Authors Are Viruses (And We Need Help Infiltrating The Wider Population)

We've all had that moment in our lives where we have seen something infecting the population. It started with just a few people, or maybe in a particular region, but then it started spreading. Maybe your younger siblings picked it up from their friends at school, and brought it home. And you and your parents, no matter how you tried, couldn't avoid it forever. Maybe it didn't get past your defenses, but maybe it did. And then you were a carrier, passing it on to your friend group, your extended family, and so on, and so forth.

Maybe it was a boy band whose catchy lyrics infiltrated your brain like an ear worm. Maybe it was a book series you didn't have an interest in, but the more you heard about it, the more you wanted to know what the fuss was all about. Or it might even have been that movie everyone had an opinion about, and you just had to figure out what it was for yourself.

Authors (and other creators) pass from person to person like viruses... and if we can't find a hold, and spread to the point where we've infected a sizable enough population to sustain us, we fade away and die.

These are the booster shots that help keep us vital.

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!

All About "Going Viral"

We've been hearing the phrase "going viral" for years. Artists or properties are, "viral sensations," and that's how we hear about them. And it makes sense. The idea is that a piece of art, a book, a story, a video, etc., has infected an audience. People who witness it, whether they become genuine fans or they're merely participating "ironically," spread the material. They share it with their friends and family. They post it on their social media pages. They put links in the comments section of articles and videos, and they talk about the thing in question on forums.

They are acting as carriers, and the more people they expose to the book, creator, etc., that they like, the more of a chance there is that new people will get infected as well. Not everyone, of course. Some people just don't get infected, no matter how many times they're exposed... but enough of them will.

For the love of god, shut up about that book, already!

The problem that a lot of us are running into these days is, well, it's becoming harder and harder for us to spread our signal, and it is having a real, detrimental effect.

Consider, for a moment, the way social media worked 5, or even 10 years ago. It wasn't perfect, but the algorithms at least attempted to make sure that people who followed you would see the posts you made. Facebook groups, subreddits, and even YouTube as a whole was focused on doing things that kept users connected to the creators and contributors on their platform. Twitter was, arguably, the king of this era because it allowed you to have direct access to creators and celebrities, no matter their status.

These days, though, social media platforms are focused more on promoting sponsored content, and creators who give them money. If you are one of those influencer-level folks (100K subscribers/followers or more) you are still surviving and spreading a bit, but even those operating at this level are having their signals throttled.

And all of the new-fangled social media platforms that have come out? They quarantine users, making it impossible for you to spread to them unless someone brings you and your content inside their bubble.

Whether we're talking about Discord, BlueSky, or a lot of other, similar platforms, they separate users from one another. Unlike platforms like old Twitter, which could have popular posts absolutely rip through the feeds of its users, spreading from person-to-person extremely quickly, Discord and its close family have everyone separated onto their own servers. So while you might have localized outbreaks if a particular piece of media gets popular within a particular server, you are not going to have the sort of spread you could have on open platforms with active discoverability, where people can rapidly transmit something to one another across groups, friend connections, etc.

All of this is to say that the modern landscape we're all trying to survive in is not the one that existed even a few years ago. If that old landscape was one where hordes of zombies ran roughshod over the whole of the land, we're now in one where obstacles stop populations from coming into accidental contact. What that means is that, if we want to get an old-fashioned virus going, then someone has to purposefully go into communities where people are, and start biting them.

Sadly, if we do that as creators, people will often do their best to shut us down or kick us out because they don't want to be our Patient Zero for what we're making. Which is why, at the end of the day, what we really need are other people to start the infection going for us. And that is really hard to get folks to do.

So if you're one of the many folks out there who are wondering what you can do to help a creator you like, just bite someone on our behalf today! Make a social media post, leave a review, subscribe to a channel, and tell your friends and family about a thing we made that you think is cool. Maybe they won't succumb to your bite and become one of our fans... but maybe they will. And if you bite two friends, and they bite two friends, then pretty soon you'll be responsible for your own viral event... and we need all the help we can get!

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Like, Follow, and Come Back Again!

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

 

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

The Strange Excitement of Forced Success

For those who don't know me, I basically decided that I was going to be an author around the age of 13. Since I was still at that age where adults were constantly asking me what I was going to do when I grew up, I remember being told time and time again, "That's a great goal, sweetheart, but you need to do something other than write novels. After all, what if that doesn't work out for you?"

I'm sure most creative professionals have heard the same spiel in one form or another.

Some adults calmly explained to me that it takes a long time to write a book, and I'll have bills to pay in the mean time. Others talked about how famous authors like Stephen King were teachers while they worked on novels in their spare time (telling me both that they liked these creative works enough to pay for them, and that they sort of missed how condescending it was to relegate the writing itself to a back room hobby, but I digress). While this didn't dissuade me, exactly, it did underline that I was going to have to really pour on the energy if I expected to be able to do this without also pulling a 9 to 5 the rest of the week.

And I realized something earlier this month... I've done it! Well, sort of.

And a big thanks for all the folks who helped me get here!

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When The Eggs Weight-Test Your Basket

Folks who check my updates know that I'm a pretty busy bee. Ring of Fire recently released my cat noir novel Marked Territory, I manage two blogs, I'm constantly expanding my Vocal article archive (which is sitting pretty at 178 articles at time of writing), and I've released 46 separate RPG supplements such as 100 Sights to See in a Steampunk City and 100 Fantasy Tattoos (and The Meaning Behind Them) that earn me royalties.

Of course while working on all of that, along with probably a half dozen other projects that I haven't mentioned, I was also writing content as a freelance blogger. I wasn't writing as much content as I had in the past, but it was still the first thing I did everyday when I logged on before I got to the "fun" work.

Come on baby... go viral! I believe in you!

About halfway through the summer, though, I started noticing that my "day job" writing just wasn't paying me anymore. As with so many things, writers get paid when the articles get approved, and more and more clients were scaling back their publications, or just sitting on content for months. Sometimes a batch would squeak through, but it went from triple digit checks every week, to $50 a week, to about $20-$30 a week.

I have a small mountain of content still waiting for approval (enough to equal a second stimulus check if the clients would just approve it), but that income stream has shrunk to a trickle.

And you know what? The past few months I've actually managed to survive. I'm not thriving by any stretch of the imagination, but thanks to sales events like Drive Thru RPG's "Rogue-Tober," as well as the generosity of a handful of new patrons (you can always sign up at The Literary Mercenary's Patreon if you'd like to help keep things going, as well), and the semi-viral success of my article Partners and Polycules: Polyamorous Designations Based Off Dungeons and Dragons Dice, I've managed to break even without tightening my belt too much.

I don't feel secure where I'm at by any stretch of the imagination. I've got a dozen more projects I'm working on as we speak to expand my archives, and to make sure my readers have even more stuff to check out. But it's an odd feeling realizing that I sort of got where I want to be (or at least I'm a lot closer than I thought) when I wasn't even looking.

Missing The Forest For The Trees

The best comparison I have was when I was working two rather strenuous jobs in my early 20s. During the day I walked roughly 10 miles or so delivering newspapers, and then I drove a bakery truck overnight. The bakery was across town, and roughly a three mile walk where I left my place at 1 in the morning, and got there around 2ish. I needed both jobs to cover my part of the rent, and no matter what I tried to do nowhere else in town was hiring. So for roughly two months my schedule was get up, deliver the afternoon papers, come home, eat dinner, and relax. I'd either watch TV, read a book, or nap, then walk across town, deliver donuts till 5:30 or 6, take the bus home, and do it all again the next day.

I wasn't in bad shape when I started these jobs. But as they said in Fight Club after a month or so of this routine I was carved out of wood.

 

Artist's Rendering

 

The sudden realization that without going to the gym, making big changes to my diet, or really noticing it that I'd gotten extremely fit sort of threw me when I looked in the mirror. I was still tired a lot of the time, my feet hurt, and I'd worn the heels of my boots at an odd angle, but I hadn't really noticed just how far I'd come in adding lean muscle and peeling away extra pounds.

A similar thing happened with regards to my current body of work. I'd just been plugging away at it over the past couple of years, making sure that I put up articles as fast as I could, didn't miss deadlines, and generally tried to build that cushion. While I'm knocking on wood as I write these words, even in the midst of a pandemic my archive was still expansive enough that I was able to pay most of my bills between sales and patronage, with my leftover Vocal reads used to fill in the cracks.

Since about August, I've thrown myself into writing entirely new gaming projects, my current novel manuscript has rounded 56k words (coming into the home stretch), and I've got a whole list of Vocal articles I plan to add. While it feels like the devil is nipping at my heels a little bit, there's also a certain invigorating feeling of climbing without a harness; of being on the trapeze without a net.

Something could go wrong. I could lose my patrons, websites I use for hosting could shut down, projects could get terminated, contracts revoked... but for the time being I'm flying. It's a stumbling flight, and I can see the jagged rocks from where I am, but goddammit I'm in the air and I will stay there through sheer force of spite if that's what it takes!

I hope, my friends, that someday you also get to feel this feeling. Though preferably not in the midst of a global pandemic.

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!

Neal Litherland Reads "Dressing The Flesh" From His New Collection "The Rejects"

There's been a lot of disruption going on, and folks around the country and the world are staying indoors to try to mitigate the toll taken by the current pandemic. And while there are medical personnel working round the clock, scientists devising tests, and stockers and truckers are doing their best to keep the supply lines going, artists of all stripes are stepping up to help stop people from despairing. From TV shows, to video games, to books, everyone is trying to do their part to make sure there's distraction and entertainment aplenty during this particularly gray time.

And since I'm not a trained medical person, nor am I helping keep supply lines moving, I wanted to do my part to keep everyone entertained. So last night I put together a reading in my lair of the first story in The Rejects. So, without further ado, folks looking for a dark little drama should lean back, and take a listen to "Dressing The Flesh."

Also, big thanks to Dungeon Keeper Radio for hosting the video, as I'd originally intended to just upload it here to my blog, but it seems that this video is more than three times what Blogger will allow you to just toss into the middle of an article sight unseen.

And before I forget, for all those who want to make being read to more of a thing, I recommend checking out Audible gift memberships. We've got a lot of hours to fill, these days, and we may as well spend them listening to stories that take us away.

What Else Would You Like To See?

As I've said previously, things are a little up in the air at the moment. As such, my goal is to try to help provide as much entertainment for folks out there as I can. So I'm asking you what sort of content would be most helpful to you going forward?

Seriously, you all have my attention, here.

If folks are looking for recommendations and giveaways, I could add those in as features. If you enjoyed my reading, I'd be happy to do more (perhaps partnering with Dungeon Keeper Radio, if they and their audience would like to hear more from me), and to direct you all to other authors I know who are providing similar uploads. I'm also more than happy to talk about how this whole situation has changed the professional dynamics of the industry, along with giving general break downs of tropes and writing devices.

So, what sounds good? My ears are open.

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, or my short story 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!

Free Resources For Artists and Creators Affected By Covid-19

If I kept to my schedule, this week would have been a Craft of Writing post where I picked apart something in terms of storytelling that we should all think about, or do better. However, in light of the pandemic, I wanted to take a moment to boost the signal on a bunch of resources that will be of use both to all the creators out there, but also for those who want to support creators in these times of toilet paper bulk buying and enforced introversion.

Also, for those of you looking for something to read, my latest release The Rejects is currently free to download until Saturday! With monsters, metahumans, murder, and mayhem, these 13 strange little stories will certainly keep you distracted if you're trying not to go outside for a while.

You listening? I'm here to help.

If you are an artist whose been hurt by the pandemic, or someone who wants to help artists but doesn't know how, then go to Covid-19 & Freelance Artists. It's a big, dense list that breaks it down by state (and sometimes by city), showing you all the resources currently available to help you out.

Is It Really That Big of a Deal?

Yes. Unequivocally and undoubtedly yes.

There are some people out there who think that Covid-19 is just being blown out of proportion. That it's a hoax, or it's not really that bad, or that it's only going to affect people who are old or sick already. Even if those things were true (they're not, but let's say they are for this), the point is that this pandemic has massively disrupted the economy. And freelance artists, writers, and creators don't have an ample amount of stability to begin with, which means they've been hit doubly hard.

In a lot of situations this disease will kill them. Not because the creators got sick and couldn't afford care (though that will no doubt happen, as being a freelancer usually means you don't have a lot in savings, and you can't afford health insurance), but because the disruptions are canceling opportunities they were depending on to earn money to pay their bills.

Because you don't have a lot of alternatives when you're a creator.

Because there are a lot of creators out there who depend on convention sales, book signings, and even holding down a table at a farmer's market to reach a new audience while making sales. And while it's entirely possible to still sell products digitally (people who are practicing social distancing still need books and art, after all), you're not going to have the access to people you would have had at an in-person event.

You can compare it to the restaurants who can now offer takeout, but who can't have anyone come in to eat. Sure, they'll still make some sales, but it won't be remotely like what they would have earned had it been business as usual. And for freelancers who were depending on those earnings (many of whom haven't gotten a rebate from cancelled events, leaving them in the hole), they need to find new fans and move some books ASAP.

So if you are sitting at home, wishing you had some authors you could read and support aside from me (my info is at the end of the entry as always), I would suggest checking out some of the following folks.

- Lauren Jankowski: With a long-running series filled with shapeshifters and deep magic, a solid choice for any fantasy lover.

- Alice Liddell: This author has a wide selection of fantastical fiction that boasts a little something for every taste out there if you're looking for an escape.

- Brendan Detzner: Specializing in the unique, the weird, and the dark, Brendan's work is more than a little underground, but that's all the more reason to dig it up for yourself.

- K.M. Herkes: Middle-aged superheroes and worlds on fire... what more do you need to know?

- Clinton J. Boomer: Author of The Hole Behind Midnight, Clinton is better known for his RPG work. If you haven't read any of his fiction, though, you're doing yourself a disservice.

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!