I'm Not Paying That Much For Something I Could Make! (A Common Refrain of Fake Outrage)

If you've ever attended a convention or a craft show, you've heard some variety of the following exchange. Maybe you were a person working a booth, or maybe you were just walking by in the aisle, but at some point in time you likely heard someone ask a creator how much something was, be quoted a number, and then that someone scoffed at the price like they'd misheard. And at some point in the exchange, they said some variety of the following.

"That's ridiculous, I could make this."

And let's give this mysterious person the benefit of the doubt. Maybe they could draw that drawing, crochet that stuffed animal, write that novel, or pen that tabletop RPG. It's not out of the realm of possibility. But they didn't... and if you can do it yourself, and you don't want to pay someone else for what they made, then go do it yourself.

But they won't. And if you ever hear someone say this to you, understand that they're trying to make you think your work is worth less than it is.

Perhaps you can. But you didn't. So either pay the fee, or walk.

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If You Can, Then Go Do It

I've made this comparison before, but at the risk of overstepping a line, authors, artists, and creators of all stripes hear a lot of the same indignant arguments that sex workers do from people... and it's usually for the same reason. Whether it's, "Oh, I could never charge people for doing that," or, "What am I paying you for? I could probably do this at least as well as you are," these statements are insults designed to make you lower your prices, or give the person something for free. And for some reason, a lot of us will cave, and do just that.

Maybe you think this person will enjoy the thing you made so much that they'll see how wrong they were. Maybe you're trying to be the bigger person. Whatever the reason though, if someone tries to use any of these lines on you, then show them the door, because they aren't a customer. They aren't even a potential customer. They're just trying to browbeat you into giving them something for nothing. Period.

And if you do it, all they'll remember is that you cave to being bullied.

You could kick them down a dark hole. That works too.

Now, you should absolutely charge a fair rate for the art you make. You should also ensure that you aren't spending more money than you're making just to get copies out to people. However, when someone comes up to you and insults your work (even if they veil the insult as something self-deprecating, or they try to make it out to be a joke) there is no further conversation to be had. The price is what it says on the tag... or it should go up just for them. They wanted special treatment, after all, and you can give it to them!

If you're an author, you're going to experience this behavior a lot. You're going to get random "book reviewers" sliding into your DMs and demanding you mail them physical copies of your manuscript, then getting angry when you tell them no, you aren't interested. You're going to have people at conventions lowball your books, as if the price isn't clearly marked. You're going to run into people on social media who demand free copies, then accuse you of using AI to write your books (even if the publication date predates modern generative AI programs, and they're clearly marked with No AI).

If you've ever worked retail, you recognize these folks. They're the loud, abrasive people who demand you honor expired coupons, or who want their meals comped because they deigned to come into the dump you run. They're the people who throw fits when they aren't catered to, and who storm out claiming you just lost a customer, even though they've never bought anything from you.

Now, I don't know why so many people feel so entitled to treat creators this way... but I see it happening more and more often. Not only that, but the most common excuse is that they could do the same thing you did, so they shouldn't have to pay the price you're asking.

But at the end of the day, you made something and they didn't. If they're willing to put in the time, sweat, and grueling effort it took you, they're welcome to do so. But if they want your book, your art, your game, etc., then they have to pay the same price as everybody else for it.

Don't budge. Give them an inch, and they will absolutely take a mile!

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Also, if you're curious about how to write for tabletop RPGs, don't forget to check out my show Tabletop Mercenary, which you can find on both the Azukail Games channel, as well as my Rumble channel listed above!

Like, Follow, and Come Back Again!

That's all for this week's Business of Writing! For more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, or at My Amazon Author Page where you can find books like my sci-fi dystopian thriller Old Soldiers, the Hardboiled Cat series about a mystery solving Maine Coon in Marked Territory and Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife, or my most recent short story collection The Rejects!

 

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Let's Talk About Crime (In Your Story, Of Course)

I'd like to start this week's post off with something of a lore drop. While I've been a professional writer for going on the past 12 years of my life, my degree is actually in criminal justice. For those who are wondering why, my logic was that I wanted to write crime thrillers, and if I was going to do that I should have at least some idea of how the criminal justice system worked... and since I had to get a degree in something, I might as well double dip my research, right?

While I have released some unusual noir mysteries in the form of my hardboiled cat novels Marked Territory and Painted Cats, most of my work has been outside the realm of straight crime stories since I graduated. However, I have dusted off my degree for more than a few editorial critiques, and this week I wanted to talk about crime in our stories.

Because a lot of the time people get this very wrong.

Seriously guys... it pays to do your research here.

Before we get into the nitty gritty this week, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Lastly, to be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree!

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Corpus Delecti (Body of The Crime)

All right, let's begin at the beginning here. If you are going to write a story where a crime constitutes an important part of your plot, regardless of whether it's a private detective story, a cop drama, or just a novel about an average Joe getting in over his head, you first need to know and understand what crimes are being committed. You don't need to be able to cite case law, but it is a good idea to look up what constitutes a crime in the place where your story is being set, and what the circumstances are when it comes to your plot.

And make sure that you understand a protagonist isn't immune to prosecution... that will break people's suspension of disbelief.

Malice aforethought you say? Interesting...

Just as an example, if your protagonist comes home to find his wife cheating on him with another man, and that man grabs a knife off the bedside table before charging at the protagonist, then your lead could absolutely pull a gun off his hip and shoot the guy dead while making some kind of claim for self-defense. This will still be an extremely messy situation, and there may be legal pressures put on him, but meeting deadly force with deadly force (particularly if the state has castle doctrine, where a resident has no duty to retreat from their own home) means you could portray this as a situation where he has no legal consequences for this act once all the facts come out and the police wrap up their investigation.

However, say that when he came home and caught his wife with her lover, said lover didn't try to escalate anything. He put his hands up, said he didn't want any trouble, he had no idea she was married, he'll just go. Your protagonist doesn't have that legal cover in this situation, and gunning the guy down would likely be manslaughter at best. But if it turns out he knew his wife was cheating on him, and he came home unexpectedly to catch them? That could be read as murder, because it required planning, which could be read as malice aforethought (typically a major element of a murder charge).

This is the main way a lot of folks end up messing up crime in their stories; they don't actually know the name of a crime, or what the parameters are that define that crime. And you could argue that some of that will be up to lawyers and courts in the story, as average folks might not much care about the difference between manslaughter and murder, or understand the differences between degrees of a felony when it comes to theft, dealing controlled substances, arson, etc. You, as the author, should have a working idea of what defines these crimes, though, because characters who should know need to sound authoritative on the subject.

Because if your protagonist is just a regular schmuck who gets caught up in a criminal conspiracy, no, they don't necessarily know what's happening. But if they're a lawyer, a cop (current or former), or even a gangster, they should have some idea if what they're doing/getting involved with is illegal, and exactly how illegal it happens to be.

What's The Point?

Understanding the crimes in your story is the first part of the battle... the next part, though, is that you have to actually fit those crimes into your story in a way that makes sense. After all, people don't just go around committing serious felonies just for the hell of it. So you need to understand why they're doing something before you just throw crimes into your book to escalate things and add drama.

Oh yes, those are crime boxes. Full of crime, they are!

Let's take a situation that happens in a lot of thrillers... someone witnessed a cop kill someone. Their life wasn't in danger, there was no mistaken intent, the officer just executed someone. Maybe the cop then tossed the body in the woods and tried to hide it, or maybe they called in a report, planting evidence on the corpse that would support a fabricated story, but there's a witness that saw them just gun somebody down in cold blood. Now, the question you have to answer as the author, is why? Why did that cop kill this person?

There's a slew of reasons to that question! Off the top of my head you might find:

- The cop is a serial killer, hiding behind their badge to protect themselves.

- It was personal, and the victim wronged the cop in the past.

- It was business. The cop is on the take, and did this on behalf of his criminal bosses.

- It was business. The cop extorts people, and he's sending a message to others.

- The cop had a vendetta. He knows (or thinks) the suspect was guilty of a crime he couldn't prove.

These are just a sample of motivations, but the point here is that the crime by itself is just one side of the coin... the other part is how that crime fits into your narrative. The crime is an element, but you need to use it to cast shadows on the rest of your plot to create the proper atmosphere for the rest of your story.

For instance, if the cop is a serial killer, does this become a game of cat and mouse as the witness tries to get people to believe them, while the cop is trying to silence them... perhaps permanently? If the cop was acting as an enforcer for a syndicate, is his action merely a stepping stone in the investigation, breaking open a wider case of corruption where the protagonist takes on the mob? If it's personal, is the witness someone who knows the cop? Is this a secret they now share, and it begins to poison their relationship as the killer gets more and more nervous, while the witness begins to worry his friend will kill him to keep the secret?

The specifics of the crime haven't changed... but the dramatic element it represents is different in each story suggestion. And while it might be true that just starting with a crime is a good way to begin storyboarding your book, it's rarely a good enough place to just begin your first draft... especially if what you're writing is a mystery. And for that reason, I would suggest folks take this blog entry, and combine it with the advice I gave in When Writing A Mystery, Start At The Middle of The Onion.

Putting these two things together really helps you figure out just what is happening in your plot. And once you know that, all you have left to do is to figure out how your protagonist interacts with these events, and watch the dominos start to fall!

Support The Literary Mercenary

If you want to see me produce more work, consider some of the following options!

- My Facebook

- My Blue Sky

- My LinkTree

- My Weekly Newsletter

- The Azukail Games YouTube Channel (where I contribute video content)

And if you happen to have some spare dosh lying around, and you want to be sure my supply doesn't run low, consider become a Patreon patron, or leaving a tip by Buying Me a Ko-Fi!

Also, if you're curious about how to write for tabletop RPGs, don't forget to check out my show Tabletop Mercenary, which you can find on both the Azukail Games channel, as well as my Rumble channel listed above!

Like, Follow, and Come Back Again!

That's all for this week's Craft of Writing! For more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, or at My Amazon Author Page where you can find books like my sci-fi dystopian thriller Old Soldiers, the Hardboiled Cat series about a mystery solving Maine Coon in Marked Territory and Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife, or my most recent short story collection The Rejects!

 

And to stay on top of all my latest news and releases, collected once a week, make sure you subscribe to The Literary Mercenary's mailing list. 

If you'd like to help support my work, then consider Buying Me A Ko-Fi, or heading over to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page! Lastly, to keep up with my latest, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now on Pinterest as well!