Exactly. But I will emphasize "a fair return." Reasonable expectations is the key. If the goal is to work hard and eventually make a comfortable living writing full time—and not incidentally share the things we put so much effort and love into with as many other people as we can (or why publish at all, if that is not part of our motive?)—and if we understand that even that modest goal will take time and persistence, then I think we are more likely to be both successful and satisfied with the outcome of all our work. If the idea is that we'll write down our brilliant ideas, shoot them out to a few agents or publishers, and fame and fortune will inevitably follow and follow soon, the almost inevitable disappointment of such expectations is probably the leading cause of burn-out among writers and the reason so many give up before they've given it half a reasonable chance.
But it does make sense to believe we should be rewarded for our efforts. All down through the ages, artists of all kinds have expected to get paid. It's a comparatively modern thing the idea that we're supposed to do it solely for love, art for art's sake. Note that the people who expect us to write our books without hope of any financial reward are people who darn well expect to get paid for doing their jobs.
