No to Literary Fiction, Yes to Porn

I've spent years writing books. Novels, no less. And for what? I'm turning my hand to the one thing that pays. Sex.

Lydia Millet

Ever since I read Lydia Millet's article in the Salon, I have been thinking about the shape of literature and plight of writers in this digital age.. So when does a serious writer of literary fiction want to write porn? Is the situation really that bad? Did she write this piece out of frustration or desperation? Is she really going to churn out a porn next time? 

I wish she had not written it. It's shocking for those of us who write literary fiction. Of course, lit fiction has small audience and its authors earn peanuts from their writing. But what's the use of talking about it in this way? If you don't want to write lit fic, it's okay. If you want to leave it for porn, go for it. It's your taste, your choice.

Money seems to be your main concern, Lydia.  We have sympathy for you, but porn is never the alternative for lit fic, even if you make money out of it (I strongly doubt it though) and you undermine the value of literature by stating this. This is atrocious and shameful.