Nobody Gets Audience Attention Like a Heel!

A lot of writers out there focus on being liked. Often this leads to them trying to keep their actual thoughts and opinions behind the curtain, always presenting a pleasant, positive face to the audience. Other times it means writers just ignore negative elements that come their way, hoping that the trolls will stay silent if they don't feed them, and just keep on walking.

This led to an interesting comparison from a friend with a good sense of marketing. Writers who focus on being the good guy, taking the high road, etc., are a lot like the Faces in professional wrestling. Short for "Babyface," the term refers to the obvious heroes that the audience is supposed to root for.

Then there's the heels... which are basically the opposite of that.

Oh shit... who just dropped the bass?

It's a rough gig being a heel. Your persona is often abrasive, or at the very least doesn't give much of a damn whether the audience likes them or not. A lot of hate gets thrown your way, because after all, you're a contrast to the good guys. But there's a weird phenomenon there, too. Because a lot of people actively support heels. And even the people who absolutely hate them often end up boosting their earnings and signal in unintended ways.

 

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Rage Shares Still Put Money in Your Pocket

I had a recent incident involving this, so I thought I'd share it as an example.

About a month ago I wrote an article titled Captain America is Chaotic Good. It received the editor's pick when it first went up on Vocal, and as soon as I got some space in my promotions calendar I shared it around in all my usual groups for tabletop gaming and assorted geekery. I knew two things going in. First, that Cap is a very popular character thanks to the wide spread of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Second, I knew that discussions on pop culture characters through the lens of the alignment system used in tabletop games like Dungeons and Dragons often leads to pretty divisive conversations... which makes them fertile ground for an article that pays me based on how many people read it.

Brace yourself... the flame wars are coming!

It definitely got noticed. It didn't go viral by any stretch of the imagination, but there were quite a lot of reactions and comments, and more than a handful of shares to help drive up engagement. While I generally try to avoid stirring the pot personally as long as other people are taking care of the interacting, there was one person in particular whose behavior basically sums up exactly the sort of energy you can capture as a heel.

To paraphrase his opinion, he felt that opinion articles from random nobodies on the Internet discussing pop culture characters through the lens of gaming are a huge waste of time. However, stating this opinion in the comments section just meant there was more attention on the post. And then, just to prove how much he didn't care, he shared the link to his own Facebook wall to rant about it to his friends list about how useless he felt this sort of content was.

 

This is sort of like when conservatives, so outraged that Nike had partnered with an outspoken critic of police violence, bought new shoes for the express purpose of burning them in protest. It sends the opposite message you're intending if your protest actually increases the company's bottom line... but they didn't seem to realize that.

And if you find yourself in a situation like this, where someone absolutely rages against a thing you've written? Perhaps the best thing you can do is to simply tell them that if they don't like this kind of content, then maybe they should just scroll on by so that someone who is actually interested in it can take a look. Or, if you really want to shine them on, drop them a heart react and tell them thanks for the comment/share, because every little bit of attention really helps!

There Are Risks, Of Course

Before you go out there and start strutting around, loudly telling people booing you that you can't hear them so they increase their negative reactions to boost your signal, I'd like to add some caveats to this marketing strategy.

Firstly, unlike an actual wrestling heel, you're probably going to do more damage to yourself if you're legitimately rude and confrontational. Group mods don't care for it, and you can find yourself losing favor relatively quickly. Hence my suggestion of thanking folks slinging hate your way, because that will only increase the amount of attention they're giving you while you haven't said anything rude or insulting to them in the process. Sort of lets you have your dessert, and eat it too.

Not sure what else you do with a dessert, but whatever.

The other concern is that this strategy works better in some circumstances than in others. With the article I used as an example, it's perfect because the site only cares how many reads/views it gets when calculating my pay. There's no down vote on it, no place to leave angry comments or a 1-star review. If this same reaction was being had to my novel Marked Territory, then it's entirely possible that a lot of people would just leave it poor reviews to try to tank my score. Ideally they'd at least have to buy a copy to do that, but there's plenty of ways around that requirement as well.

Put simply, the more options the angry readers have to retaliate, the bigger the chance there is this could blow up in your face.

Additionally, I feel I should mention the simple caveat that I am not in the categories of folks who are most at risk from online harassment. I'm a big, white dude, so I don't present the same target as female-identifying individuals, creators of color, etc., etc. This is the sort of risk-reward proposal that I stand pretty good odds of coming out ahead on. So, before following in my footsteps on this one, make sure you're not putting yourself at serious risk in the hopes of earning a few extra bucks.

Like, Follow, and Stay Tuned!

That's all for this week's Business of Writing! If you'd like to see more of my work, take a look at my Vocal archive, or at My Amazon Author Page where you can find books like my noir thriller Marked Territory, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife as well as my recent collection The Rejects!

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!

The Red Right Hand (My Favorite Trope)

A lot of authors will tell you that all tropes are bad, and you should do your damnedest to scrape them out of every line of your manuscript. And while there are a lot of tropes that just aren't going to fly in today's literature (Mighty Whitey is one that comes to mind), there are a lot of them that are perfectly functional building blocks. And sure, the bricks might be recognizable, but it's what you actually do with them that determines whether your story is an artistic triumph, or a tumbledown structure ready to keel over in the first strong breeze.

With that said, I'd like to talk about one of my favorite tropes that I will probably never stop using in my own work... the Red Right Hand.

What Is a Red Right Hand?

The phrase Red Right Hand is generally traced back to Milton's infamous work Paradise Lost, where it refers to the vengeance of god. As the phrase has grown in popularity, it's generally come to refer to physical manifestations of a character's monstrous nature.

Note that the phrase is monstrous, and not villainous... not inherently, anyway. Because while there are plenty of Red Right Hand characters who are villains (Dr. Doom, the Phantom of The Opera, Blofeld, Two-Face, and the list goes on) there are heroic characters with this trait as well. The most obvious is Hellboy (given that the Right Hand of Doom is a literal red right hand), but he has some company on the roster. This trope is most commonly seen in folklore, where creatures who try to hide themselves using shapeshifting and glamours will always have some kind of tell. African myths of vampires who never smile to hide their metal teeth, or Japanese legends of kitsune whose heterochromia, fox tails, or unusual feet would give them away, etc. There's even the South American myths of the pink dolphins who change into men, always wearing white clothes and a white hat to hide their blowholes.

This trope's been around a long time, is what I'm saying.

Why I Love It

What appeals to me so much about the Red Right Hand is that it gives your audience a clue that something isn't right... and the more subtle you make it, the more fun it can be to look for.

Since you ask, I do have an example...

In my short story "The Price of Admission" in Noir Carnival, we're introduced to a harried young man who appears to be on death's door. He's desperately searching for the Crone's Carnival, and he needs something that lurks inside. He seems normal enough, until an overeager palm reader takes him by the wrist. He has a double set of palm lines, with one set far deeper than the other, and a lifeline that doesn't end. We also learn in that moment that even those in a place as secluded as the Carnival have heard of the Gemini, and they want no part of the dark road he's walking.

Since short stories only have so many words to make their point, readers quickly find out just what the Gemini is, and why he's come to the Carnival, but that one revelation gets the brain churning. What does it mean that his palm lines are so strange? Why are they so deep? Why do they call him the Gemini, like it's a title instead of a name?

This is the major advantage of the Red Right Hand as a trope. Whether you're using it for heroes or villains, anti-heroes, supporting cast, or anyone in between, it immediately engages the reader and has them wondering why. Why does the Phantom wear a mask? Why does a warlock having a single blue eye make people afraid of him? Why is that handsome man in the business suit always wearing one leather glove on his right hand?

It's a cheap way to immediately hook your audience, sure, but it gets the job done. Provided, of course, that you don't overuse it in any particular story. The Red Right Hand loses its potency if you're sprinkling it around all that often... make it special, and it will maintain its power to intrigue while keeping your reader turning the pages.

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 sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife!

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!

Understanding Cascade Sales/Views, and Why More Products Means Steadier Earnings

One of the most common pieces of advice I see from writers is that you should always work on a series, because it's a guaranteed income. While I don't agree with that wording (nothing is guaranteed in the world of entertainment), the nugget of truth they're trying to get at is sound. In short, if you write a series of books then you are getting your readers invested in a bigger project, and making them feel like they're obligated to buy the next one in order to see what happens to their favorite characters. However, you don't have to write a series in order to net yourself more readers; just by virtue of writing a book that a reader liked, they're going to want more from you.

When they go looking for it, that is what I call a cascade.

Once the rapids get them, they're all yours.

In short, whenever you release a new piece of content (whether it's a book, a blog, a video, etc.), you're tossing a rock into a pool. Whether the initial splash is big or small, it causes ripples. Those ripples represent the way the impact flows outwards, and how even a modest initial splash can still have meaningful repercussions down the line.

I'll give you an example of what I'm talking about.

So, for those who don't know, I write a gaming blog called Improved Initiative. Not all that long ago I put up a post titled The Non-Problem of Making Monks Fit Your Setting. Short version is that there were some people out there who had cognitive dissonance about mixing "Eastern" martial artists with "Western" fantasy, and thus they just banned these kinds of characters. I wrote the piece pointing out how it's really not all that much of a stretch to include multiple kinds of fantasy in a single, collaborative project, and gave some examples of how you could make it work. As long as everyone follows the rules, you should be fine. I'd also written an older article, 5 Tips For Playing Better Monks, which I linked in that post, since I was talking about monks and such.

Apparently this was a sore spot in the gaming community, with a lot of people agreeing with my points, and an equal number of people vehemently disagreeing that you could ever have more than one strain of fantasy active in a given game. That led to some rather spirited debate in the comments, but it also led to a lot of people sharing the article around. While it snarfed up about 10,000 views in its original release run (not bad for one of my gaming articles), the advice article about playing better monks also got a thousand reads and change out of the deal. Which meant that, in addition to how well the actual post did, I got another couple of bucks to put in my pocket as a related but separate post of mine also caught some of those ripples.

That is, essentially, how a cascade works.

Keep The Cascade in Mind

Whether we're talking about book sales, article views, blog reads, you can get a cascade out of nearly anything. And often times it's the things you don't expect that yield some of the biggest results.

Which is why you need to always look at the impact something could have, and make sure you set up your marketing in such a way that you get the biggest possible splash onto your already existing content.

Or that the new fire re-ignites old ashes, if you like that metaphor better?

 

For example, when I wrote an article about Bartitsu, which is basically Victorian-era MMA, I made sure that I linked an article about Glima, which is Viking-style wrestling, just in case it got popular with the fight crowd. I always make sure to link back to my archives when I write new articles, making sure I can direct the flow of interested eyeballs to go read older pieces in a particular category. And when I come out with a new book, I make sure to mention My Amazon Author Page so that interested readers can see the whole spectrum, instead of just the latest installment.

Any given cascade might be a one-time runoff... but it might not be. There's always going to be a few readers out there who don't just read one article, watch one video, or buy one book. They're the ones who bookmark your site, who favorite your channel, and who add your work to their wish list. Those people were just curious readers when they clicked your initial link, but now they're budding fans.

Once you get those readers going deep down the rabbit hole, they're yours. But you need to make sure you gave them more than just one thing to look at. Because some readers will just walk away after satisfying their initial curiosity... but those who want more are going to happily dig through your archives, pick up older works, and just have a merry time spiking your views and sale counts.

As long as you left them a signpost for where to go next, that is.

That's all for this week's Business of Writing! If you'd like to see more of my work, take a look at my Vocal archive, or at My Amazon Author Page where you can find books like my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife!

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!

Use Storytelling in Your Marketing (Not Just in Your Product)

If you've ever been to a showing at an art gallery, then you probably know it isn't the art that people buy. Or not just the art, at any rate. It's the story behind the painting, the sculpture, the carvings that they take home with them. The tale of how the artist was inspired by an insane fever dream of a demon trying to devour them, or how the sculptor wanted to honor all of the men who set good examples for how he should comport himself. Those are the things that get people's attention, and which set fire to their imaginations. These stories lend importance to the art, and they act as a bridge between someone admiring it from afar, and becoming a part of its story.

And that is marketing at its finest.

A good story can put an extra zero or two on your price tag.

If you've been wondering how to get people to invest in your art, then you should remember that people don't just buy a product; they buy the story of that product.

What Story Are You Telling?

Every piece of art has a story behind it, and that includes your book. What inspired you to write it? What were some of the bizarre insights you gained while writing it? What is something that drove you to put this particular tale out there, and to add your voice to the world? Those are the things that can help you stand out, and which will get people's attention.

And since we're looking for examples, I'll start.

So, if you've seen my novel Crier's Knife, you probably know it's a fantasy novel based more in the pre-Tolkien era of Weird Tales, and similar fiction. When a member of the witch-bred Crier clan goes missing, the family matriarch summons Dirk Crier up the mountain and tasks him with bringing back his wayward cousin. Alive if he can, but with plenty of company on the dead man's cart if that isn't possible. Though a simple man with a simple, brutal skill, Dirk quickly finds himself surrounded by enemies on all sides, with a hinterlands cult led by a bizarre sorceress calling upon the forgotten magics of an ancient people.

And that's solid enough, as books go. But that's not the story of my book, if you see what I mean?

My book's story goes back to my grandfather. He was an avid reader himself, but his genres of choice were Westerns and detective stories. And because I would unfailingly read all the books I brought with on any family outing, he always had one or two laying around. So I developed a healthy appreciation for these stories, recognizing how they set the mold for other pieces that came later, and how many of the archetypes of the fiction still persist throughout other genres one would never associate with cowboys and outlaws.

When I got older, and told my grandfather I was going to be an author, he didn't laugh at the notion. And unlike a lot of other adults he didn't tell me to focus on college, a degree, and a career, because that sort of thing just isn't going to pay my bills. Instead, he took a sip of his coffee, nodded his head, and told me that I should write Westerns. There were a lot of older folks around who loved them, it was okay if the books were short, and the stories were never going to change with the times the way sci-fi or fantasy books tended to.

That always stuck with me, and when it came time to write a fantasy novel of my own I wanted to make it something he would recognize, and that he'd appreciate. So I drew on the setup of classic stories like The Sacketts, and made an unusual mountain clan to act as the backbone of the story. They had their Talents, and their strange ways, but at the end of the day I like to think my grandfather would have recognized Dirk Crier, and seen that in a little way he helped shape this story I'd made.

Even Being Story Adjacent is Sometimes Good Enough

I can hear a few folks out there right now protesting that they don't have a story like that backing their book. They just wrote it because they thought it was a cool story, and they wanted to make some money to pay their bills.

Nothing wrong with that. But if that's the case, then you need to at least put your work in a story adjacent position to get it some notice.

You're boring. Stand next to someone interesting, and catch the run-off.

Being story adjacent is, essentially, telling a related story in a way that draws attention to your work, but isn't directly promoting your work.

For example, I wrote a series of posts on gaming subreddits a while ago asking my fellow players who the worst paladins they'd ever played with were. I told a story about a terrible game of my own, and got the conversation started. While I was there, though, I worked in a mention that I had recently edited and re-homed my article 5 Tips For Playing Better Paladins, and that it got me thinking about some of the horrible examples out there in the gaming community.

Those posts led to a lot of upvotes, a lot of comments, and a lot of attention. And even though the link to my work was just sort of there in the text, unnecessary for those who were telling their own stories and leaving comments, it still received run-off attention because it was in proximity to the story I was telling. Not everyone clicked that link and read through it, but a lot of people did. Some people may have bookmarked the page, keeping it ready for when they need it. Others probably forwarded it to their friends, and shared it on social media. Point is, by telling a story that had only a tertiary connection to my artistic work, I drew attention to that work, and increased my earnings.

That is the power of storytelling.

That's all for this week's Business of Writing! If you'd like to see more of my work, take a look at my Vocal archive, or at My Amazon Author Page where you can find books like my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife!

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!

Getting People's Attention Builds Your Base (And Fills Your Pockets)

Have you ever seen A Nightmare on Elm Street? Even if you haven't, you're probably familiar with the series' villain, the infamous Freddy Krueger. A horribly burned phantom, Krueger haunted the dreams of an entire generation of characters, dispensing brutal, vicious death as they slept. The challenge for the heroes became fighting sleep itself, staying out of the murderous ghost's realm as long as they could.

That setup was a lot of fun on its own, but there was something else that made Krueger unique as a villain; the source of his power. While some spirits drew power from their rage, or from the blood spilled in their haunt, Krueger's power was drawn directly from his own legend. The more people who knew his name, and his story, the stronger he became.

A silly story, maybe, but it still has a hold on your imagination.

While that's an essentially inspired twist on the Don't Say His Name trope, it's also a handy way for me to explain what it's like being an author. Because, for the most part, we tend to be ghoulish creatures with strange gimmicks who play on the emotional sensitivities of a particular brand of victim. Also, our power grows in direct proportion to how many people know who we are, what we do, and who talk about us.

Spread The Legend

In all seriousness, though, this is how you maintain your career as an author. Publish or perish is not just something we say to sound cool. Because as soon as we stop putting out content, and people stop talking about us, we fall out of the public eye. And in the darkness of obscurity, with no one reading our books, checking out our blogs, or stopping by our channels, we wither and die.

Put another way, being the center of attention is what puts you bucks up.

How many times did they say your name today?

Note that I say attention, but don't qualify it as good attention or bad attention. Because, at the end of the day, there really isn't such a thing as bad press. Especially when you consider that the Internet seems to run on outrage.

So, on the one hand, it's nice to sit down on a popular show to talk with a host who is cooing over your latest release to their thousands of fans. On the other hand, you can get shot to the top ten on Amazon's bestseller list if you're slapped with a viral cease and desist order by Jack Daniels (more on that story in Will Self Publishing Work For You? Maybe... If You're Lucky!).

Because whether you're getting glowing praise, or you're an Internet-wide trash fire, people are going to show up to see what's going on. And if they're already standing there, chances are good they're going to tell their friends about you, and they might buy a tee shirt and a copy of your book while they're at it. Even if it's just to see what all the fuss and hype is about.

Keep The Whisper Stream Going

If you have an author you love, and whom you want to keep coming back time and time again, then take a moment to follow the advice I put out in Care and Feeding of Your Author. You should, of course, buy their books. However, there's other stuff you can do to help keep the legend alive. Follow their social media pages, for example, and like the posts they make. Share their work with family and friends, and leave reviews on all the big websites telling everyone how much you like their books.

Also, feel free to reach out to the authors you like with some words of encouragement. Let them know they aren't just screaming into the void; you're listening, eagerly, for what they put out next.

Seriously, that's more important than we let on a lot of the time.

That's all for this week's Business of Writing. Hopefully it got your attention, and gave you something to think about. If you'd like to stay up-to-date on all my releases, then follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter. Lastly, if you want to show some love, head over to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to put a few bucks in my tip jar. For as little as $1 a month, I'll even send you some free books as a thank you!