In Spain, living by writing is still the dream of many authors who invest months and even years in the creation of their literary works without securing thousands of euros at the end of the creative process. A reality for which one of the solutions is to move to Iceland, a country where you read (almost) the same way you eat and the government pays 2400 euros a month to its writers.
Books even in the stomach
Iceland is a country where it is quite cold and daylight hours are practically non-existent at certain times of the year, which is why its 323 thousand inhabitants they spend a lot of time at home. And how do they manage so many hours locked up? Reading and reading, reason that has made the country of Björk, waterfalls and volcanoes one of the most readers in the world with a 90% of its population consuming at least one book a year and an average of eight books purchased by half of Icelanders in the same period of time. In fact, the good cultural customs of Iceland have been recorded in sayings such as the famous "Every Icelander carries a book on his stomach."
With such literary demand, it is not surprising that writers proliferate who instead of reading prefer to spend hours and hours looking out the window at the dark sky and the northern lights (one in ten Icelanders has ever written a book ) while still typing new stories into their computer for a limited population that still may not compensate for such a large number of authors. Solution? The salaries currently awarded by the Icelandic government to 70 of his writers.
The reason for this salary, income to which the subsequent benefits for copyright are added, complements the (logical) idea that not all writers can live only on their earnings from the sales of a book, especially in a country where that despite the scarce population being read a lot. Starting from this base, the most logical thing is to reward the hours invested in the creation of a manuscript paying writers a salary of 2400 euros (that of an Icelandic waiter, as here...) for three, six or nine months, a year or even two, although the latter is the less usual case.
According to account La Vanguardia, the Writers Association is the one that decides which writer deserves this salary after deliberations by a jury made up of three university professors that questions the writer's project and the time he plans to devote to his work, which allows a sharper filter when compensating professional writers.
In this way, Iceland, the cradle of an island literature with a lot of personality where crime fiction and medieval sagas triumph, fosters like no other country a literary panorama that feeds itself, that strives to maintain the good customs of a society addicted to meat shark and books accompanied by a good coffee.
What do you think of the idea of a writer charging a salary when creating his work?
Cool ! I love the idea .
That they stimulate him with a salary to create works of high literary quality, for which he invests time and a lot of dedication, it seems to me a good idea, as long as the country's economy is solvent.
But I wouldn't live in Iceland even paying myself. I like the hottest sun.
It is a job like any other, writing like Miguel de Cervantes and then the country of origin boasts of the work, we should, as an advanced society, put an equal salary to all jobs, from the peasant, through the humble doctor, forget about the firefighters, we are all the same, unitary salary for all, I am important, but you are no less.
It's like winning a prize in advance
I am a writer but currently I have not been able to publish I would like to do it but I do not know how