Vasily Shchepetnev: Minus the profession Vasily Shchepetnev Published on September 16, 2011 Astronauts are getting smaller and smaller: as reported, if in the year 2000 the NASA astronaut corps numbered one hundred and forty-nine people, today there are only

5. A hobby in which you are a virtuoso Travel, diving, tarot cards, cooking, bodybuilding, website building, memory development, marketing, music, relationships, guitar, handicrafts, dancing, fishing, video shooting, snowboarding. These are all hobbies you can have.

A hobby can become a profession. Likewise, the profession can be exciting. The ideal option for a person is a situation when his profession is one of his hobbies. A hobby that brings, in addition to joy and satisfaction, money, is what, perhaps, almost everyone dreams of in our time. As a rule, people who have a "hobby job" are the happiest, get maximum pleasure from their professional activities and go to work with desire and enthusiasm. If this is not the case, then the person is looking for opportunities to realize their interests and inclinations elsewhere, and refers to the profession as a forced activity, a means of satisfying other needs.

The influence of a hobby on the profession

Many of us have hobbies that we devote our free time to. Someone loves to draw, someone plays the guitar, and someone spends their free time in the garage, figuring out how the car works. For the majority, these activities will remain at the level of a hobby, which will periodically be given free time from work. But there are also those who want to combine their hobby with further professional activity. This does not mean that you absolutely need to be an artist if you have artistic talent and spend all your free time behind a canvas. With this talent, you can find application for yourself in other equally interesting professions. So you have a hobby and don't know where to apply these skills? Let's see what professions they can be useful in.

Do you like to travel, are you fascinated by new countries, are you constantly in search of information related to interesting facts about them? Perhaps you should consider the tourism industry and the professions that relate to it.

Examples of professions: tourism manager, tour guide, tourism product promotion manager, hotel business manager, tourism instructor, tourism product sales manager, etc. You can also be advised to choose professions that involve frequent business trips to other countries. Such professions include, for example, a linguist-translator.

Spend time at the computer often, are well versed in software, show interest in computer games? The field of IT technologies might suit you, especially if you are interested not just in games, but in the algorithms by which they work, programming languages ​​with which you can write such a game.

Examples of professions: programmer, system administrator, tester, software developer, service specialist technical support, security systems maintenance engineer, etc.

Can't imagine your life without drawing or art photography?

Examples of professions: designer, graphic designer, photographer, advertising specialist, architect, restorer, hairdresser, jeweler, fashion designer, make-up artist, etc.

Are you fond of cars? Spend your free time in the garage doing car repairs, are you interested in their mechanism, components? Take a closer look at the professions in the field of transport, car service.

Examples of occupations: driver, auto mechanic, car mechanic, machinist, driving instructor, crane operator, design engineer, sales assistant in specialized stores, etc.

Does the cooking process give you incredible pleasure? Do you constantly surprise everyone with new, delicious dishes? Experimenting with kitchens different countries? Then you can be interested in the catering industry.

Examples of professions: food service technician, cook, pastry chef, baker, waiter bartender, food service manager, etc.

Do you like sports, spend your free time in training? You can consider professions that require serious physical training, provided that your health meets the requirements of the profession.

Examples of professions: trainer (by type of sport), physical education teacher, instructor-methodologist for physical culture, health-improving and sports-mass work, instructor for exercise therapy, manager in sports, instructor-methodologist for tourism, fitness instructor, sports columnist, cash collector, security guard, policeman, traffic police inspector. You can also consider the specialties of military universities, universities of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Emergencies.

Do you devote all your free time to reading? Are you interested in classic and modern literature, show interest in linguistics, blog, like to talk about things and events?

Examples of professions: journalist, philologist, advertising specialist, editor, proofreader, language and literature teacher, librarian, etc.

Seriously interested in music, playing a musical instrument, collecting music from different artists?

Examples of professions: composer, arranger, instrumentalist, conductor, accompanist, music teacher, music director, art manager, sound engineer, sound engineer, musical instrument tuner, musical instrument maker and repairman, computer engineer music programs and etc.

Do you like taking care of animals, watching their behavior? Interested in information related to the peculiarities of the animal world? Are you in a community dedicated to helping animals? Examples of professions: veterinarian, dog handler, livestock technician, game manager, jockey, zoologist, sales assistant in specialized stores, animal trainer, etc.

As you can see, any of your hobbies can be valuable from a professional point of view. And if you know how to make beautiful things, sew, cook deliciously, cut, grow flowers, repair household appliances, write computer programs, play chess, like to go on hiking trips, practice martial arts, dance or are fond of history, then you not only have the opportunity to fully relax, communicate with interesting people and be an interesting conversationalist. Any of your hobbies can become a reason for business acquaintances, a source of additional income, or even a turning point for choosing a new profession.

If you have seriously thought it over, weighed all the pros and cons and still remained true to your decision to associate a hobby with a profession, then take another look at the proposed options.

In addition, to develop your professional interests, you may be advised to enroll in an out-of-school circle. Institutions of additional education for children and youth now provide a wide range of forms and directions of classes that contribute to the development of abilities and interests, social and professional self-determination. For some, classes in circles will become a useful hobby, and for others - the basis for choosing a future profession.

The influence of the profession on hobbies

It's no secret that hobbies not only help in the fight against stress, broaden horizons and social circle, but also characterize a person's personality. No wonder the "hobby" column is often present in employers' questionnaires. However, a person's profession also quite often affects his hobbies. A hobby is often a continuation of professional activity. And this is not surprising, because the choice of a profession for many is based on hobbies that are formed in childhood.

As you know, tourism managers like to devote their leisure time to travel, designers - to painting and photography, and drivers - to everything related to cars. IT specialists most often devote their free time to computers and the Internet, journalists and editors - to reading, and translators - to the study of foreign languages.

The choice of a hobby depends largely on gender. For example, the primordially male occupation - hunting - is popular mainly among representatives of traditionally “male” professions: among officials and civil servants, policemen, security guards. The same is the case with fishing: engineers, builders, drivers, security guards are especially keen on it. Handicrafts and cookery are popular among representatives of "female" professions: accountants, economists, nurses, teachers and educators. Secretaries are often fond of dancing.

The most popular hobby among representatives of various professions and specialties is sports. Inveterate athletes are office managers, among whom one in three is keen on sports, businessmen, security guards, police officers, architects, tax inspectors.

5 obstacles that prevent you from turning a hobby into a profession

Do what you love and earn money at the same time. It would seem, why does not everyone succeed? After all, if a person is “on fire” with a deed, he will certainly achieve success in this. However, in such a scenario, we may face obstacles that prevent us from making the dream come true. One can single out the main stumbling blocks that separate many from making a truly favorite occupation into a profession.

• Pleasure from the process

A hobby exists precisely in order to get satisfaction from an occupation. This approach is ideal for having a good time, cheering yourself up, and distracting yourself. But often we get too hung up on the process, believing that someday dreams will turn into reality by themselves. It is not enough to just love to draw, photograph, or travel. It is important to determine what exactly you would like to make a living in this area - to define your own goal.

How to solve: formulate a measurable goal and outline options for how to arrive at it. Don't limit yourself - write all the possible and impossible solutions that come to mind. Do you like travel? Determine exactly what you want to do: provide travel services, blog and write about new places, or create a new service for travelers. Do you want to create a website "about something interesting"? Formulate what and for whom your resource will broadcast, what will be its peculiarity and value for readers.

• Lack of self-discipline

A hobby is not an activity where we frame ourselves. That is why we so often grab onto a new idea with fervor, and then quietly abandon it. There can be many reasons for this: tired, hard, there is no time or inspiration. In such cases, many of us again begin to be content with the process or push the goal into the distant future.

How to solve: you cannot control yourself - obligations will help you. Find a partner or client who will need to provide a specific result or take part in some project, even if on a free basis.

• From inspiration to inspiration

It’s inspiration that helps you come up with and do incredible things. But you can't build a workflow on inspiration, because today it can be, and tomorrow it won't. And what to do when "does not go"? Just wait? And if the muse returns in a week or a month? In this case, it is highly likely that all plans and goals will be destroyed.

How to solve: create conditions for your inspiration. Think about why you are doing this, how much effort you have already put in and what you will get as a result. Doesn't it go anyway? Remove any distractions, focus on what you love to do, reward yourself, and use the things that inspire you the most: review what has already been done, flip through your plan, watch some inspiring videos, or turn on some music. Dream, praise yourself, and start doing.

• Nobody drives you in the neck

There's no hurry if we set the deadlines ourselves. We want - we work, but we want - no. We ourselves have the right to change our schedule or make a timeout just to be lazy or to do something else. Or maybe everything needs to be done differently? Which option should you choose? Choice and fear of making a mistake are the real villains.

How to solve: do not hesitate, but act. In any business, there are several options, you just need to make a decision and choose one of them. If it doesn't work out, do it differently. Don't relax and come up with more excuses. Stick earlier a specific schedule, hurry up to make your dream come true.

• Am I that good?

Putting our soul into any occupation, sometimes we are too afraid of criticism. Do you think that your efforts will not be appreciated or someone will do the same much better? Think you are not fit for this, that you have no talent?

How to solve: instead of assessing yourself again, believe in yourself and take action. Don't try to please everyone, just do what you love as best you can. Not for someone else, but for yourself. Appreciate your work and results, listen only to constructive criticism of people whose opinion is important to you. If you don't like something, fix it.

If you want to change your life and do exactly what brings you pleasure, stop being realistic and start dreaming. Write down your ideas and fantasize about how you would like to implement them. Then feel free to get to work. And no excuses - just purpose, diligence, training and a clear "plan to take over the world."

After the advent of the Internet, the world changed and began to move in a new, previously unknown direction. And as soon as blogs appeared, completely new professions and hobbies emerged. Despite the fact that the network has existed for a long time, many are still interested in the question of who a blogger is. Especially this issue became relevant to comedy after the publication of the Russian comedy. Its name is rather unusual - "Hack Bloggers". So who are they?

Usually they are experienced, patient people who know how to write, who are interested in sharing their opinions with others. The main task of this person is to attract the public to his blogs. And only the most patient people who are really interested in it grow professionally and achieve success in this area.

Who are they

To understand who a blogger is and what he does, it is worth understanding that a blog is a kind of diary on the Internet, access to which is available not only to the one who maintains it, but also to many other people. Bloggers are usually called netizens who, for one reason or another, share various information with others. At the beginning of the development of this area, the main form of information transmission was text messages.

But over time, video and photo reports appeared, with the help of which the masters email share important and useful information with their readers. Here is the answer to the question who is a blogger. Most often we are talking about events and social events that the authors of the blog have attended, about personal experiences or speculations about the future. Recently, blogs have become very popular in which people share their personal experiences and give advice in the field where they understand.

Successful authors

Who is a blogger? It can be either an ordinary, unremarkable person, or a musician, businessman, traveler or humorist. The main rule of the success and popularity of a blog is the ability to beautifully tell about an event or offer useful information accessible language. And here it does not matter whether the star is a person or not, if the reader likes the material, then fame will come by itself.

How to receive the money

Many people are interested in how bloggers make money and where they get such fees. Despite the fact that the Internet has been developing for a long time, many people do not understand how you can get money just sitting at a computer. In fact, there are already a lot of professions and methods of earning money connected with the Internet. Writing unique content and constantly updating your blog give online hard workers a ground for making money and sometimes very good money.

One way to get paid for your hobby is to write custom posts. It would seem that this option is the simplest, but in fact it requires a lot of time and mental investment from the author. It is very important to write the kind of text that will really interest the reader and will be easy to read. In addition, it is important that, against its background, advertising does not catch the eye and look unobtrusive. The blogger's financial income will be credited depending on the topic of his blog and how many people will visit it. The second option that popular bloggers often use is selling ad space. Here you need to find advertisers of a specific product who are interested in the blog and invite them to post their advertisements on the author's website. If the blog is visited and developed, then you can get good money for the sale of such a place.

The salary

The earnings of representatives of this profession can be very different and depends on many factors. Bloggers' secrets aren't all that hard. Almost all newbies use ad viewing. But those who run video blogs make money on monetization. That is, before watching the video (or immediately after it, sometimes even in the middle), the user is also prompted to watch an advertising video. And for each such viewing, the blog owner gets his dividends. If the channel is developed and popular, the generated advertising revenue can be up to several hundred dollars. It all depends on the topic of the blog, the season, the usefulness of the information provided and the length of the promotional video.

How to become a blogger

The main thing is to feel confident in front of the camera and have a well-developed diction. So how do you become the bloggers everyone knows? One of the secrets is to find your theme. If the channel contains structured information in one direction, the author will have regular subscribers who are really interested in learning news in the area that is being discussed in the blog. In addition, such tactics will allow the viewer or reader to make sure that the author really understands the topic and provides reliable information. And when you are believed - it already costs a lot on the Internet.

How to become YouTube bloggers

It is important that he himself understands what he is talking about with the public, and can in simple words clarify your knowledge. This platform is designed so that the author can constantly be in touch with his subscribers. Therefore, you should always ask their opinion about the material you see. The point of view can be discussed in the comments, and the more correspondence the author has, the more successful his blog will become. Channel style and design are also very important factors. This is probably the first thing that famous authors advise to those who are interested in how they become bloggers.

It is best to come up with a catchy name for your channel and think over the style that will attract the right audience. In addition, it is worth creating a preview that fully reflects the main topics and activities of the author. Passion for the topic plays an important role in the development of a blog. And the more the author is immersed in the study of the subject, the more pleasant and interesting it is to watch his channel, to receive information on the topic from his lips.

Bloggers' secrets lie in the fact that they create a pleasant musical accompaniment, they work for a long time on high-quality and competent video editing. In addition, viewers look at appearance the author, appreciate his diction. If a person tells a lot of interesting facts in a confident voice or gives really working advice, the success of such a blogger is guaranteed, and he will definitely become popular and be able to make money on his hobby. And the last piece of advice on how to become a popular blogger across the entire network is to purchase high-quality equipment and software, which will allow you to shoot and edit really interesting and high-quality videos that will attract not only with their content, but also with a beautiful wrapper. The main thing is to devote as much time as possible to your audience, and then user activity will grow. Well, do not forget to update your content with new, interesting stories.

Blogs on Instagram

Blogs on the Instagram social network are gaining more and more popularity. So many fashion bloggers have chosen this path for their careers. and this is not surprising. After all, there is no need to create short videos or write huge articles with instructions and explanations. It's enough to attract an audience here. good advice and beautiful photographs. There are four things you should definitely include on your Instagram blog.

First, there is content that can be very diverse. For example, poems, tips, photographs, stories and more. The main thing is that all this gives a result and can easily work with any reader of the post.

Secondly, in this social network there is an opportunity to advertise your blog for free. It is very good to use this opportunity to promote your resource, but it is worth remembering that it will only make sense if the author often supplements his channel with high-quality and effective content.

To become a famous blogger, there are five essential tips from gurus in the field. It is very important that a person has the motivation to really achieve success, he must motivate himself for success and popularity. Only unique content can attract enough users.

Anyone can copy someone else's data, but few will be interested in it. Only what is nowhere else will bring fame and earnings to the blogger. It is important to choose interesting topics not only for their readers, but also for the author himself. After all, only personal interest can make the material alive. All the best bloggers have writing skills to surprise, intrigue, amaze and engage readers. And the most important thing is patience. It is very rare that blogs become popular from the first posts. Therefore, it is important to work hard and invest in your channel so that it really starts to bring the expected results.

Most Popular Authors

Now some of the most popular bloggers who create their videos on YouTube channels are:

• PewDiePie - He plays games and comments on them.
• Duo Smosh - they make hilarious parodies of famous characters around the world.
• Jenna Marbles - She gives women advice.
• Maria Way - talks about her purchases, gives advice on the style of clothing and makeup.
• Sonya Esman is a model who talks about the latest in the fashion world.
• Milena Chizhova - she attracts her subscribers by raising actual problems and discussing ideas.
• Elena Krygina is a renowned professional makeup artist providing tips and video tutorials.

The richest blogger

Matt Marshall has become the leader in making money in blogging. While everyone else is sharing travel photos, giving advice and coming up with unique material, he gets more and more on his blog. On this moment, this man receives tens of thousands of dollars from his hobby, and his turnover is only increasing. His blog has been around since 2006. He began by discussing finance and new technologies. According to his subscribers, his materials are among the most informative and interesting.

Matt's Secrets

The author constantly pleases his readers with new stories. This person is an example for all newbies and already experienced bloggers. With his posts, earnings and dedication, he shows how easy it is to get rich off what you love. Looking at his work, one can understand that patience, work, motivation, diligence and other qualities can really lead to a dream come true. At the same time, you can make good money on a dream, as many bloggers show.

Freedom Square spoke with three poets - Masha Rupasova, Ksenia Valakhanovich and Igor Shevchuk. They asked them why Chukovsky and Marshak still top the charts of children's poetry, what to do if you want to become the new Agnia Barto. And do our children need new poems at all.

When I was a child, Chukovsky, Marshak and Barto were read to me. I read to my child Marshak, Barto and Chukovsky. All my friends read Barto, Chukovsky and Marshak to their children. This is a basic set, an unbreakable norm for those who continue to read to children.

The good old classics prevail on the shelves of bookstores: we read to children what we grew up on and pay very little attention to new names. And they are.

Today there are three children's poets on the "Freedom Square". Masha Rupasova lives in Vancouver. Ksyusha Valakhanovich is in Minsk. Igor Shevchuk is in St. Petersburg. They are all very different. Masha writes poetry for her son and is inspired by Kharms. Ksenia has already published her third collection of poetry, and she also composed poetry for the musical "Oscar and the Pink Lady". Igor once invented Smesharikov, and now he writes scripts for cartoons about Fixies and sells books at his concerts.

How they become children's poets

How to write for children so that they believe you? You can preserve childhood in your soul yourself, like Ksenia Valakhanovich, or desperately not want to grow up, like Igor Shevchuk. And you can write for your children, like Masha Rupasova - and one day understand that this is your main talent.

Ksenia Valakhanovich:

- A children's poet is an eternal child. Everything is joyful and amazing to him. He is generally terribly inquisitive! "How do whales sleep", "does the bear have a tail?" After all, often before you start writing, you have to shovel a lot of information. You have no right to deceive readers!

Why am I writing for children? I don't know, I probably haven't played enough yet. How does it all come to mind? It seems that it is high time for me to come up with some beautiful legend on this score. About magical insights, nightly jumping from a pot with a cry "Eureka!" or a watermelon that fell on its head in infancy. But really, you have to sit in a chair, turn on your computer and just start writing.

Teddy bear dream

I'm sitting on the shelf in the store,
Like an empty trifle
I just repeat to both the elephant and the hedgehog:
The main thing, guys, is to hope!

I know that one day they will come for us!
Hey! More fun! Don't slouch!
I repeat everything, as if delirious,
Looking at the noisy street

Button-nose buried in the glass:
You guys need to hope!
Autumn has flown by and summer has passed -
Where are you, funny owner?

I waited desperately, day after day,
And, of course, I did not give up,
To finally find me
The girl is the most gentle!

She pressed her warm face against me,
I stroked it weakly with a pen.
I iron now imperceptibly in a dream -
Herself -
Plush
Paw!

Ksenia Valakhanovich

Masha Rupasova:

- I started writing for one child - for my son Maxim. And then it suddenly turned out that other children also like my poems and fairy tales. I just came up with short rhymes and nursery rhymes for him, composed funny stories while we were walking, in order to amuse myself and entertain him.

Poems come by themselves, you just have to listen to yourself more carefully. I can construct poetry, but it's boring to the point of disgust. So I never write to order, not even my own. I cannot sit down and order myself: now write about the harvest festival! Since childhood, my fantasy has been rich, even too much. In ordinary life, I do not give her freedom, but in poetry she has freedom.

Two in a box

- But as
we'll call it -
This or that -
Human,
To which we will live
Two
of our
Short century?

- I do not know.
- How to choose
Its one of the terribly similar,
Declining
Play -
And that's all - passing bystanders?

- I do not know.
- What if a person
Threatens us with some kind of torment?
- I do not know.
- What if a person ...
- They're coming! Smile! Meow!

Igor Shevchuk:

- In class I was an outcast, practically the hero of the movie "Scarecrow". Maybe in childhood he did not play with his classmates, he grew up a recluse. I didn't want to grow up. In the 8th grade, instead of rejoicing at the beginning of adulthood, he wrote dreary essays about where childhood was leaving.

As a student, this somehow receded, but then unhappy love happened, and I almost did something stupid. This unsuccessful love attempt reinforced the reverse thrust. After all, there, in childhood, all this was not. Was good. So he began to write to children and adolescents - and he himself seemed to remain at this age.

Old man Derzhavin noticed us

My interlocutor and both interlocutors honestly admit: experienced writers helped them with the first books, who recommended their poems to their publishers. Xenia and Masha (independently of each other) were opened to the general public by Narine Abgaryan, who noticed their poems in blogs. Social networks in general became the engine of the literary process at the beginning of the XXI century, and they remain so today.

Igor Shevchuk started in the 80s, and for the first time he was brought to the publishing house by Eduard Uspensky himself:

- Once, in 1981, I brazenly asked for an interview with Ouspensky. I just happened to find out from my wife that he is sitting right now in a television studio in Leningrad. I called right there, introduced myself to his secretary, I don't remember who. Finally, CAM picks up the phone, answers sparingly and in a businesslike manner. Like, he came to St. Petersburg in his gray "Volga". Now he finishes at the studio and from the Kryukov Canal drives along the Fontanka past Lenizdat, where he can pick me up. And for everything about everything, I will have exactly 15 minutes, while the Volga travels from Lenizdat to Lavra.

I jumped into the car - and then all the prepared questions from my head from fear disappeared in a second. Then it was no longer I from him, but he interviewed me. Like, come on, young man, closer to the topic. What to tell you about? About how I became a children's writer? And then I take it and blur out that I’m just going to become one. And I even try to imitate Oleg Grigoriev. Well, without any enthusiasm, out of politeness, he squeezes out of himself: "For example?"

And I read him a poem about a hamster. And then the master, in front of whom my tongue is braided, slows down the car. Asks me to read more. And he says goodbye to me: tomorrow at such and such a time, at such and such an exit from the city, I have to get into his car and go with him to Moscow straight to the Malysh publishing house.

How the hamster got lost
There was a hamster
In a jacket.
But no one knew about
What a hamster
In a jacket.
Because with a hamster -
With a hamster
In a jacket -
I walked light myself.

I only walked with my feet
Along the path, in the yard.
And the hamster walked in his pocket
And softly gnawed at the hole.

And gnawed through for sure ...
Because very soon
Lonely along the fence
There was a hamster WITHOUT a jacket ...

Ksenia Valakhanovich:

- LJ became the first creative platform for me. During its heyday, LiveJournal was generally a powerful resource for promotion. Many people probably remember such LJ-users as pesen_net, marta_ketro, drevo_z, pristalnaya, frumich, maria_amor ... All of them are famous writers today. It was there that I met the magical Narine Abgaryan. And once she, then already a very popular prose writer, the author of the legendary "Manyuni", showed my poems to the chief editor of the St. Petersburg "Astrela" Alexander Prokopovich.

From that moment it all began. No, it wasn't fast, it just wasn't. Although my very first manuscript made me a laureate of the national literary award "Manuscript of the Year" 2015-2016 (nomination "Best Poems for Children"), the book did not immediately see the light of day. At first, its publication was postponed, but as a result, from the author's, it turned into a collection called "The Country on the contrary", which also included the poems of Anastasia Orlova and Masha Rupasova. The company turned out to be great! And the very fact that the book came out gave me strength and confidence as an author.

Masha Rupasova:

- They noticed me in social networks: I posted a few poems on my blog, and suddenly they became popular. For two or three years I wrote 22 poems - they were included in my first collection "Old women fell from the sky", which has already been reprinted several times.

When the collection was ready, Narine Abgaryan, whom I knew on Facebook, took and sent it to her publishing house “Astrel-SPb”. This is how I met my editor Irina Epifanova and editor-in-chief Alexander Prokopovich. Since then, we have published four collections of poetry, and two more books will be published next year.

Is it possible to live on book fees

The situation is not fun: even if you are a talented and recognized poet, even if you already publish books and the publishers look at you favorably, it is difficult to live on royalties from children's poetry.

Igor Shevchuk talks about rare positive examples. For example, Andrei Usachev, who at one time invented the dog Sonya, is published very actively, and the profession of a children's poet feeds him. But there are only a few such people.

Igor Shevchuk:

Ksenia Valakhanovich:

- Is it possible to earn money by writing? Probably. If you write bestsellers that are constantly reprinted in thousands of copies. Or you publish several books every month. At the same time, you write scripts for serials. And you do some elite writing courses. In general, I don’t know - I haven’t succeeded yet. Even if you take a musical: the amount seems to be rather big in the end, but if you scatter it over all the months of work, it will be completely ridiculous.

And writing for the musical was hard. First of all, emotionally: this is a story about a boy who is hopelessly ill and writes letters to God. Plus a serious responsibility: along with your poems, something huge and significant is born. Today you are writing an aria, and tomorrow Anna Kovalchuk herself will come to her rehearsal. Just goosebumps! Yes, it's time to thank Aleksandr Prokopovich again. It was he who at one time suggested me as a possible author. They were looking for someone who, in poetry, "thinks like a child" ...

Masha Rupasova:

- Literature was my hobby for the first couple of years, and now it has become a profession. I began to write not only poetry based on inspiration, but also prose - fiction and non-fiction. I am practically full time now. I love to collect interesting projects and to be exhausted from the load. Now I'm writing a phraseological dictionary.

Living on money from poetry collections will not work, unless you publish a collection a month. It would be great if we had grants for children's literature: here I have an idea for a book that will take eight months to work on without any more distractions. Here the grant system would help.

There are grants, but they are few, and most foundations work only with young writers - up to 35 years old. For example, the same Nastya Orlova was opened by the Filatov Foundation. There are seminars for young writers, thanks to which Julia Simbirskaya, Natasha Volkova, Anna Ignatova and other modern children's poets became famous. But even those few literary contests that can open new names have recently been getting rid of poetic nominations (for example, this year's "New Children's Book").

The trouble is at the genre level. Igor Shevchuk says that 85% of modern publishing houses simply do not publish poetry - the genre is non-commercial. Beginning authors are not warned that even a signed contract does not guarantee that the book will be published. This was in the practice of Ksyusha Valakhanovich: a model of the alphabet, completely ready for printing, with magic illustrations by Nastya Bakhchina was simply taken and wrapped up at the printing stage.

- And it was supposed to be my second book. Why was it wrapped up? "Because gladiolus" (c). Nobody explained. At first, of course, it was terribly offensive. Moreover, the publishing house paid the artist for the illustrations, so it was impossible even to buy them out together with the layout in order to offer to another publisher. But over time, I realized that I needed this lesson too. Yes, and those poems I would not have sent to print in this form - I would have remade 80 percent now for sure. Time passes - and you look at many things with completely different eyes.

Even if you were published, in order to receive at least 60 thousand rubles as a fee for a collection of poems, you need a circulation of at least 10 thousand. At the same time, the average circulation of a book by a modern children's poet rarely exceeds 3,000. To live on this, it is necessary that 20-30 books be published a year, and in different publishing houses.

Once Igor Shevchuk stood at the origins of the Smeshariki project. But for various reasons, he had to move away from these matters.

Now Shevchuk is one of the leading figures of modern children's poetry. In addition to poetry, he writes fairy tales to order, makes scripts and lyrics for "The Fixies", develops board games and, like Ksenia Valakhanovich, participates in the creation of musicals. And Igor also travels all summer to southern boarding houses, gives concerts there and sells his books at them.

- The fee from the publishing house for my last collection was 27,000 rubles. I took it with books. I have copyright programs with which I perform - it helps that I am Smesharikov's dad and Fixikov's uncle. I can honestly say that if I had not been involved in these two projects, I would not have had any earnings.

I speak for free and have to be a damn nasty huckster. You come to a boarding house at some resort and say: I will perform for you for free. But in order for the people to come there, you have to stand all day near this boarding house and beat yourself in the chest "I created Smesharikov and write" fixes "".

I know how to work at a concert, and I can and I love. But this agitation is below the belt. Hearing one remark of the haughty dad, "If you are so great, why are you begging here," I just wanted to give up. This is a terrible humiliation.

Move Chukovsky from Olympus: is it possible? Is it necessary?

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, a whole galaxy of high-profile literary names appeared in Russia: poets and prose writers, lyricists and science fiction writers, masters of the detective genre and the psychological novel. But these are all grown-up writers. How many children's writers and poets of the new generation can you recall offhand? J.K. Rowling does not count: we are talking about Russian-language children's literature.

Igor Shevchuk:

- When the Soviet Union ended, there were no more luminaries. Publishers that make brands like Dontsova did not deal with literature. They were engaged in survival in sausage conditions. Only a few were able to break through: Oster with his "Harmful Advice" and Usachev with his poems, while both were still people of the Soviet formation.

But those who now buy and publish children's books have themselves grown up with four or five names. Nobody hides this: publishers and critics are forced to admit that, in fact, the arsenal that the Marshaks and Chukovskys have developed is enough for a growing person. This is enough for him to mentally spread his wings, feel the beauty of a word and comprehend moral principles. But when he grows up, then he himself will decide whether to read Gogol or Pelevin. There is some truth in this.

The audience of the children's writer changes very quickly: you read Chukovsky to your baby, then he grows up - and now for a new child the old book becomes a huge unknown world. This means that classic children's books are always bought, constantly, they cannot get bored. So why risk a publisher?

But there is also hope: new names appear, books are published, albeit in small editions. Children's poets of the new generation write poems that are understandable to modern children, love them and tell amazing stories.

Masha Rupasova:

- Publisher is a complex profession that requires both artistic and commercial flair. And the publisher, as a professional, certainly wants to open a new name, but he cannot risk much money either. So the publishers are balancing out: they take on young authors, but release them in small print runs to see how it goes. It is clear that the circulation of beginners is incomparable with the circulation of Marshak.

Modern children's poets are published, they are very talented and there are many of them. These are Galina Dyadina, Yulia Simbirskaya, Anastasia Orlova, Natalya Volkova, Daria Gerasimova and many others. These are all young people of thirty or forty years old.

I think that both we and our children's literature have a future, because we have children, and we wish them well. We wish them the best, we write for them, we read them all the brightest that we can find. We're really all trying really hard.

Which of the current authors will stand next to the conditional Uspensky - I do not know. I myself would not refuse to stand next to him. But you know, it doesn't matter who stays and who doesn't, it seems to me that the creative process in which you were involved is important. This is the most wonderful thing.

Ksyusha Valakhanovich:

- What advice can I give to a novice author? No need to be ashamed of telling the world about yourself in every possible way. Share your creations in everyone social networks... Participate in all existing literary competitions. Google all kinds of publishers, study the literary segment that interests them. And write, write letters to them: in poetry, prose, haiku ...

Even when they don't answer. Even if someone, for some reason, did not like your poems or didn’t like them. This does not mean at all that your poetry is bad. Be cheerful and patient like a spring tick. And trust that in the end you will certainly make your way.

After all, today's children are completely different. Chukovsky, Mikhalkov and Barto are not enough for them. They must have a choice. Just give it to them! And time will put everything in its place ...

P.S. While we were preparing this article, Masha Rupasova published a new book "Kiselnye shores". We congratulate her on this and express our gratitude to all the heroes of our material.