Trying Out Rumble as a Platform For My Audio Dramas (Join Me, Won't You?)

Folks who've been following my work for the past year have probably come across some of the audio dramas I've been making. Most of them are smaller things that only last a few minutes, such as Shining Armor, my story about mech pilots fighting genetically-engineered dragons, or Russian Roulette, a dark little drama about a former hitman taking a deal with a devil to avoid dying, and to get revenge on his former boss. Those appear on the Azukail Games YouTube channel (which you should definitely go follow), but I've wanted to do something bigger, and more involved for a while.

And while I've had a few false starts, I figured that I'd try it over on Rumble. So if what I'm saying in today's post sounds interesting, consider following me at The Literary Mercenary, or signing up using my referral code.

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!

Lastly, don't forget to check out my Vocal archive for additional fiction, articles, explorations of weird history, and more!

Seeking Alternatives To YouTube

This isn't the first time I've talked about this issue, but I'll sum it up for those who haven't seen me touch on this before. In short, while YouTube is the biggest, most dominant platform on the market, it has a pretty high bar for a lot of folks to actually make money. Until you have 1,000 subscribers, and 4,000 hours of watched content in the past year (or roughly 11.5 hours of watched content every, single day for 365 days), you're not going to see a single cent of the money your content makes. And make no mistake, it is making money, because there's still ads on it... it's just that YouTube puts that money right in their pocket.

Now, making a living off of YouTube even after you're monetized ain't easy either. With so many people using ad blockers, you basically need to drag down hundreds of thousands of views a month just to pay your rent if you're depending on ad revenue. But that steep cliff on top of working for months (or years) just to be allowed to start getting paid is like running a race, but starting several laps behind just to get to the starting line.

However, on top of all of that, YouTube uses Google AdSense to pay its creators. I am not allowed on Google AdSense, so even if I managed to jump through all of those hoops, I'd get nowhere because I couldn't be paid.

And that's... not great.

I've been looking for an alternative platform for a while, and while they do exist, most of them came with other challenges that were deal breakers for me. Some only allowed you to get tipped by viewers, or to sell access to your content, rather than letting you get paid by ad views, meaning that if your audience was broke they couldn't help you pay your bills so you could keep making stuff. Others promised to pay you, but only in cryptocurrency. Last Fall I gave DailyMotion a try, and while it had a much gentler bar of entry, the site turned off a lot of folks due to glitches, format, inability to turn off autoplay, and so on.

It was thanks to A Vox in The Void (who has dramatized several of my Warhammer 40K stories) that I found out about Rumble at all.

In short, YouTube was labeling some of the channel's work as for mature audiences only, but there seemed to be no real rhyme or reason for this decision. Particularly the short story Fangs Out, which is basically Top Gun but with orks, which didn't have any objectionable content... particularly when compared to some of the other, more grotesque stories on the channel that were left alone. Frustrated by the situation, Paul decided to put some of his work over on Rumble to try it out, and I figured I'd do the same just to see what sort of results I'd get. Also, while you're there, follow A Vox in The Void's Rumble page!

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

So, what does Rumble have going for it as a platform for creators?

First off, there's no monetization hoops to jump through. Right out of the gate, your work can start paying you. Once it's reviewed, it gets a Monetization stamp (this can take a few hours or a few days, depending on), and then your traffic starts generating you income. No hoops to jump through, no subscriber count you need to hit, no "proving" you're a real creator, just hit the ground running. Secondly, Rumble is not an exclusive platform. So if you already have a YouTube account, or even a DailyMotion one, you can keep your content on multiple platforms without too much issue. This was an issue for DailyMotion, as YouTube is not an option if your content is hosted on DM, or vice versa.

There is another side to this equation, though.

Chances are that if you're reading this you probably haven't heard of Rumble. YouTube is the biggest game in town, and a lot of folks don't seek out other platforms, assuming that if you're worth watching/listening to that you'll be on the big stage. So you're drawing from a smaller pool of people, and you aren't going to have those algorithms working for you to shuffle people onto your page, holding them face down in your content. For newer and smaller creators, you probably won't be able to tell the difference. However, Rumble is also tougher to market in a lot of places, as some sites have it banned, and even where it is allowed there aren't the large, heavily-populated groups like you'll find for YouTube creators.

So if YouTube isn't an option for you, Rumble might be worth checking out. If you're on YouTube, but either are having trouble getting monetized, or you are monetized and want to double dip, it might be worth trying.

What about the big, dangerous shape in the room?

There is something of an elephant in the room... literally, in this case.

In the interest of full disclosure, Rumble is a platform that lots of people have come to because YouTube was censoring them. Some of those creators, like A Vox in The Void, were just dealing with the difficulties of what words can be said, what topics can be discussed, etc., and those things being inconsistent in a way that hurts their bottom line. However, there are no few creators on Rumble who appear to have been actively kicked off of YouTube, and they were looking for somewhere else to go. Many of these folks are very right wing, and a lot of them wind up on the front page of the site.

You can't always choose the company you keep, and YouTube certainly has its own problems with right wing figures, conspiracies, etc. But when the pond is smaller, the sharks are more visible.

I felt that was worth mentioning, particularly knowing my audience.

Again, if you're looking for an alternative to YouTube, my experiment with the platform has yielded positive results so far. If you want to check out my content, follow me at The Literary Mercenary. And if you want to give it a try yourself, sign up through my referral link so we can both keep putting one foot in front of the other.

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!

Overcoming The Bystander Effect is Important For Building Your Audience as a Creator

Imagine that you're drowning, flailing your arms and doing your best to shout for help. Would you rather have a crowded beach full of potential rescuers to come to your aid, or just one person who happened to be walking by in your time of need? While a lot of us might think that the former situation means you'd have more people to come help, it seems you're actually more likely to get help if there's one person around to throw you a line.

This is called the Bystander Effect, and it is a serious problem for creators of all kinds out there.

Don't worry, you've got this!

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!

Even Murder Can't Get People Off The Sidelines

One of the most famous examples of the Bystander Effect as pointed out by Psychology Today is the murder of Kitty Genovese. In 1964 this young woman was stabbed to death outside her apartment in broad daylight with dozens of witnesses. No one stepped up to stop the assault, or even to call the police; everyone watched, but no one did anything, and the killers walked away.

Why did this happen?

Anybody got a problem?

It's a complicated situation to be sure, but it also works as a great example of the Bystander Effect. The two major factors involved, according to Latane and Darley, are called diffusion of responsibility and social influence. Diffusion of responsibility can be described as, "Well surely somebody is going to help?" Because if you're alone, and someone is in trouble, you know it's down to you to help. If you're in a group of 30+ people, though, that responsibility doesn't feel quite so heavy on your own shoulders. Social influence refers to how we often look around and examine the behavior of others to see what's the appropriate thing to do in any given situation is. And if nobody else is helping, we feel like maybe we aren't supposed to help either. And even if we'd like to help, we have to overcome that inertia to be the ones to start the ball rolling.

This is where the Catch-22 for creators comes in. Because we need literally tens of thousands of people to step up and help us make our projects successful, but when you address large audiences to try to rally those numbers you get a lot of people all agreeing that somebody should help you, but nobody lifts a finger to actually assist you in hitting your goals.

Become an Atheist (A Parable)

There's a story about a holy man who said that God made everything, and one of his students asked, "If God made everything, then why did he make atheists?" The holy man smiled, and said that atheists existed to provide an example for everyone. For when an atheist gave someone food, shelter, and care, they did not do so because they believed that God would judge them, or because they needed to avoid hell, but because they saw a problem and chose to step up and fix it because it was the right thing to do.

So when you come across someone in need, do not pray for God to help them. Rather, in that moment, become an atheist, and be the help they need.

I got you, brother.

Something I would tack onto this is something known as Rule .303. I talked about this in Want To Get Your Character Involved in Plot? Remember Rule .303, but for those who've never come across it can be stated simply as, "If you have the means and the opportunity, that confers upon you the duty to help."

Once you get into the mindset of someone who wants to help creators you care about (whether they're making things you like, or they're fellows in the industry you want to support), you find out that there's actually a ton of stuff you can do... and a lot of it is actually free!

How You Can Help Today!

Take a moment and think about a creator whose work you enjoy. Whether they're an author, a podcaster, a YouTuber, a game designer, or any other kind of creator, ask what you're doing to support them.

If you have money:

- Buy their work (for yourself, or as a present).

- Become a patron on Patreon.

- Give them a tip on Ko-Fi (or any other tipping platform).

- Buy their merch (seriously, tee shirt proceeds are how a lot of folks pay their bills).

If you don't have money:

- Subscribe to their social media (algorithms decide who gets promoted based on follower count).

- Like, share, comment, and reblog to boost their signal (again, interaction persuades the algorithm).

- Review their work (particularly important for Amazon).

- Talk about them in groups (I call this "doom posting," where I big-up people's signals en masse).

- Consume their content (read articles, watch videos, listen to casts, etc. even if it's muted, because these numbers are what contributes to their paychecks).

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!

Authors Need To Seize The Initiative To Get Work

Most of us are familiar with the general process of finding a job. When a business has an opening, they post an offering. People interested in that position respond. The business then reviews applications, conducts interviews, and decides who they're going to hire. And despite what your parents might tell you, you should under no circumstances hang around to talk to the manager, call, or send any messages asking about your application. In today's job market that basically gets you written off as, "person who has no idea how to follow instructions," and that's not someone most businesses want to deal with.

Then there's being a writer, where that kind of behavior is basically a necessity if you're going to get anywhere. And for the purposes of this blog, I will refer to the practice of reaching out and contacting potential paymasters as seizing the initiative.

Yo! You need a writer?

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!

Seize The Initiative (It Gets You Way More Work)

One of my favorite stories to tell is how, while browsing the FAQ section for Paizo publishing I ended up sending a request to write for the company. I hadn't expected anything to come of it, but less than a week later I got a return email asking me what I was looking for in terms of writing assignments. This is how I wound up writing the short story The Irregulars for the Golarion setting, and it also led to me contributing to Blood of The Moon and Bastards of Golarion as well.

Seriously, check it out if you haven't yet!

This was far from the last time, either. I made contact with TPK Games at Gen Con basically by walking up to their booth, shaking the owner's hand, and offering him my business card. I got all of my jobs working for newspapers by sending emails or making phone calls, asking if there were positions for contributors open. Ditto for the few magazines and ezines I worked for which are now defunct (sadly for my bank account).

So why is it okay to do this when you're a writer, but not for any other kind of job? Well, it's generally because writers, by and large, aren't hired on full-time. A majority of writers, from the lowliest newspaper stringers to the highest-paid novelists, are hired as mercenary talent.

Do not attempt this strategy to get a staff writing position. I promise it will blow up in your face.

When a business is hiring on a regular part-or-full-time employee, there's a certain protocol that needs to be followed. There's proper channels to go through, and there's routine to be established. For freelancers and mercenaries, though, paymasters tend to be more concerned about drive, ideas, and their project record. This is particularly true for RPG companies (who do a majority of their work through freelancers), but it holds true for a lot of the serialized publishing industry. Whether you need fresh movie reviews on the company blog, new short stories for the monthly magazine, or just someone to put together a fresh list of weird encounters for a fresh DND supplement, everyone is always looking for another set of hands.

Lastly, though, most companies who use freelancers will want to keep as large a pool of talent on-hand as possible. Because unlike hiring people to fill salaried positions, freelancers get paid on commission. So it costs a business nothing to put someone new into the writing pool, as they're not going to have to pay anything until the writer has turned in an assignment and it's been selected for publication.

In short, they lose nothing by keeping you around.

Caveats

Now, there are some important caveats I'd add to the very broad statements I made above. So if you're psyched to start knocking on digital doors, wait until you've finished the briefing.

Hold your fire.

First and foremost, seizing the initiative works best when you are attempting to get assigned work from a company who needs a constant stream of material from writers. Newspapers, magazines, websites, RPG publishers, the idea is that you are looking to be assigned work to complete for them. If you already have something complete (a short story, a novel, a roleplaying game, an article, etc.) then you need to instead see if the publisher in question has a submission procedure for you to follow.

If you can't find the query procedure, then reach out and ask for it. That is going to be more helpful to you, and it will probably start things moving more smoothly if you're attempting to place something you've already finished.

Secondly, before you start reaching out to potential paymasters and asking if they have any assignments available, make sure you have a portfolio of previous work, as well as a list of potential pitches. Your portfolio can be made up of anything you're comfortable being judged on, but both it and your pitches should be geared toward the publisher you've reached out to in order to give them an understanding of what you're bringing to the table.

Why is this necessary, you might ask? Well, if you reach out to a short story magazine, they're going to want to have some idea of the kind of fiction you've written before. Ditto if you want to write articles for a newspaper, or mechanics for a game; your potential publisher is going to want to see some samples of your work to get a sense of what your output is like. As to the pitches, sometimes a publisher will test you by asking what you think would make for a good project. It's a backdoor way of testing your knowledge of a subject or area, and seeing how much supervision they'll need to put in. Sometimes the publisher will take you up on a particular pitch, sometimes not, but either way you should always have 2-3 in your back pocket just in case.

Eventually Work Comes To You

I'll be the first one to admit that when you're an author you end up chasing a lot of work. However, the more assignments you complete, and the more your name gets out there, the more people are going to recognize you. When that happens you're going to find that people will, eventually, start coming to you with offers. Whether it's because they saw your name in enough publications, you've made the right contacts who've bigged you up in their circles, or because you seem approachable on social media, people will seek you out sooner or later.

That doesn't mean every offer you get is going to be a banger, but eventually you'll get solid offers. Just keep your nose to the grindstone, and when in doubt consider sending an email and asking if there are currently openings for content creators.

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!

"Ugh, Why Are You Writing That!?" Because It's What People Read, Champ

I've written a lot of different content over the years. I've tried different formats and genres, different subject matter, and different approaches. Some of it was well-received, and a lot of it has been ignored. However, I wanted to take a moment to answer a question that's been asked time and time again of me, and I imagine of a lot of other creators as well.

"Ugh, why are you writing that!?"

How I imagine most folks leaving these comments look.

Before I get into the meat of this question, remember to subscribe to my weekly newsletter so you don't miss any of my content! And if you have a little extra dosh that you'd like to use to support me and my work, consider becoming a Patreon patron.

Lastly, to follow all of my followables, check out my LinkTree as well!

It's Money. The Answer You're Looking For Is Money

This comment has been dogging me like a piece of gum stuck to the bottom of my shoe. It came up when I shared my gaming story That One Time My Bard Made The Dungeon Master's Girlfriend Jealous when someone demanded to know why I was wasting everyone's time with trashy drama. When I wrote Captain America is Chaotic Good and shared it around, dozens of commenters felt it was their duty to demand I explain why I'd shared a piece that would start so many arguments and flame wars in the comments. Even my article Can We All Finally Agree That White Supremacy is Bad? gets snide remarks from people demanding to know why I wrote something so obvious that there shouldn't be any discussion of it.

Ahem.

The short answer to all of these questions is as simple as it is obvious. I'm a professional writer, and when I create something I do it because I want it to earn money so that I can pay my bills, and maybe order a pizza on game night. And these articles, written in this particular way, got attention. In some instances 2-5 times the amount of attention as articles covering similar topics.

Is money the only reason I'll create content like this? No. Topics I find engaging, which fit a theme, which seem to gel with the markets I spend time in, and which I'll enjoy working on are also considerations that come into play. However, I labor under capitalism, which means that my art has to earn its keep if I'm going to pour time, energy, and effort into it. So while I might prefer to work on a sword and sorcery sequel to my novel Crier's Knife, put together an audio drama series, or maybe write an expansion book for a less popular RPG, I don't have the time and energy to spare to justify those things. Anything I write needs to bring in money ASAP so that I can afford to keep the wheels turning. As such, I end up creating content that is more likely to get noticed, get read, and ensure that all my bills are paid.

End of the day, it's basic cause and effect. If topics like this didn't generate a big (or at least bigger) response, and they didn't pay me as much as other types of content I'd prefer to be working on, I wouldn't write them. I'd spend my effort on other stuff with a better return on investment. But it's what gets people clicking and reading, so that's what I put out there.

You Want Something Different, Make it Profitable

If you, as a reader, want a creator you like to focus on a different type of content then you need to do everything in your power to make that a rewarding endeavor for them. Not just socially, but financially.

And I'm not just talking about throwing money at a writer to create the kind of content you want (but again, I have a Patreon, and I listen when my patrons make requests). If you wanted to see me write more Pathfinder Character Conversions, for example, then reading those articles and sharing them on social media to help them develop a larger following would mean continuing that series is now in my best interests. If as few as a dozen dedicated readers spread the word on it, that would create huge changes in my monthly figures. If you wanted to see me write another of my noir cat novels following up from Marked Territory and Painted Cats, then you could tell all your friends and family members about those books. You could also leave reviews, and get your library to buy copies, while also spreading the word on your social media about how much you like that series. That could snowball rather quickly, leading more people to take notice, read, review, and also demand more books.

Just saying.

Unless a creator is already wealthy enough they can just do whatever they want (and there's not a lot of us that fit that description) we are very likely to take notice when our audience makes it clear they want something. So if you want us to create different kinds of content, then you need to be the ones who boost the signal and get that other content seen. Because it's nice to want it, and we're glad you're enjoying it, but end of the day we need to be able to pay for all our necessities so we can keep the ball rolling.

Just something to keep in mind the next time you wonder why we wrote what we did.

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, its sequel Painted Cats, 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!

If You Don't Have a LinkTree as an Author, You Should Get One

As I mentioned recently, I've been looking into expanding the platforms I create content for, and the ways in which I reach out to my potential audience. After all, insanity is doing the exact same thing and expecting different results, so when the numbers aren't what I want it's time to change what I'm doing. While I was asking questions about what one needs for success over on TikTok (my channel there, by the by, is TableTopTips for all the fans of tabletop RPGs who'd like to see my face), one of my friends mentioned that I should get a LinkTree.

Honestly, it was one of the better suggestions I've been given in a while. So I thought I'd talk about it today if you haven't come across this particular platform. And, of course, if you haven't been to my Linktree yet, go give it a look!

Come get all my nonsense all in one place!

Before we get any deeper into it, make sure you sign up for my weekly newsletter, and if you've got some spare dosh consider becoming a Patreon patron today!

All Your Followables in One Place

All right, so, what is Linktree?

At its most basic, it's a single link people can go where they can log in to all your various social media, crowdfunding, and other platforms in one place. This means that instead of listing out three dozen different places people can go to follow you and get all your updates, they can just click one link and it takes them to the hub of all your activity. From there they can choose to click and subscribe to what feeds they want, or just bookmark your Linktree since it lets you add links to recent articles, videos, and other forms of content for folks to check out in your feed.

Herding cats is tough... don't try to get them to do too much.

At my last check, my Linktree has my Facebook, Twitter, Patreon, TikTok, Amazon author page, email, Pinterest, and my LinkedIn. In addition to all of that there's a newsfeed to let folks checking out my page know what my latest and greatest updates are (and to bring them up to speed on older stuff). The platform even allows you to accept tips, which is why I have a box for that permanently in my top slot.

This does more than give your audience a convenient spot to check out all your various socials and platforms, though doing that would be enough given that it's free to use. It also gives you a single link you can put in all of your various communications. It fits neatly in your bio, you can slip it into your email signature, and you can link it in your articles without too much extra strain.

Will not getting one doom your career? No, not likely. But if you're a creator who's been trying to keep as many plates spinning as you can, while ensuring your audience can find you, it's a good idea to use Linktree to organize all your outlets, releases, news, and updates.

So give it a try! See if it helps cut down on some of the madness.

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, its sequel Painted Cats, 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!