An important question from business writer Jim Collins, as posted at The Art of Non-Conformity

As I was finishing this manuscript, I went for a run and an odd question popped into my mind: How much would someone have to pay me not to publish Good to Great?

It was an interesting thought experiment, given that I’d just spent the previous five years working on the research project and writing this book. Not there isn’t some number that might entice me to bury it, but by the time I crossed the hundred-million-dollar threshold, it was time to head back down the trail. Even that much couldn’t convince me to abandon the project.

Many people, my self included, busy themselves with “monetizing” their art – trying to figure out how to get paid for it. We’re privileged – we have the good fortune of not having our art actively suppressed. Those of us trying to sell albums and paintings aren’t likely to be thrown in prison just for making our art (there are exceptions) Like many artists, I’d love to make money off my work (I still haven’t broke even off the first album yet, BTW)- but of course I’ll keep doing this if I don’t make any money. I hate to get into the debate of what makes a “real artist” but here’s one measure: you couldn’t pay a “real artist” NOT to do their work.

(Above: art by Mike Diana, “the first artist ever to receive a criminal conviction for obscenity in the United States”)