In the mail today I received a check in the amount of $20.00 for two book chapters I wrote on two American women. I guess I am officially a paid author!
A while back (in 2007) there was a call for people to contribute to an encyclopedia on Women in American History and my two book chapters were accept-which was very exciting. I knew that I would be paid for them and I certainly would have written them for free, but being paid is sooo much more fun! The encyclopedia will be published in 2010.
I have written numerous other items all for free, which is what you do in the world of academics. While I have never had a position where I had to publish or parish, I like to do as much as I can (plus I like seeing my name in print and it looks really good on a CV). There was one article I co-authored with a few others and we were suppose to be paid for it, but I never received a check. Not sure what happened. One of the others must have gotten the whole amount, no biggy. But this $20.00 is more fun because it is all my work or words.
Today we are having a snow day…4-8 inches of the white stuff is expected.