His Canadian publisher, Random House Canada, hasn't announced what it has paid or what it's printing; nor has the British publisher, Canongate, which recently anointed The Gargoyle its lead fiction title for the fall. But the betting among informed observers is that Davidson's total earnings from advances – this before a single copy has even been purchased here or south of the border – is in the $2-to-$2.5-million range.
-- from an article in the Saturday Globe (August 8, 2008) about The Gargoyle novelist Andrew Davidson’s big payday.At the risk of bragging, I recently received $30 from a literary journal for a short story. I appreciate that the journal (which shall remain nameless) is struggling. I'm not complaining about the amount, but rather its form. Rather than a cheque I was sent two copies of the journal plus a plain white envelope with:
- a twenty dollar bill
- a five dollar bill
- two toonies
- and a loonie
Coins in the mail felt strange to me. I'd rather have done without them since $25 is only five zeros away from $2.5 million. In your face, Davidson.
(I updated this post on August 13 to reflect the correct combination of bills and coins to make $30. I originally had a ten-spot in there for no reason. How embarrassing.)
