'By the late ’80s, his prospects remained bleak. In 1987, Mr. Erskine retired. In 1989, Mr. McCarthy wrote to a friend, “I’ve been a full-time professional writer for 28 years, and I’ve never received a royalty check. That, I’ll betcha, is a record.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/19/opinion/cormac-mccarthy-publishing.html