Do awards make writers rich?

THE Sound of Things Falling by Colombian author, Juan Gabriel Vásquez, translated from Spanish by Canadian Anne McLean, is the winner of the 2014 International IMPAC DUBLIN Literary Award and €100,000 — but how do awards affect the winners — and the losers? Do they really matter?

The late Maeve Binchy left a cool €10 million in her will. Her writing career was stratospheric, but she was the exception. Post boom, life is tough for a writer —’the book trade has changed dramatically; huge advances are a thing of the past, and, as John Connolly recently said on the John Murray Show, the printed book may not exist in 10 years’ time.

Is it still possible to make a living from writing alone, and do awards help? Do they bring in sales, or are they useful just for glory?