The recent strike of the Writers' Guild of America (WGA) raised an important issue for academic writers. Although their compensation and job security differ, WGA members and academics both are creators of knowledge and culture. Among academic authors, discussion about dissemination of and access to scholarly works and lamentation about commodification abound, but scant attention is paid to the monetary aspects of digital publication for authors, in particular authors in the humanities and to some extent those in the social sciences. There are many reasons why academic authors have not focused on profit--some having to do with academic values, some having to do with the current realities of tenure and promotion criteria, some having to do with economic realities. The latter realities may be changing. In this article, the author discusses how academic writers can learn from the experience of the WGA. The author also suggests how academic authors can profit from their work like the WGA members.