And this right here: “…which right there tells you this person couldn’t have been paying their bills as smoothly as they would have liked or they wouldn’t be cobbling together these pie in the sky, pipe dream info products to sell.”

Amen, sister. Amen.

Michelle, I love you. LOL You’re welcome. The problem I see with the $100K declarations, books, courses, blah blah, is that it sets an expectation that, if not met, makes the writer feel like a failure. Hey, you can make $30K a year and be successful because you’re still making a profit writing.

You’re so right — income does fluctuate almost constantly. Today I have $6K coming in when tomorrow, that might be $2K. Or nothing. It evens out if you keep marketing, but there are no guarantees of luxury lifestyles, best sellers, or steady income.

You’re right — reality doesn’t sell very well. 😉

I wish more people would be honest about life as a writer. Over here in the trenches, the income fluctuates and you’re probably going to have to make sacrifices for your lifestyle. I’ve gotten better at knowing when to eat beans at home instead of going out for beef, for instance. Luxury cruises don’t interest me. I don’t need four kids and a big house. If I wanted those things, I’d be clocking something like 60 hours per week. This life takes tons of persistence, hard work, marketing and wisdom. But that doesn’t sell a pricey seminar as well, does it?

Also, I recently interviewed someone who uses his Classical Studies education toward his mathematics field. His story is incredible, and something he said resonated with me, and made me slightly ashamed that I've given up on being good at math. I was actually really good at math in school, and my dad (who is an engineer) said many times that I should have been an engineer (although he hasn't said it since I've been successful in my writing career!) But math is a muscle that I haven't flexed in a while, so I've lost much of that ability.

Success means many more things to me than money.

Then we have to address the issue of whether they should be making a buck teaching others how to make this much money. I say yes. Still, I want someone who's made this claim give ample proof that they've done it and are qualified to teach me (for a fee) how to replicate it.

It's one thing to learn something new from someone who's done it. It's wholly another thing to be duped into buying knowledge that the person may not possess.

I've seen several of these hucksters out there who are earning far more from selling gullible writers their courses, webinars or mentorships than they earn from actual writing. And why do I bet a big part of their "core curriculum" involves how to make money by doing the same thing? Where, exactly, does the writing come into play?