As with many things, there's a widespread and not entirely erroneous perception that working below market for a while is a necessary precondition to later doing

As with many things, there's a widespread and not entirely erroneous perception that working below market for a while is a necessary precondition to later doing well. Also what's considered "market rate" and what's in 2016 a living wage have relatively little in common. Seven cents a word is the minimum 'professional' rate for short fiction, which very few people in 2016 can actually live solely on.