and had to have it explained to them that for the number of hours I put into doing it there's no way anyone would pay me enough to approach even minimum wage for the worktime.

That's another point, yeah. The money paid for comics artwork in Germany (where I live) is so laughable that you can just as well draw it for free and spend your work hours on stuff that pays a lot better. That way, you retain all your creative freedom and you don't have to deal with deadlines.

So, yeah. There's a whole mindset that I think comes from figuring that it must be heavenly to turn a hobby into a career and thereby have a job you really enjoy, that doesn't realize that A) having to make a paying proposition out of an activity can take a lot of the joy out of it

I did turn my hobby into a job... and slowly, without even me noticing, it had turned into a chore. I rediscovered the joy through fan art. Ever since I found that outlet, I have all sorts of new energy for the paid work. Tell that to our pro friends. They sound like writing has to be a chore in order to make you a 'real' writer.

and B) that a hobby can be defined as, "something you pay to do."

Heh. True.