Killing The Myth: Making Good Art Does Not Automatically Mean Monetary Success

There is a pervasive myth in the world. The myth is that if you are an artist, be it a writer, a videographer, a graphic artist, or anything else, and if you work hard, develop your skill, and create good art that you will be successful. An overwhelming majority of people out there believe that there is some cosmic force that ensures hard work will be rewarded, and that quality art will be found by an audience who loves it. These people also believe that if your work has not found an audience, or if you are still on the struggle as a creator, that the fault must be yours. You aren't working hard enough, or maybe you aren't making good art, and that's why you haven't been rewarded yet.

To reiterate, this is a myth, and it is bullshit. More than that, though, it allows people to abdicate their own power when it comes to helping artists whose work they like actually succeed. Because it isn't some mystical money fairy that decides who succeeds and who fails... it's you, the audience, who literally decides our fate.

People don't like hearing this, but it's imperative this myth dies.

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! And, of course, check me out on Blue Sky, since that's what we're talking about today!

Let's Talk About "Fear and Hunger"

I'm going to guess that most people reading this blog post have never heard of the video game Fear and Hunger. It's an indie horror game made using RPG Maker, and it is a bleak, punishing, horrific experience that draws on some of the grimmest and darkest fantasy stories to create something utterly unique. It has built a cult following, and while it isn't for everyone, it has broken containment and there are a lot of people who are aware of it now.

Just stick with me, I'm going somewhere with this.

The video linked above by Super Eyepatch Wolf is primarily about the second game in the series, however, in this video we see a chart that clearly highlights the first game's rise in popularity (or notoriety, if you prefer) around 2:09. As the host points out, the game languished in relative obscurity for nearly five years after its initial release. And then, thanks to word of mouth growing through a variety of gaming YouTubers, as well as regular people on forums discussing games, Fear and Hunger started getting attention. A lot of attention. It breached containment, growing a huge following for an indie game, and now it's reached the point that it's well known in general circles where people play survival horror video games.

And I bring this up to illustrate a point. Nothing fundamental changed about the game between its release, and its meteoric rise. It was the same piece of art that it was from then, until it got discovered. Literally the only thing that changed was people who had megaphones started talking about it, and bringing attention to the game.

This is the truth of being a creator in a nutshell.

Because this video game didn't change in the five years since it was released; people just found out about it, and they were finally able to experience this art they otherwise would never have found. And if those YouTubers didn't make videos about it? If there weren't reviewers out there talking about their experiences? Then the game would have remained undiscovered, and the creator might not have been able to make a second game, or the third game I'm hearing rumors about.

The book, the game, the video, the art does not matter if people don't find out about it, and interact with it. And something having the nebulous quality of good doesn't matter. If you paint an absolute masterpiece, that doesn't magically cause an art gallery to call you, or a rich collector to show up at your door like a TV psychic. Success isn't just waiting in the wings for a deserving artist to make something the cosmos deems good art. Not only that, but you can make good art for years, but for reasons utterly outside of your control no one will find out about it, it will never sell, and you won't make a single dollar off of the work you put in.

No magical force is coming to help us. We can't make a sacrifice to the gods of capitalism and pray we become the next money grab, hot trend, or big business scheme. The only thing that helps authors, YouTubers, podcasters, graphic artists, and people who make independent video games, is for people out there to interact with what we make, and do what they can to spread the word about us.

That's it. That's the super secret formula to becoming successful as a creative professional. Period.

Good, Bad, It Doesn't Matter

This whole idea that only good books are successful, and only deserving authors get rich, flies in the face of facts. There are plenty of books, series, movies, etc. that are absolute drek, yet they still keep getting made, and they still keep making money. What matters is there are people who are willing to show up and buy copies, buy tickets, watch/listen to episodes, buy merch, etc. to help keep those endeavors going.

No one is coming to save us. There is no great, cosmic force waiting to reward creators out there. So if there's someone who is doing something you like, or making something you want to see more of, do what you can to support them. If you're just a regular person, you can still follow the creator on social media, interact with their posts, consume the content that's free, and buy their books and merch when you can afford it. Leave reviews, and tell your friends about their work. Be that person who helps build a community around this thing you like.

Some people reading this might be able to do more than that. You might be a YouTuber, a podcaster, or a blogger, which means you have a platform to talk about other creators' work. Maybe you can arrange interviews, or even get someone invited as a guest of honor to an event you host. Hell, if you're someone in the same field who already has a fan following, just telling your audience, "Hey, this other creator is doing some pretty great stuff. You should all go check their work out!" can make a colossal difference.

Haven't you wondered why every Clive Barker book has that quote from Stephen King on the cover that calls him the future of horror?

And before we sign off today, I wanted to leave a plug for The A.L.I.C.E. Files. This project has been nearly impossible to get eyes on thanks to social media signal throttling, and YouTube's terrible algorithm. So if readers who made it this far could take a moment to watch the trailer, leave a comment, and subscribe to the channel, it would be greatly appreciated!

Of course, the show is really starting to pick up steam, so you might want to set aside some time to binge the stories we have out already... because there's quite a few more where this came from!

Support The Literary Mercenary

If you want to see me produce more work, consider some of the following options!

- My Facebook

- My Blue Sky

- My LinkTree

- My Weekly Newsletter

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

- The A.L.I.C.E. Files (an audio drama channel I launched with Alice Liddell)

And if you happen to have some spare dosh lying around, and you want to be sure my supply doesn't run low, consider become a Patreon patron, or leaving a tip by Buying Me a Ko-Fi!

Also, if you're curious about how to write for tabletop RPGs, don't forget to check out my show Tabletop Mercenary, which you can find on both the Azukail Games channel above!

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.

Authors Are Running The Red Queen's Race (Going Full Speed Just To Stay in Place)

"Now here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep to the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!"

- The Red Queen

While not everyone has read Through The Looking Glass, the second book about Alice's unusual adventures, it's the one that takes us to the realm of the red queen and the white queen and their chessboard kingdoms. However, this quote above is so indicative of the struggle that authors find themselves in (especially today) that I felt it was something worth discussing.

Because if you're going full tilt, and the world is just slipping by under your feet while you barely keep even, you aren't alone. In fact, that's basically all of us right now.

And if you fell on your face, you're also not alone.

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! And, of course, check me out on Blue Sky, since that's what we're talking about today!

Why We're Stuck In This Rat Race

Capitalism. All right, thanks for reading everyone!

...

Okay, so it's more complicated than that. But not nearly as complicated as you think.

So, we live in the modern age of publishing. Right now anyone can put out a book on dozens of platforms, using machines a lot of us have access to, and we can tell people about those books utilizing free social media networks. The tools we utilize on a daily basis, from smartphones to Goodreads, are things that would leave previous generations of authors staring in awe at how far things have come.

However, it's important to remember that possible is not the same as probable. Because it's possible that the scratch-off ticket you just bought is going to pay out $100,000 a year for life... but it's not super likely.

The coin from the Take A Penny tray is probably all you'll get, honestly.

Let's rewind the clock about 10-12 years ago. Around this time there was no generative AI flooding the market. You could make however many posts on social media sites you wanted, and you had a good chance of getting hundreds, if not thousands of eyes on those posts. Going viral seemed random, but there were tools you could use to check for the best keywords, and you had a relatively good chance of actually getting traction on the things you made. The algorithms that governed the Internet generally made sense, and while there were ads all over the place, they were usually clearly marked, and a whole lot less obtrusive.

Now, let's fast-forward to today.

Today we have an ongoing war against AI slop as people hammer the "Write Book" button and then shoot their "novels" out into the void to take up space and attention. Established social media platforms have limited your ability to post, often shadow banning posts that would take viewers off the site and to a storefront, blog, etc. somewhere else. We have algorithms that change every season, and trends that last about an hour or so. And, most importantly, your talent as a writer doesn't actually make a difference because people have to know about you and your work in the first place before you can enchant them with your words.

So no, if it feels like you have to work 2-3 times as hard just to get the same amount (or even less) attention and sales than you did even a few years ago, you aren't imagining it. Every tool you had, whether it's active and engaging online communities, or the ability to reach your audience via a video platform like YouTube, or even the ability to get your book seen and reviewed on sites dedicated to that kind of content, has been dulled, rusted, or twisted to try to turn a profit. And since authors are one of the more historically broke professions (overall), it's not like most of us have money to throw at these problems.

To counter that, we grind harder, write more, craft better posts... but we're trying to run up an active avalanche. And even if you succeed, you're still making fewer sales, reaching fewer people, and going absolutely all-out in your attempt to avoid being thrown down into the ravine below.

And how do you actually succeed? The kind of success that lets you make progress instead of just standing in place when that's all going at a dead sprint seems to do for you?

Well, unfortunately, there are only really three ways to do this. And while the first two are amazing if you can get them, they're probably out of most people's reach.

Your 3 Solutions For Success

No beating around the bush, the first two ways you can get huge success as an author are:

- Be rich

- Be lucky

That's it. Because if you're rich you can, at least, pay for advertising, booth space, and you have hours in your day to dedicate to your online presence because you don't have to spend that money on food and rent. It's also possible that you move in the circles of other rich people, so you have the ability to just get invited onto popular shows and networks, you get reviewed in well-read publications, etc., because you have a network of friends, family, and colleagues who can help you out, which will lead to you becoming better known and better read.

The second one is winning the lottery. Maybe you wrote a book that just so happened to start a new trend. Maybe you put the right keyword in a post or video, and you went viral for no discernible reason. Maybe you made a silly TikTok that got boosted and commented to hell and back, and as a result there are now millions of people who are aware that your novel exists. It's nice if you can manage this option, but it's utterly unpredictable, and if it does happen you really need to be ready to capitalize on it.

So what's the third option? Well, this is one we can all do, to some degree, and it's the best strategy I have since it's the only thing that consistently works:

- Build a community

Holy shit! There's a new book out!

It sounds simple, but it is deceptively difficult. Finding people who like your work, who support you, and who you can work with takes time, energy, and it often means that you need to reach out to others and help where you can. Do you volunteer as a guest on their YouTube channel? Do you help promote their blogs and books to what audience you have? Do you go to cons, bump fists, and volunteer to be on panels to meet fellow creators and fans alike?

There's no one right way to build your community, and it's really a patchwork of efforts that will work in a lot of different ways. But, honestly, that is what you need to do in order to really build a following of loyal readers.

Because as I've said so many times before, writing a book is hard. Selling that book is a lot harder, and you're going to need help if you don't already have fat stacks of cold cash chilling in your accounts.

Support The Literary Mercenary

If you want to see me produce more work, consider some of the following options!

- My Facebook

- My Blue Sky

- My LinkTree

- My Weekly Newsletter

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

And if you happen to have some spare dosh lying around, and you want to be sure my supply doesn't run low, consider become a Patreon patron, or leaving a tip by Buying Me a Ko-Fi!

Also, if you're curious about how to write for tabletop RPGs, don't forget to check out my show Tabletop Mercenary, which you can find on both the Azukail Games channel above!

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.

As An Author, The Algorithm Controls Your Fate (And It Determines Your Success)

There is this belief among most people that if a creator is talented, and they produce high-quality work, then they will be rewarded for the work they've done. After all, the cream floats to the top, and if your work is really good then of course people are going to find out about it, and buy copies.

All right, real talk. Can quality work that creates a lot of buzz and gets word-of-mouth build an audience and get more and more people to check out the book? Yes, it absolutely can. However, it's the buzz that's important. Because people are absolutely more than willing to check out and buy bad books, see bad movies, and so on, as long as there's some kind of buzz about them.

And if you're a creator in the modern day, then one of the major deciding factors in how much buzz you generate, and the visibility of your work, is the almighty algorithm. And it hates you.

Because it is what determines so much of your success in the modern world.

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! And, of course, check me out on Blue Sky, since that's what we're talking about today!

Some Examples of Algorithm Impact

As most regular readers know, in addition to being a novelist, I'm also a tabletop RPG writer. In fact, I recently finished the 200th published piece of mine (more on that over on my sister blog, with the entry I've Got Over 200 TTRPG Credits Now!), and there are two, distinct incidents I've experienced over recent history that shows exactly how much impact the algorithm can have on your work's visibility, and thus your sales potential.

All right, let's break this down, shall we?

So readers have context, I've been writing TTRPG content for going on 12 years or so now. About 2-3 years ago, my monthly earnings from the website Drive Thru RPG (which is where all my supplements and books are available for sale) was between $350 and $400, with occasional boosts pushing my earnings up to as much as $500 in a single month. That was, overall, pretty good for me in terms of earnings, and I was making some real progress toward building up my savings and keeping all my creditors happy.

Then Drive Thru RPG launched a new website... and everything got shafted.

Myself, and every fellow creator and indie publisher I talked to, had their organic discovery (the ability for people to find your titles through the search function or just be browsing the site) absolutely cratered! Incomes were cut in half for most people, so I went from getting close to an average of $400 to $500 a month for the 2-3 months before the release, to just barely managing to scrape $250 on a good month. My titles didn't change, there weren't huge upsets in the industry, and everything else was holding steady... but the way the site's algorithm shifted meant people couldn't find my work, and the work of countless others.

Our money was tied directly to the algorithm, and whether or not it let people find our titles. It didn't matter if they were good or bad, well-written or drek, if people can't find a book, they can't very well buy or read that book. Period.

But that isn't the only recent horror story regarding the capriciousness of the algorithm, and how it can literally make or break you as a creator.

And even when it doesn't, it will nickel and dime you.

You see, several months ago DTRPG experienced a problem with Reddit. Normally you could just leave a link to a supplement on Reddit, and it would display the cover image, and give you a title... well, something went wrong, and it became impossible to share links that didn't look broken. This meant that if you wanted a proper title and preview image you had to either share the link through an interim site (like Pinterest), or you had to upload the cover image, and then in the cover image's description you needed to leave a link to the book in question.

Do you know why they put all the candy bars, cigarette lighters, and other junk right up by the cash register? Well, it's because people are WAY more likely to buy stuff like that if it's right in front of them, they're forced to look at it while they're in line, and it's easy to access. And while there were some people who were interested enough in a cover image or a title to check out the supplement in question, it was a LOT fewer people. I was seeing my earnings dropping further from that $250-ish level down to $180, and barely scraping $200 some months.

And you know what happened recently? Well, DTRPG got the glitch solved, and now it's right back to showing direct links like it used to. And the sales I'm making? Also shooting right back up to where they were before.

Because it was never about the quality of the books I wrote, good or bad. It was never about picking the right art, or being engaging enough. It was about whether people could click a single link, and get to the sales page right away. More than one click? Not worth it to most folks in the audience. But back to 1 click? Well, consider them interested again!

Your Actions Affect The Algorithm (And Us)

The algorithm is, in many ways, a mysterious, god-like force. Most people don't understand how it works, and we just try to interpret its will as best we can, and to try to stay on its good side by avoiding behaviors we know it doesn't like. However, something that is important to keep in mind is that the algorithm exists to serve you, the audience. Its entire goal is to give you the kind of content that will keep you on the site, and to make sure you keep engaging with it.

Facebook's algorithm wants you to keep scrolling. Amazon's wants you to keep shopping. YouTube's wants you to keep watching. And so on, and so forth.

They cheer for this one? He shall live another day!

Because the algorithm bows to the will of the audience, it requires the audience to invoke it. The algorithm doesn't care about creators, because we are individuals. But if hundreds, or thousands, of people all signaled that the thing this creator makes is something they like? Well, that is going to put the algorithm in gear, and swing its all-seeing eye toward the creator in question to shine a spotlight on them.

This happens when a book hits 50+ reviews on Amazon; the algorithm decides it's worthy of notice, and starts sharing it with other people. It's why high-selling supplements on Drive Thru RPG are given metal awards ranging from Copper to Adamantine, each of which gives it an advantage over smaller sellers. It's also why videos on YouTube that get lots of comments and upvotes are shared to a wider audience, and why the posts made by creators with large subscriber counts are pushed out to more accounts on every social media platform out there.

Your interaction is what generates buzz, and like I said above, that buzz is what gets our books seen, and being seen is what allows us to make sales so we can keep doing this.

So even though it feels like I say this every other article I write on business matters, I feel it is imperative to drive this point home... especially because not everyone makes it to the end every time, so I have to repeat myself a lot. If you want to help push your favorite creators up, boost their signals, and get them noticed by the algorithm, do the following:

- Leave Ratings and Reviews: This directly gets the algorithm's attention, and it can take as little as 50 folks doing it. It's an important start, but still just a start!

- Subscribe and Be An Active Member of Their Audience: Subscribe to your favorite creators on YouTube, Facebook, Blue Sky, and whatever other platforms they use, and then interact with what they post! Leave hearts, reacts, comments of 7+ words, and share things... it all makes a difference!

- Tell People About Them: Whether you're making posts on a forum, giving shout outs in your podcast, or just talking about someone in a discord chat, big-up people whose work you like to others and spread the word. We can only do so much, and people believe you over us when it comes to our work.

It is absolutely helpful to support the creators you love in financial ways, as well, but since this blog entry is about the algorithm, I wanted to focus on that first. So remember to buy your favored creator's stuff, leave them tips if you can, and support them on whatever crowdfunding platform you can.

We're depending on you, because we need your help to force the wheels of the algorithm to move so we can actually get onto the platform where people can see and hear us. So join the good fight... the creators you love will be appreciative.

Support The Literary Mercenary

If you want to see me produce more work, consider some of the following options!

- My Facebook

- My Blue Sky

- My LinkTree

- My Weekly Newsletter

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

And if you happen to have some spare dosh lying around, and you want to be sure my supply doesn't run low, consider become a Patreon patron, or leaving a tip by Buying Me a Ko-Fi!

Also, if you're curious about how to write for tabletop RPGs, don't forget to check out my show Tabletop Mercenary, which you can find on both the Azukail Games channel, as well as my Rumble channel listed above!

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.

It's Luck, Not Talent, That Makes You Successful As A Creator

The one question everyone wants to know when it comes to being a creator is, "How do you make it?" There are panels dedicated to it at conventions, it's the question that comes up in every interview, and it's something people endlessly speculate on. What does an artist have to do in order to reach that level where they're famous or rich enough that they never have to work a day job again? Do they dedicate themselves body and soul to the craft? Do they make a deal with the devil? Is there some secret formula that lets you hack social media in order to reach your audience and become successful?

Well, I've been doing this professionally for more than 12 years now. I've talked to a lot of people, been to the panels, listened to the interviews, and there is a single thread that runs through every, single one of them. You have to be lucky.

That's it.

So roll the dice... or don't. But you can't win if you don't play.

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! And, of course, check me out on Blue Sky, since that's what we're talking about today!

An Echoing Refrain

The first time I ran into this was when I was in my mid-20s working as a reporter for a small local paper and trying to break into fiction as a writer. I was given the opportunity to interview a local author of cozy mysteries and romances, and I jumped at the chance. At best, I figured that if I made a good impression maybe she could help me out. At worst, maybe she could give me a few pointers. And when I got to the question where I asked her how one got a publishing deal with a major company (she'd started off with Viking, if memory serves), she just shrugged and gave me an answer that boiled down to, "Right place, right time."

In short, yes, she'd written a romance manuscript. She'd worked really hard on it, done all the editing, cleaned it up nice, etc., but the major reason she got that first book in was it just so happened to be the kind of romance the company was looking for in that very moment. If she'd submitted it a few months earlier, or a few months later, they probably wouldn't have taken it.

She kept writing books, kept doing the work, kept trying to keep her place... but she had no idea why her books sold or didn't sell. No clue what would work. In short, she lucked out, and was doing her best to stay in the position that luck had gotten her by keeping her momentum as a writer going.

All right... well... that's an anomaly, right?

That was kind of a disappointing answer, but I did my best to take it in stride, and to ask other writers I met along the way how they managed to find success. A handful of writers who started later in life told me they just wrote while living off retirement, and they were able to finally write something that caught on with an audience. Others mentioned that their book's themes just happened to coincide with some trend that put a lot of attention on them. A few writers talked about how the success of someone else's book spilled over onto them, and they rode someone else's coattails.

And then I started looking around, watching trends, and comparing notes. There are a lot of big YouTubers out there right now (Markiplier is one that comes to mind) who got in early-ish on the platform, but who happened to catch on with over-the-top reactions, particularly to scary games and scary content. There are authors who became the subject of BookTok reviews, and it blew up their name and signal without their knowledge or understanding. Chuck Tingle was basically nominated as part of the Sad Puppies scandal, and while I won't say he didn't have a fan base before his name got dragged into that shit show, it definitely catapulted him into the faces of a lot of people who would never have seen his work otherwise, much less bought a copy of a book like Scary Stories to Tingle Your Butt: 7 Tales of Gay Terror.

That is a real book. Seriously, go check it out!

This point was driven home to me once again while listening to this interview with the monster creator Trevor Henderson. Now, you might not know him by name, but you're likely familiar with his most infamous creation Siren Head. A monster artist whose work speaks for itself, he is one of the more influential creators of Internet-based horror, and he currently creates so many scary things that it can seem hard to follow.

But when he made Siren Head he was working a retail job and just trying to squeeze money out of art. He was working hard (he mentions in the interview that he'd come home from shifts and force himself to draw even though he was exhausted), improving his craft, and making interesting things... but his fame came from an outside source. A video game designer came across Siren Head, and asked to use it in his game. Trevor agreed, as long as he was mentioned... and that game showed up on Markiplier's YouTube channel, to bring things full circle. This led to an explosion of popularity for the monster, and a big audience of people who were now aware of Trevor's work, as well as the designer who made the game. And that spring-boarded the two of them in a very big way. But it took 3 years between him finishing that creature's art, and it just exploding onto the scene like that.

Also, shoutout to The Wrong Station's YouTube channel. Go subscribe, and listen to them on Spotify or something. Their show is a LOT of fun!

Now, what I'm not saying is that any of the people I have mentioned, either obliquely or by name, didn't work hard. I'm not saying they don't have talent, or that they haven't refined their craft to create the best things they can. That is always the take away that people have when they reach this point, and it's because there's a very specific lie that so many people believe, and you believing this lie actively harms all of us.

Do you want to know what it is? It's the belief that talent and hard work are rewarded.

You can work as hard as possible, and you can make amazing art that deserves to be seen, and everyone who picks it up devours it, thoroughly enjoying every part of this thing you made... but if your signal doesn't grow via word of mouth, and no one lets a big enough audience find out about it, you won't sell copies, get views, or increase your subscriber count. And on the flip side, someone can write absolute drek, create the most low-effort music, or just crap out a few images, and if those things happen to strike a nerve with a current trend, if they become a subject of Internet conversation, or if you happen to be related to, dating, or already a minor celebrity for some other reason, you'll go gangbusters.

If you're a creator, get that lie out of your head right now, because it's going to convince you that if you just work harder, write more, etc., that eventually you have to succeed. Marketing and creating aren't the same thing, and you can't assume the quality of your work will grant you some kind of special dispensation that will spontaneously get you noticed by the public.

And if you're not a creator, you also need to get this lie out of your head because we're depending on you. You are literally the ones who decide whether we succeed or not.

You Have The Power, Here

I've said this before, and I sometimes feel like a broken record, but I'm going to keep saying this until people get it. Artists do not have any power to make ourselves succeed. Yes we can write books, make videos, draw things, and yes we can try to leverage social media to get attention, but we ultimately cannot force ourselves to be successful just by working harder.

The only thing that helps creators succeed is you. The audience. The people we are making things for.

If you don't cheer, we die.

I've used the gladiator metaphor since the beginning of this blog, and it's apt. Because gladiators who got famous were showered in money, they got endorsement deals, they have goddamn merch you could buy at their matches. But the fighters who didn't have that following? Who didn't get the cheers? They got nothing. Didn't matter how good the show they put on was if no one was paying to see it, no one was betting on them, and no one was paying attention.

Your cheers matter... but in this digital age we're living in, they can take a lot of different forms.

If you just want to turn the wheels and help the creators you love get numbers, and get noticed, do the following:

- Read/Watch/Listen to Their Content: The more reads an article gets, the more views a video or podcast episode gets, etc., the more likely the algorithm will push it out to other people. So consume the content (especially the free stuff), and share it on social media platforms to boost the signal.

- Subscribe and Follow: This dialed-in audience is a big factor in who sees us, hears about us, etc. If you have a million subscribers on YouTube, Facebook, etc., the algorithm treats your stuff very differently than if you just have 1,000. Fill the seats, make the arena look full, because it helps us!

- Leave Comments, Reviews, and Ratings: If you're watching a video, hit the Like button. If you're listening on Spotify, leave a 5 star review. If you bought a book, leave a rating and review. The more of this stuff we get, you guessed it, the more likely we are to be seen by others.

- Buy Our Merch: Whether you're buying books, TTRPG supplements, tee shirts, or just using the discount code we get from a sponsor, all of that puts money in our pockets... but more importantly, again, when the numbers go up, the algorithms, sponsors, etc., treat us better. If I get a top-selling book on Amazon, Drive Thru RPG, etc., those sites are going to tell everyone about it because they want more sales... and the numbers to become a bestseller are so, so much smaller than you think...

Again, I'm not saying you have a moral obligation to support all creators. I'm not saying you should spend more than you can afford just to boost someone's signal. I'm just explaining how the machinery works. If you want a creator to succeed (any creator), then pull the levers I just described. Pull as many of them as you can, as often as you can. If you can afford to buy books, buy them. If you can't, don't. But consume all the free stuff, check in on social media, hit the buttons, make the comments, follow all the followables, etc.

If you cheer, we rise. If you don't cheer, we die in obscurity. This isn't even a metaphor... it's literally how the industry works. Period.

And the only way any of us get famous is if our audience grows so big, and so loud, that the wider world finds out about us and what we do. So please... raise your voice, and be that noise.

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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!

 

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