Trust Me, If Creators Could Afford To Promote Less, We Would

During October of 2022 I put together an audio rendition of my 50 Two-Sentence Horror Stories, Warhammer 40K Edition. I'd been putting out little audio dramas all year, and I felt I'd finally reached the point where I could put together the right sound effects and appropriate background tracks for a lot of short, punchy stories that each had to hit the audience hard. It was the 4th video on The Literary Mercenary's Dailymotion Channel, and it managed to climb to the top spot for a while. It's still sitting pretty in my #2, and it's at nearly 2,500 views at time of writing.

Needless to say, I'm quite proud of it.

Something happened after I'd put this video together that stuck with me, though. Because once it was uploaded and ready for viewing, I shared it everywhere I could think of that it might be appropriate. Facebook, MeWe, Twitter, Tumblr, and by the time all was said and done there were even about 70 separate subreddits where I dropped a link to this video over the week after it went up. It was in one of those spaces where someone left a comment that I can't shake.

"I respect the hustle and all, but why are you sharing this in so many places?"

Regular readers already know the answer to this, but I thought I'd get back up on my tired old soap box one more time for folks who haven't heard the message. Because if you're someone who doesn't want to see creators talk about their articles, their videos, their books, or their supplements, we get it... we wish we didn't have to bother you with it, either.

But that's capitalism, and if we don't do this, then we don't eat.

Lastly, 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!

If I Didn't Have To Do This, I Wouldn't

While I'm still really proud of this video, I want to be crystal clear with what my promotional efforts got me, and what that put in my pocket at the end of the day. Because all things considered, I probably shared the link to roughly 150-200 different social media pages, forums, etc. within the month of October. All of those locations were in some way dedicated to tabletop gaming, audio dramas, Warhammer 40K specifically, or sci-fi in general. The total view count at the end of that month was 2,300 views.

What did it earn me? About $0.15. And given that Dailymotion doesn't give you a payout until you reach $100, if I were to keep up my best-traffic-to-date numbers, I would receive my first paycheck in about 90 years, give or take. Given that it took me something like 12 hours of work to record and edit the video, I'll let you do the math as to what that worked out to be.

For added perspective, if that many people had just read the article on Vocal, it would have netted me about $14. At least I would have made about $1 an hour for my efforts.

I literally would have made more money walking through a drive thru and picking up loose change.

Why did I share my video in so many places, this commenter wanted to know.

I shared it in that many places because algorithms specifically make it hard for your content to be located as a creator. I shared it in so many places because I knew Dailymotion doesn't have a lot of discoverability, but I cannot get paid on YouTube, so uploading my video to that platform would be pointless. I shared it in so many places because I had run the numbers, and I knew quite well that if I ever wanted to get a payout for what I'd earned that I would need hundreds of thousands of views, and nobody was going to find my video on their own. I shared it because I wanted to find people who saw what I did, who liked it, and who would make it worthwhile for me to keep making things like this instead of just closing the door on all that work and writing it off as a lost cause.

To be clear, though, I did not want to do this.

I don't enjoy the fact that I have to trawl through social media sites looking for fresh communities I don't post in yet, seeking out new eyes to share my work with. I actually hate the fact that I have to spend the first 2-3 hours of my day just doing promotional posts for my work, and for fellow creators' work, just to keep the wheels turning. It depresses the hell out of me that most of the time I have to pick blog, article, and even video topics that act as vehicles for me to sell my books or TTRPG supplements, rather than just writing things I enjoy, or that I think people might find useful. Because, like most writers I've met, I don't want to be a salesperson. I just want to write.

But if I don't promote my work, then no one else will. And if it doesn't get promoted, it doesn't get seen, and I can't get paid.

I decided to talk about this again because I am fully aware of the sheer number of people out there who get sick of seeing promotional posts on their favored social media pages from all the creators just trying to stay one step ahead of their landlords. You don't want to hear about somebody's new novel, their new TTRPG, their new blog, their new video, or whatever else it is. You're tired of the endless promotion, and how everything just feels like a business transaction.

We know, we get it.

But I want everyone who feels this way to keep this in mind. Because there is nothing more frustrating as a creator, and nothing we hate more overall, than composing fake, sales-oriented posts and casting them out into the pond over, and over, and over again day after day, month after month, year after year hoping to hook an audience so we can keep our bills paid. However much you're sick of seeing it, I promise you from the bottom of my heart, we're even more sick of doing it.

So if there is a creator whose work you like, support them. Buy their stuff, donate to their Patreon, their Kickstarter, or give them a tip on Ko-Fi. Consume the free stuff they put out, and do your part to help it spread organically. And if you absolutely can't deal with someone because they're making stuff you're not interested in, don't get snide with them about how all they do is promote and you don't want to see it. You're not telling us anything we don't already feel in our souls. Just mute their signal, and move on. It saves you from seeing their posts, and it isn't going to make someone feel more defeated while they're going through the motions of trying to climb the treadmill wall that creators find themselves on every day.

I Could Also Use A Little Help (If You Can Spare It)

If you made it this far and you'd like to help me, specifically, here's some things you can do!

- Follow My Facebook

- Check Out My LinkTree

- Subscribe to My Weekly Newsletter

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

- Subscribe to My Daily Motion Channel (longer videos that won't show up on YouTube)

And if you happen to have some spare dosh lying around, consider become a Patreon patron, or leaving a tip by Buying Me a Ko-Fi!

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 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!

Audience Demand, "Sandman," And The Impossible Pressures Put on Creators

If you're a comic book fan, then you know about Sandman. This series, written by acclaimed author Neil Gaiman, has stood the test of time as one of the most celebrated examples of the medium. When word came out that Netflix was going to make a series putting it to film, even people who were sick and tired of superhero movies and shows sat up and took notice. The show garnered a huge amount of views, a lot of audience praise, and enthusiasm from a large percentage of people who wanted to see more.

And despite all of that, Gaiman and the cast basically had to beg everyone to binge watch the whole series again so that Netflix didn't cancel them after only one season because the company wasn't convinced people wanted a second season badly enough.

While I'd like to say this is only something that heavy hitters making big budget productions have to deal with, this is unfortunately something that affects all creators out there. Namely that if we can't muster a massive audience willing to bang down the doors demanding more of our work then we may not get greenlit by our publishers, or we may not get paid enough money by the platforms we use to actually keep writing new novels, short stories, screenplays, etc. for our fans to consume.

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!

The Numbers Game Is Awful

Let me give you an example of what I'm talking about from the independent side of things. A little while back I started listening to Old Gods of Appalachia (go check out their podcast if you haven't yet, and support them if you can afford to), and I really enjoyed everything about it. Capitalism strained through the lens of cosmic horror and its effects on rural and poor areas is right up my alley. However, it was during one of the in-between episodes where the creators were answering questions and casually talking to their fans that I started noting numbers.

According to what I heard, the show had 5 million plays through Spotify in its first two years. Given the wide exposure they'd had, and their supportive audience, I wasn't surprised by that number, and I agree with the team that it can be mind-boggling contemplating that many people consuming something you made. However, if you break it down using the numbers I referenced in Youtube, Dailymotion, and Spotify... Challenges and Payoffs, you get into some pretty bleak profits. When all the calculations are done, that averages out to somewhere around $10,000 per year of traffic, if you assign 2,500,000 downloads/listens per year.

That's what it should have been according to the math, anyway. Seems that I got it wrong, and it's even bleaker than that!

When I reached out to the show to check my facts, Cam Collins was good enough to set me straight, and provide me some more accurate numbers. According to what Cam said, the show makes literally nothing from Spotify directly, and only a tiny fraction of their income from advertising. 90% of their income comes directly from their audience providing support.

To reiterate, this is a show that people could not shut up about for months during the pandemic. It's been given top marks, its cast and crew are truly talented people, they've had write ups in major media like the New York Times, and there's a goddamn tabletop RPG for Old Gods of Appalachia... and the only thing keeping it going is the direct support of folks who enjoy their work, and who want to help them keep the lights on so they can keep the show going.

A lot of us have this idea that when someone makes popular art, that art pays for itself just through the sheer force of its popularity. However, that perception is often the reverse of reality. Because as I mentioned back in Unfortunate Facts: Without Sponsorship, Most Authors Can't Eat, the things we as an audience think of as secondary items (creator merch, fan pledges, etc.) are actually the main source of income for most people for the simple reason that it takes an absolutely absurd number of views/listens on any platform to make enough money to pay your bills.

In the end, it creates this weird Catch-22. Because when your audience is small, or your numbers are below a certain threshold, a cut of the small amount of traffic you generate is all you'll be offered by a platform. As such, you need every view you can possibly get in order to scrape by. But if you generate the numbers necessary to make bank off of your traffic alone, that also means your audience is big enough (and that you probably have enough sponsorship deals and independent support) that the check from your views is just the icing on your cupcake... if, as it turns out, you even get that.

What Does One Example Have To Do With The Other?

Some readers are no doubt wondering what a major streaming platform that can afford millions of dollars to produce a high-budget fantasy series, and the impressive success of an indie horror podcast, have to do with one another. The answer is that in order for creators to be successful, big or small, it takes an absolutely ridiculous tide of raw numbers.

But this is, sadly, nothing new. It's just capitalism as usual.

This will do you, I'm sure.

Think back to before music streaming, when we listened to our music on the radio. A lot of folks might not know this, but the band didn't actually get paid for their music being on the airwaves. The idea was that people listening to the music on the radio would lead to increased sales of merchandise (recordings, band tee shirts, concert tickets, etc.), so even if you were burning up the charts you didn't get paid until folks actually bought something from you. The reason there are so many singer/songwriters, interestingly enough, is that the writers did get paid for those radio plays, so a lot of artists made sure they did both as a way to ensure they weren't left out in the cold.

Everything old is new again, eh?

In decades past it was record labels trying to keep the lion's share of money, while paying their singers a pittance. Now it's the streaming platforms doing the same thing by demanding that channels earn their monetization (also known as "working for free" while the company reaps the benefits), or making backroom deals to ensure they have access to large libraries of content while the folks who were previously depending on royalties end up with a handful of pennies. And publishers... well, publishing hasn't really changed much in the past century and change.

And that often includes freelance writers not getting a pay raise since the days of H.P. Lovecraft when it comes to our by-word rate.

We Need Numbers (And Can't Get Them On Our Own)

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, all of that nonsense up above is the reason that creators end every production asking listeners to like, subscribe, support, and share links to our work. Because it takes literal millions of reads/listens/hits/etc. for us to make a poverty wage.

I know that as listeners we grow deadened to that constant request. It's the equivalent of an unskippable ad, and we either tune out, look away, or just skip past the text if it's in an article. But without audience help, whether it's funding our work directly or helping us build our brand by sharing our content for others to see, we're going to lose our grip and fall. Either our publishers will stop greenlighting projects that don't get an appropriate amount of attention and sales, or we just won't be able to pay our rent with what we're bringing in every month.

So if you have a creator whose work you enjoy, big or small, please do your part to make sure they can keep making art. Follow their socials, read their articles, share their posts to draw attention to them, and if they've got a playlist consider leaving it on while you're out and about just to give them a few extra hours of listen time a week.

It all adds up, and it all makes a difference, even if you feel like it doesn't.

I Could Also Use A Little Help (If You Can Spare It)

If you made it this far and you'd like to help me, specifically, here's some things you can do!

- Follow My Facebook

- Check Out My LinkTree

- Subscribe to My Weekly Newsletter

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

- Subscribe to My Daily Motion Channel (longer videos that won't show up on YouTube)

And if you happen to have some spare dosh lying around, consider become a Patreon patron, or leaving a tip by Buying Me a Ko-Fi!

To help The Literary Mercenary keep making content like this, consider leaving a tip, or becoming a patron:

- Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theliterarymercenary
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Follow the author's social media for the latest updates:

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Thanks to Gretchen VanHeeren for providing the voice of the lamia!

Background music from Tabletop Audio:

- The Long Rain
- Dark and Stormy
- Dark Continent

Additional Background Music

- The Introvert by Michael Kobrin (https://pixabay.com/users/21039285-21039285/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=music&utm_content=10959)

- Cold Mind Enigma by Gioele Fazzeri (https://pixabay.com/users/gioelefazzeri-16466931/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=music&utm_content=13553)

- Chasing a Killer by Gioele Fazzeri" />

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 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!