Pulp Literature’s bank statement came last week. It was a long one, and contained all the cleared cheques and etransfers written to our previous issue’s contributors. This made me much happier than you might think.

Because, you see, I enjoy writing cheques.

Yes, read that again. I enjoy writing cheques. Especially to writers and artists. It means that here at Pulp Literature Press, in our very small way, we are contributing to the sustainability of the Arts as a profession.

We’re able to do that because of our subscribers, the bookstores who carry our books and magazines, and the wonderful patrons of the arts who support us on Patreon and through our Pulp Literati memberships. Every issue purchased, every $5 monthly contribution, helps us pay creators to do what they do best.

When you buy a copy of a book, its worth lies not in the printed page or file you download onto your reader. The worth is in the inspiration the artist has shared with you when she put words or brush strokes on that blank page. The story stays with you when you put down the book. Even if you never read that story or see that illustration again it is still a part of your memory. How do we even put a price on that?

Sublime intangibles of Art aside, we must put a price on it. Writers need to be paid to write. Artists need to be paid to create. Otherwise they have to spend their time making a living in other ways, and the world becomes a poorer place.

And that’s why it makes me happy to write cheques to contributors. The funds in our bank account are not ours. It is money our readers have entrusted to us to distribute to the creative minds that make Pulp Literature Press what it is, and we’re happy to be that conduit.

We wish we could pay our creators more, though. We have just increased our maximum per word rate for short fiction from $0.07 per word to $0.08, and have linked future increases to our Patreon page. We offer our novelists generous royalties of 50%, and are working hard to make titles earn out so we can pay those royalties. As our press becomes more financially stable, we pass our profits on to creators.

In these uncertain times, artists need our support more than ever. As a reader, you can bolster writers by requesting their books at your library or local bookstore, and by buying them online. If I see a book that I love is on sale for $0.99 I will often buy it, even if I’ve already read it. It’s like a tip in the jar that also boosts a book’s ranking on Amazon. I subscribe to magazines I don’t have time to read in full because even one good story is worth the price of admission, and I know my money is helping put more art in the world.

And, as a publisher, I will be happy to continue writing cheques.