It seems as though every MFA program ought to require all students to attend a lecture on budgeting and finance, doesn't it? If any of them do, I've never heard of it.

I'm so grateful to the commenters on this post for chiming in with their experiences and, in some cases, payments. What Gillian Flynn got for "Gone Girl" (or even the much more modest amount I got from a big publisher for my novel) isn't necessarily what others can expect, and we all could use the kind of reality checks that have been coming in. Thank you so much for getting how much some of this can matter to authors!