There are indeed plenty of people who will write for non-commercial reasons, and share with as many people as are willing to take the effort to find them. But there's also plenty who don't archive on all the sites they'd like to, just because it's such a hassle to transfer the content--there's no payment, so not enough incentive to make distribution important. They get the feedback they need to keep writing, and while they wouldn't mind sharing with a wider audience, they're not spending effort to do so.
Even huge, HUGE BNFs are essentially distributing to "a few friends." (Okay, many "friends." A few thousand readers, in some cases.) At slash cons, some of us have done some informal checking, and we can't name 5 fanfic authors from different fandoms who are known to a majority in all those fandoms. (The only name known almost universally is Cassie Claire.)
I don't do a lot of art myself any more because it's just not as rewarding (emotionally or financially) as spending my time with my husband and dog.
Yep. Lots of former fanfic authors who have stopped or mostly stopped writing because it became more work than it was worth. Payment for creative works--whether that's cash or squee--is an important part of Getting More Stuff Made.
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Even huge, HUGE BNFs are essentially distributing to "a few friends." (Okay, many "friends." A few thousand readers, in some cases.) At slash cons, some of us have done some informal checking, and we can't name 5 fanfic authors from different fandoms who are known to a majority in all those fandoms. (The only name known almost universally is Cassie Claire.)
I don't do a lot of art myself any more because it's just not as rewarding (emotionally or financially) as spending my time with my husband and dog.
Yep. Lots of former fanfic authors who have stopped or mostly stopped writing because it became more work than it was worth. Payment for creative works--whether that's cash or squee--is an important part of Getting More Stuff Made.