Sell More Books By Choosing The Right Anthology or Collection Theme

My long-time readers know two things about me; I've got a healthy amount of experience with anthologies, and I like to sell books. Getting into anthologies is a lot easier than selling them though, mostly because you need something unique to get them out of your inventory and into the hands of your readers. Maybe it's a bundle deal with a more popular book, an awesome book cover designed by a famous artist, a Big Name who contributed a short story, or another gimmick entirely.

Holding readers at gunpoint is certainly different, but not in the way you're looking for.

One unique selling point that a lot of writers overlook when it comes to anthologies as well as single-author short story collections is the theme. If you can hook readers with a theme they haven't heard before you'll get them to read your sample. Once they've dipped a toe in you're that much closer to snapping up another sale.

Dare to be Different

Since folks like examples here's one that's hot off the presses.

Seriously, go take a look inside!

What you're looking at is my latest release, and the first book I've never had to share with other contributors. New Avalon: Love and Loss in The City of Steam contains 10 steampunk noir stories, each of which is connected by a single theme. Is it romance? Tragedy? The corrupt heart of the clockwork city that drinks the blood and souls of those who dig too deep?

It's all of those things, but specifically the book acts as a guided tour of New Avalon.

From the steam-shrouded souk of the Grates to the concrete bunkers of Cranktown, from the soupy, rotting alleys of the Gutters to the misty quays of Headsman's Wharf every story takes the reader by the hand and leads them on a district-by-district journey. Readers see the possible and the impossible, meet residents of the city, but more than that they see New Avalon's many faces. From the miraculous to the monstrous there's something for every reader in this book.

Assuming of course you aren't a fan of happy endings?

Know What You're Selling (Preferably Before You Write It)

Anthologies and collections are similar to other books in one way; it's easier to sell them if you know your market before you start. If you're writing a horror story for example, who are you appealing to? Will the latest hordes of zombie fans want to devour it? Will it be the latest fad among the vampire sect? Are you appealing to old-style fans of shows like The Twilight Zone and Tales From The Crypt?

While there's no need to pigeonhole your project before you even open up a blank word document, you need to think about what selling points it has. Returning to our above example, New Avalon has several fulcrums I can lever to get it into the hands of fans. Those include:

- Noir Steampunk: While the genre is no stranger to mysteries and detectives something that's more Sam Spade and less Sherlock Holmes is something that turns readers' heads.

- No Happy Endings: It's right there in black and white in the introduction, which I think of as the user-agreement for this book. New Avalon is a place happy endings go to die, so for those who find catharsis in tragedy this is definitely a book for them.

- Guided Tour: As mentioned the book's stories are all separate, but they are used to paint a picture of a single place. This can give it a serialized feel not unlike Frank Miller's graphic novel Sin City. While stories may intersect like gears in a watch, none of them know what the others are doing.

- Single Author Collection: One of the big hurdles when you're trying to sell a multi-author collection is that even if someone likes your work they're only getting one of your stories. This book offers multiple tales, but they were all penned by the same hand. If you're putting together an anthology though you'd want to get several well-known authors to make the book feel like a safer bet.

- Free Sample: Not sold yet? Check it out and read the first two stories for free!

Do I Need To Do All That?

That depends, are you selling as many books as you want to?

If you're reading my blog then we both know the answer to that question.

Some authors will get lucky their first time out. If you look at the news it seems like all some authors had to do was get one influential person to see their book and bam! overnight bestseller! Whether it was a viral send off on social media, or just the spirit of the zeitgeist taking hold they happened to write a winning ticket.

For most of us (and even most of the authors who look like they hit it big overnight) that isn't how it works. We write blogs, participate in community forums, guest post, get reviews, find guest slots on podcasts, try to catch the attention of local media, set up signings, and go to tons and tons of events. And because every yutz with a computer and Internet access can become an author that means there are hundreds of thousands more books out there for you to compete with. If you're peddling short stories you're already at something of a disadvantage, which is why you need to try and turn that weakness into a strength by finding a way to sell it.

Also, May is National Short Story Month! Use that as a crowbar if you can, and see how many doors you pry open with it.

If you'd like to support me, but New Avalon doesn't seem like your bag then feel free to stop by The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page and become a patron today! Even as little as $1 a month can make a big difference. If you want to be sure you're getting all of my updates then make sure you're following me on Facebook and Tumblr as well!

Copyright Myths Authors Should Know About

Authors are no strangers to bullshit. We listen to book reviewers, we have agents, we troll forums; we are constantly immersed in a world of people who think they know what they're talking about. Sometimes this can be helpful, like when we meet other authors with more experience, or when we chat with representatives or publishers. A lot of the time though we meet people who are spouting absolute tripe they heard from their second cousin who's writing a slash fiction of John Carter and Tars Tarkas. Sometimes it's hard to tell the difference, which is why this week the Literary Mercenary is talking about copyright.

What Is It?

Before we get into too many details let's talk about what a copyright actually is. According to the U.S. Copyright Office copyright is a legal right for someone to make copies of, sell, and otherwise exploit a literary, musical, or other creative work. A copyright is good for the life of the author, and then for a period of 70 years after the author dies. If the work was anonymous then copyright lasts 95 years from the date of publication, or 120 years from the date of creation (whatever comes first).

The deaths of characters are inconsequential to the life of a copyright.

Those are the basics. Despite how simple copyright sounds though we get all kinds of confused about what actually comes after. It's why we have myths like...

If You Don't Register It Then People Will Steal Your Idea!

I don't know how many paranoid scribblers I've met who won't tell anyone what their books are about, and who have fits at the very idea that someone might read it before it's published. They mail copies of their stories to themselves, and tell you that until you register your work with the U.S. copyright office that it isn't copyrighted and anyone can steal it.

This is a 10-pound tub of bullshit.

I should know... I filled it!

Every work you create has a copyright from the moment it's created according to this. Remember that the next time someone offers to "help you out" by charging a "nominal fee" to get your work copyrighted.

I'm Not Infringing The Copyright Because I Spelled It Different!

I hate to be the one to tell you this, but you are.

We're not talking about public domain works; that's a whole different kettle of fish. What we're talking about is taking a popular work that is copyrighted (say Twilight for instance) and then writing your own strange, twisted sex fantasy using the same world and the same characters. That's derivative fiction, and it requires the copyright holder to give you the okay to do it. You can't just publish that work and claim that it doesn't violate the initial author's copyright.

*coughs uncomfortably*

There are all sorts of derivative works on the market. That said, no, someone can't just copy your work, switch around the I and the E in your lead's name, and then just claim that their book is different. That goes both ways.

But Fair Use!

For those of you not familiar with fair use it's a legal idea that says in certain, narrow circumstances you can reproduce a copyrighted work without violating the copyright, or having to pay a fee in order to do so. If you're reviewing the item in question, using it for scholarly research or using it in the classroom then generally speaking your intent falls under fair use. The same goes for parodies and other forms of commentary more often than not.

That's why no one sues this guy when he writes songs more popular than the ones they're based on.

Fair use is very, very limited though. You can't lift whole chapters, paragraphs, or even lines from poems or songs without running into the question of how much is too much for fair use. More often than not fair use won't protect you if you're making money off of someone else's material in some way, shape, or form (see the above caption for one of the only exceptions to this rule).

I Can't Put My Story Online, I'll Lose My Copyright!

No, you won't.

There's this weird idea that persists among people that if you found it online then it's public domain. If there's no little "c" symbol then the work isn't copyrighted and you're free to take and use it. If someone is offering you a free download or a file transfer then it's totally cool. No, it isn't; it's piracy, and you can be sued for it.

I feel a "but" coming on...

There are buts, and all authors should be aware of them. First of all you can sign away your copyright. For instance, say that you took a job from Tor to write a short story for an anthology. Part of this contract is that you will be paid $400 for the short, but all of the rights concerning it no longer belong to you as the creator. This is one of the only ways you can lose your copyright; because you sold it as stipulated in a contract. "Work For Hire" is the phrase to look out for with this one.

The other issue involves publishing rights, which is different from copyright and often a source of confusion. Say you get a contract from Random House for a novel you've posted online (maybe you wrote it for NaNoWriMo or something, I don't know). RH might want exclusive worldwide print rights (meaning no other company can make print copies). They might also want exclusive, first-run digital rights... which might be an issue if it's been sitting up on the Internet for the world to see. On the one hand no, you have not given away your copyright. But what you have done is published it in a medium, which means that you can't give someone else the right to be first. That's the trade off; if you do publish your work in any way (self, small, or big name) then you've used some rights to that work.

That's it for this week's entry, though feel free to comment if you have questions or want to see other topics covered in the next Business of Writing entry I do. If you'd like to support this blog then stop by The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page and consider becoming a patron today! If you want to keep up on all the latest and greatest for my updates then make sure you're following me on Facebook and Tumblr as well!

Make Money Writing (By Joining InfoBarrel.com)

When I was in middle school and adults asked me what I wanted to do for a living I told them I wanted to write books. They laughed and told me with an imagination like mine I should have no problem, but that I should have a normal job as well. All writers, or so they assured me, had to be teachers or garbage men or something until they became famous enough to live purely off their books.

This ladies and gentlemen is what we refer to as Grade-A Bullshit.

If there's one thing I know, it's bullshit.

If you want to follow in the footsteps of such luminary authors as Stephen King by becoming an English teacher and writing in the copious amounts of free time you'll have (if you aren't laughing you've clearly never seen how time-consuming teaching actually is) then by all means do so. If you think you've got the drive and sheer balls to hold down a day job and then spend hours a night banging away on a keyboard then I salute you.

This post isn't for you.

This post is for people who want to make money writing interesting articles. It's for people who want to take a chance that the fickle finger of the Internet gods will fall on them and fill their bank accounts to bursting (or failing that at least give them enough money to pay bills with a little cash left over). It's for people whose eyes light up when they hear the word royalties and who see no reason to start earning them years from now instead of right now!

Let Me Tell You About InfoBarrel

Some of you have likely looked into websites that will pay you to write before coming across my blog. HubPages is perhaps the most popular website out there, but its competitors like Triond, Xomba, and even Helium.com are all ready and willing to take your content and publish it for you. The problem with these sites is that if you don't have a Google Adsense account then there's no way you can get paid.

That's what makes InfoBarrel different from other sites.

That, and the fact that they pay you in cash instead of promises.

At a glance InfoBarrel is just like any popular site out there driven by user-created content. You set up an account, and start writing articles. InfoBarrel puts ads on your articles, and based on how well they perform you get paid. Some of the ads need to be clicked by readers, and some of the ads just need to be viewed a certain number of times, but whenever you meet the threshold you have money in the bank.

The site has two ad tiers; Tier 1 which is Google Adsense ads, and Tier 2 which is miscellaneous ads.

I Thought You Said I Didn't Need Google Adsense?

Keep your stockings straight, I'm getting to it.

In case you're not a regular reader I'll give you some background. Up until late 2014 I had a Google AdSense account of my own, and it was tied right to this blog. Then I was kicked out of Google's super-secret clubhouse, and told that I can never have an AdSense account ever again. You can get the full story on that right here. I also had over 400 articles on Yahoo! Voices when that site shuttered its doors in August 2014 (which cut another few hundred bucks out of my monthly earnings), and I needed a place to put them.

I had an InfoBarrel account from several years ago, so I fired it back up and started posting.

For the first two months I received Tier 2 earnings only, which amounted to a little over $5 or so. I went to my user account, agreed to the latest terms and conditions, and then clicked the Advertising Profile tab and enabled First Tier Ad Management.

And then money?

The way Google AdSense works is that Google tracks everything with your account number on it, tabulates your cut of the advertising money, and then kicks it to you on a monthly basis. If you don't have a Google AdSense account then you can't use any website that works with Google to pay its writers. How First Tier Ad Management works is that you are joining a collective AdSense account for all the authors on InfoBarrel that have also clicked that little box. Infobarrel manages the AdSense for all the views on all your pages, and at the end of the month you get your portion deposited into your account.

In this way you can make AdSense money without needing to have your own personal AdSense account.

What Can I Write About?

Anything you damn well please, within reason. When creating your content you need to write about something interesting, which is going to be just as relevant in five years as it is tomorrow, and which has pretty pictures in it (seriously check out the image I used for The Succubus. It's no wonder it pulled over a thousand hits). Whether you're a fan of history or celebrity trivia, cars or life hacks, you can put up articles about anything as long as it doesn't advocate violence, show people how to do something illegal, and wouldn't be considered pornography.

If you're looking for examples check out my InfoBarrel author page and read some of my posts.

How Much Can I Make?

Depends, how many page views can you get?

InfoBarrel is just like any of the aforementioned sites in that you are there to get your ads seen. That means you need to have thousands of hits per month (or per day if you can swing that bat) in order to hit the $60 minimum payout (don't complain, Google AdSense's minimum payout is $100).

It also depends on how creative you get.

There are a lot of ways to start stacking greenbacks in your account. One way is to create a lot of content so that you'll get a huge amount of page views just be sheer weight of numbers (this is kind of how Dean Koontz got rich). Another method is to create very targeted content that will have a lot of appeal to a certain demographic; flower arranging, green energy home solutions, tabletop roleplaying guides, all of these are meant to pull in people who share a narrow interest. Some people just hope they become a viral sensation, bringing in a few hundred thousand hits with nothing more than luck and the power of zeitgeist.

Will you make enough to quit your job? Not for a long while, barring some stunning luck. Will you be able to create an income stream that will help support you and which can win you a bigger audience?

Yeah, you should be able to manage that.

If you'd like to join Infobarrel today just click my referral link!

If you'd like to support the Literary Mercenary then stop by my Patreon page and become a patron today! Seriously, as little as .50 per entry or $1 a month can make a big difference when everyone works together. If you want to make sure you don't miss any of my updates then make sure to follow me on Facebook and Tumblr!

What is Representation in Fiction, and Why Is It Important?

I want you to do something very simple; think of your favorite book. Just lean back, close your eyes, and re-live for a few moments the story or stories that hold a place of honor on your bookshelf. Got a clear image of the book? Good. Now take a look at your favorite character. Is he a dashing secret agent, by some chance? Perhaps she's an intrepid police detective who doesn't take anyone's shit?

Whoever your favorite character is, and whatever s/he does, ask yourself how many traits that character shares with you. Do you have the same ethnicity? Religion? Do you come from the same part of the world, or the same kind of family or culture? Do you have the same hair color, sexual orientation (or lack thereof), or ability/disability?

American... that's a start...

Now that we've conducted that little thought experiment, let's do a follow-up. How many times have you read a book (or seen a movie, or watched a TV show) where no one in the cast except a minor character in the background seemed like someone you could identify with? How often have you seen characters whom you feel do you and those like you a disservice because of how they're written? If you answered all the damn time then chances are good you are experiencing a lack of representation in fiction.

What Is Representation?

The easiest way to explain representation is to give examples. For starters you could check out this story about a young boy who falls on the Autism spectrum, and how he fell in love with Drax the Destroyer in Guardians of the Galaxy because they shared a similar way of experiencing language. There's also the story of Anthony Smith, a young deaf boy who often rejected his hearing aid because superheroes didn't wear them until he discovered that Hawkeye was both deaf and wore a hearing aid. There's even this case about how, if you believe Hollywood, the entire continent of Africa is nothing but savage tribes and corrupt warlords in a hostile waste.

That's two examples of positive representation, and one of negative representation.

Why does everyone think we all have terrible grammar and cram cheeseburgers down our throats?

Why It's Important

Representation is important to authors because it's important to readers. I'll give you one more example, and it's about my experience with representation.

For those who don't know me I am in fact a white male. I was born into a middle class and upwardly mobile family, my parents are still together, and I have one brother. From the outside my life up to the point that I wrote this blog entry looks like something you'd see on a 90's sitcom where the dad's a little too stern, the mom is demanding yet fair, the younger brother is constantly trying to tag along on adventures, and the older brother gets involved in all kinds of shenanigans while he comes of age.

And then grows up into this handsome motherfucker.

With that kind of setup you'd think it would be easy to find characters I could identify with, but that wasn't the case. The reason for that was because my dad was in the military, which meant every few years I went to a new school, had to learn a new set of standards, and had to go through the arduous process of trying to make new friends all over again.

Also, I had bright red hair as a kid.

That might not sound like a big deal (particularly to those who often find themselves maligned or made fun of by crass stereotypes in fiction), but to me it was. I loved comic books, monster movies, video games, and every character who had red hair was either a bespectacled caricature or the goofy best friend who bungled his way through the plot (if, that was, a ginger showed up at all). This fact didn't stop me from watching He-Man or reading the Hulk, but I noted the differences and wondered what they said about me.

Then Thundercats came on TV, and that was a game changer for me.

I had always had characters I liked or identified with in minor ways, but they were always heroes I might be some day. Liono, by comparison, was a kid in an adult's body (something I sometimes felt for since I got my growth spurt before everyone else), and he had to deal with being an outsider on a planet he had come to from a home he barely remembered. Beset on all sides by foes, he and the other cat-themed heroes on the show had to dig deep to triumph.

All of that, and he was a leader with a thick, ruby mane. It was the first message that I felt spoke directly to me and said hey kid, you can do this too! Now go out there and be awesome!

That's Really Why Representation is Important

When someone sees him or herself represented in fiction it transforms the experience. Tyrion Lannister is a great character in his own right, but he is also a little person who has to deal with all the challenges, slights, and difficulties that comes with his condition even while he struggles not to let it define who he is. John Constantine (at least in his source material) was a character who happened to be bi-sexual, and while that trait didn't define him it could act as a touchstone for viewers to identify with him (particularly men who are having trouble finding heroes that aren't purely heterosexual).

This book has even been praised for its female lead, if you can believe it.

You're probably noticing that in the examples I keep giving there's a plethora of characters for white males. That observation just goes to prove the point that while there are examples of diversity and representation in fiction, it could be argued that many more are needed to reflect the makeup of the audiences who are actually reading all of this content.

That is the point of the current discussion about representation in fiction.

No one is telling authors that they have to write books about leads from non-Western cultures, who have non-Christian religions, who have non-mainstream sexuality (including asexuality), or characters who have disabilities. No one is going to force authors to change their characters' genders, ethnicities, ways of speech, or even the way they dress. It's been made very clear that the reading public will be happy to consume good stories if the characters are well-constructed, the plot is engaging, and the book leaves them wanting more.

That said, it does bear thinking that in the changing demographics of the world it might be a good idea to have someone save the day who isn't a heterosexual white man. Especially if you really want your book to stand out.

As always, if you want more from the Literary Mercenary then go to my Patreon page and become a patron today! To keep up on my updates either fill in your email address in the box on the right hand side of the screen, or follow me on Facebook or Tumblr.