Amanda Palmer goes into great detail around this issue in her book, "The Art of Asking". Her basic premise is that asking for support, for payment, for patronage, is not the wrong way to go about getting support. It is one, perfectly valid, way to do it. Whether it's a husband/wife supporting the other spouse with a high-paying job, fans supporting via Patreon, a grant from an artistic institution, a pension check, savings, credit cards, or other ways to pay living expenses, everyone is supported by something/someone. She points out that we all have this romantic notion of "Walden" (often called "the manual for self reliance") being written by this solitary writer, who went out into a cabin in the woods and played hermit for a year. A very romantic notion, sure. But wrong. Every weekend Thoreau was visited by family. Who brought him food and fresh-baked donuts. So this whole "lonely ascetic writer in the woods" thing? Yeah. Didn't happen. Amanda Palmer has turned this into a rallying cry for artists: TAKE THE DONUTS! We all - artists, writers, etc - need to learn to take the donuts when they are offered to us... and even to recognize it when someone is doing so! Being supported, being sponsored... hell, just paying the bills... does not diminish our art. And we need to learn to accept that.
That sounds very interesting, I'll take a look at the book. I actually posted something related to your point about authors asking for payment only a day or two ago. Feel free to take a look at it if you've got the time. Other than that, I agree with your point. However, the article, in my opinion at least, is less about asking for payment and/or sponsorship, and more so about having no opportunity to rely on some support in the first place, be it from wealthy family members or a job that conveniently allows you to write all day while paying your bills. Writers and artists should take the donuts when they are offered, but unfortunately they rarely are. It doesn't in any way diminish the art itself, but if one were to go into the field expecting donuts to be offered to them outright, I'm afraid they'd be in for a rough awakening.
Actually, this is my point (and Amanda Palmer's): Artists are really bad at understanding when they are being offered donuts. They are also really bad at accepting the donuts. I have spent the last 20 years working with artists and arts organizations, and it is astounding how blind artists are to the opportunities that are being thrown at them every single day. And how reticent they are to accept the proffered donut. Accepting the donuts requires the artist to understand they are being offered a donut, it isn't poisoned, they do deserve it, and accepting the donut does not compromise their art in any way. That's a big part of "The Art of Asking".... teaching artists that it is ok to ask, and to receive. Writers and artists should take the donuts when they are offered, but unfortunately they rarely are ...