[MrVandemar]

Roger Zelazny, the science-fiction author, relates a story of how he wrote one story that fulfilled the briefs of three anthologies/magazines, sold it three times, and it was enough to pay for a cruise.

Things were different back in the day.

[justin66]

Less cynically, John McPhee would have been fine if what he made from the New Yorker merely covered his expenses, since he would also publish his work in books.