&gt; These days, over one million books are published each year, with at least half of these self-published.<p>The biggest thing I got out of that article is that the Internet has truly killed the prospect of making a living as an author if you&#x27;re competing with half a million other self-published books every year.<p>I&#x27;d say that no one should go into any of the following professions with any expectation of making any money at all:<p>1) Writing of any kind (fiction, non-fiction, technical articles, journalism -- forget about it!)<p>2) Digital art of any kind (see DeviantArt for millions of super-talented creations that haven&#x27;t earned a cent)<p>3) Photography of any kind (see Shutterfly for millions of photos better than anything you ever took and yet no one will ever pay for)<p>4) Composing music or lyrics<p>It kind of surprises me that software, a creative and digital medium like the above, is not futile and that you can still make a good living at it.