Writing in Trace, Sue Thomas questions how new media writers are to buy groceries. She begins by quoting me:

"It is time - past time - for new media writers to abandon the childish hope that the web offers them a sanctum outside the economy, untainted by the spectre of publishers and booksellers and money."

So says Mark Bernstein, president and chief scientist of Eastgate, established in 1982 and probably the oldest hypertext publishing company around. But can new media writers and artists ever seriously hope to make a decent income, or are they forever relegated to the role of the "starving artist" model? What’s the equivalent of an unheated attic in cyberspace terms?

Many (though not all) of Thomas's suggestions focus on patronage -- arts councils, foundations, and academic departments. Personally, I'd rather publish.