Monetization?

For class I'm re-reading the excellent novel Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. I'm highlighting many passages, in part for a presentation I'll give in a few weeks, but also because I enjoy the observations and the prose.

Yesterday I was highlighting for an entirely different reason, and I was laughing as I did. The main character of the novel, Ifemelu, a young Nigerian-American, starts a blog where she muses on racial topics. In short order the blog becomes so popular and so profitable that she's able to buy a home in Baltimore's Roland Park. 

Granted, Americanah was published in 2013, much earlier in blogging's history. I suppose its current earning power might be equivalent to that made by YouTube influencers. But still, I had to smile. I've never expected my blog to earn a penny — and it hasn't!