EARLY DAYS -- Owning this / Julia Fierro -- With compliments / Nina MacLaughlin -- Faith, hope, and credit / Cheryl Strayed in conversation with Manjula Martin -- On staying hungry / Rachael Maddux -- Portrait of the artist as a debut novelist / Porochista Khakpour -- The mercenary muse / Colin Dickey -- Running the widget factory / Susan Orlean in conversation with Manjula Martin -- The wizard / Alexander Chee -- You are the second person / Kiese Laymon -- Five years in the wilderness / Cari Luna -- Freedom / Richard Rodriguez in conversation with Caille Millner -- Word hard, read dead / Yiyun Li in conversation with Manjula Martin -- Write to suffer, publish to starve / J. Robert Lennon -- THE DAILY GRIND -- The best work in literature / Manjula Martin -- The insider / Kate McKean -- Against "vs." / Leslie Jamison -- Love for sale / Harmony Holiday -- Unlikeable / Emily Gould -- Sad birth lady (tm) / Meaghan O'Connell -- Ghost stories / Sari Botton -- Economies 101 / Susie Cagle -- Security / Roxane Gay in conversation with Manjula Martin -- Monetization / Choire Sicha -- Not a complaint / Nell Boeschenstein -- The jump / Sarah Smarsh -- SOMEDAY -- Selling out / Austin Kleon in conversation with Manjula Martin -- A sort of fairy tale / Malinda Lo -- Growing up / Nick Hornby in conversation with Manjula Martin -- FAQ: how to buy a home / Mallory Ortberg -- Diversity is not enough: race, power, publishing / Daniel Jos�e Older -- Worth / Jennifer Weiner -- Like a fish in a tweed suit / Jonathan Franzen in conversation with Manjula Martin -- The if of it: lunatic independence in nine easy steps / Laura Goode.

"A collection of essays from today's most acclaimed authors--from Cheryl Strayed to Roxane Gay to Jennifer Weiner, Alexander Chee, Nick Hornby, and Jonathan Franzen--on the realities of making a living in the writing world. In the literary world, the debate around writing and commerce often begs us to take sides: either writers should be paid for everything they do or writers should just pay their dues and count themselves lucky to be published. You should never quit your day job, but your ultimate goal should be to quit your day job. It's an endless, confusing, and often controversial conversation that, despite our bare-it-all culture, still remains taboo. In Scratch, Manjula Martin has gathered interviews and essays from established and rising authors to confront the age-old question: how do creative people make money? As contributors including Jonathan Franzen, Cheryl Strayed, Roxane Gay, Nick Hornby, Susan Orlean, Alexander Chee, Daniel Jose Older, Jennifer Weiner, and Yiyun Li candidly and emotionally discuss money, MFA programs, teaching fellowships, finally getting published, and what success really means to them, Scratch honestly addresses the tensions between writing and money, work and life, literature and commerce. The result is an entertaining and inspiring book that helps readers and writers understand what it's really like to make art in a world that runs on money--and why it matters. Essential reading for aspiring and experienced writers, and for anyone interested in the future of literature, Scratch is the perfect bookshelf companion to On Writing, Never Can Say Goodbye, and MFA vs. NYC"-- Provided by publisher.