If your goal is financial success, there's a million and one easier paths to take than becoming an author of novels. Moby Dick will probably still be read in a

If your goal is financial success, there's a million and one easier paths to take than becoming an author of novels. Moby Dick will probably still be read in a thousand years, and that's the kind of success most authors dream of. Even if cash-flow is king, it's not the primary motivation for most artists. BTW I looked it up, and it seems like Melville was never very financially successful from writing during his lifetime. Moby Dick might have been the nail on the coffin - it didn't become popular until after his death - but it can't be entirely blamed for his financial troubles, and pooh-poohing the idea of writing weird and interesting novels because one author 150 years ago wasn't financial successful is a really dislikable form of gatekeeping.