those of you that think that's pure hucksterism,....well, yeah, it is.

[Ed Feist]

While I agree that these "alternate income streams" lack merit, my impression from the original article was that they were not all that optional. Digital equals free access, deal with it - is the message I saw and that is very distressing indeed. I posted that link here to see if there were other views on the topic.

[Hardest Working Woman in Credit]

I agree, we do all the work, only to get a few dollars a book. What gives with the new age!! How can someone live off of getting paid every three months.. Let me know when you guys come up with something better!!

I am new and still learning the industry.