Demanding What You're Worth is Hard When No One Can Afford You (Reality For Writers)

When I started writing professionally a decade and a half ago, the going semi-pro rate for writers was 3 cents per-word. The pro rate was 6 cents per word. Between then and now the professional rate has gone up (last time I looked it was somewhere around 8 cents per word), and the semi-pro rate had increased to at least 4 cents.

The problem with these rates is that, while they're a lovely thing to know, it's sort of like being told that pristine Pokemon card you have is worth $40,000. It's nice that's what it's been valued at, but you aren't going to get that if you can't find someone willing to pay it. It's the same shit when you're a writer.

Yeah... I can pay $20 for this. I could maybe do $25?

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!

They Can't Pay What They Don't Have

I've been a professional writer since I was 28 years old or so. That was the last time I worked a clock-in, clock-out job, and ever since then I've been making my living writing books, blogs, RPGs, and any other kind of job I can get my hands on. I've worked for a variety of clients of all shapes and sizes, scraping together everything I can to make sure my bills stay paid and there's food in my fridge.

And you know what? I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times I've received a "professional" rate for my work. If you're curious, it was the Leagues of Votann story Pyramid Scheme for Warhammer 40K, the short story The Irregulars written for Paizo, one of the adventures in the Dreadful Tales collection for the RPG Victorian Gothic, and Night Horrors: Primordial Peerage for Beast: The Primordial.

So why is that? Why have I published so many pieces of work over the years, and carved out my niche as at least a semi-pro individual, and yet I've almost never been paid even the semi-pro rate from 15 years ago? The short answer is that it's because most people who hire me can't afford it. Period.

They can't give you what they don't have, after all.

This is where authors run into that rock and a hard place. Because on the one hand, professional writers should be able to ask for professional rates for the work they're doing. However, if all the companies and clients that would employ you are only offering below-professional-standard rates, and they simply cannot afford to pay you that much, then you don't have the ability to get what you're worth.

You might be a pristine, first-edition Charizard card, but if there's not a collector on the market willing to pay $40,000 for you, your option is either wait, or sell yourself for a lower rate... and most of us don't have the ability to wait.

So, if you ever wondered why it is that authors are working 12+ hours a day, but we're still using food banks and need multiple roommates, it's because most us aren't being paid what our work is actually worth... but we can't force customers and clients to pony up money they don't have. All we end up doing is pricing ourselves out of the market.

You All Have The Ability To Help

Everything I've been talking about so far is about writers who are working for clients and companies on a per-word basis. However, that isn't the only way most of us get paid these days. If you have an author whose work you enjoy, then you have the ability to help them make a living.

So whether this is for me, or for another author you want to see succeed, consider taking the following actions to help:

- Watch/Read All Their Free Content (in addition to my blogs, you can find my work on Vocal.media, as well as on the Azukail Games YouTube channel)

- Subscribe To Their Social Media (you can find me on Facebook, Blue Sky, Tumblr, and Pinterest)

- Buy Their Merch (tee shirts, buttons, stickers, and books... like my noir cat novels Marked Territory and Painted Cats)

- Tip Them (you can find me on Patreon, as well as on Ko-fi)

When you buy an author's merch, they get a portion of the proceeds. When you watch their YouTube videos, listen to their podcast, or read their free work on a site with ads, they still earn some money because of your interest. When you follow them on social media, and interact with their posts, that tells the algorithm to push them up higher, and to give them more attention.

Again, no single individual is going to completely bankroll an author whose work they like. But if 50, 100, or 1,000 people all choose to do something small for a particular author over time, then those snowflakes are going to become a snowdrift. And eventually that avalanche is going to bear down on them, and wipe away bills, debts, and the things holding them back from making even more of the stuff you want to see.

Because if you have a loyal following that's supporting your work, well, you suddenly have the ability to tell a company that isn't paying enough for a job no. You have that ability to just wait it out until someone who wants to hire you can pay your minimum rate. And if they can't afford it, you can tell them that you'll still be here when they have a bigger budget to work with (or when they're willing to allocate part of that budget to you).

You, the audience, are the ones who have the power to lift and support creators. And if you really want to make a creator's day, you should exercise that free will to the fullest extent you can!

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.

If You Can't Come Up With Ideas On Your Own, You May Have Lost The Plot

Generative AI is a solution in desperate search of a problem as far as adoption by the masses goes (corporations want it to solve the whole "having to pay artists" problem). And because of the pushback against these things, the supporters of these programs are trying to justify any use of them as a necessity. And a recent post titled Using ChatGPT And Other AI Writing Tools Makes You Unhireable. Here's Why is something I wanted to draw some attention to this week.

Because the explanation of what this software actually does is on-point, and it cuts to the heart of something that people need to understand, but a lot of folks are resisting. Writing is not content. It's not just words. Writing is a skill, and if you don't want to actually put in the work to master the skill, then you are not a writer, and you certainly aren't employable as an author.

And this is particularly true when it comes to the inception of your ideas.

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!

This is Actually The Fun Part For Most People

To sum up, these programs are not thinking. They are literally throwing down Scrabble tiles and doing their best to come up with something they think you want to hear. They were seeded with stolen work, they use a colossal amount of energy and water, and they create a massive amount of pollution, while also fucking up the market on computer parts (and RAM specifically). Worse, those who use these programs are basically outsourcing their own thought process. Studies have shown repeatedly that regular use of generative AI leads to lowered thought process, making you actually slower of wit the longer you use these things.

Your brain, and your creativity, have to practice. You have to build new neural pathways, and exercise new parts of your mind... if you don't, they atrophy. Simple as.

Look what they need to mimic a fraction of our power...

Most people understand that typing in a prompt and hitting a button is not the same as writing a story. However, there's a particular argument I wanted to focus on in this week's update because it's something that a lot of people are stridently defending for reasons I do not grasp or understand. To paraphrase, their argument boils down to;

"But I need it to give me ideas! I just need a bit of a push to get me started."

You don't, actually.

There are literally hundreds of lists of story prompts and ideas out there if you're feeling stuck. Hell, I did a short search for lists that don't use AI, and quickly found one from E.M. Welsh, one from The Write Practice, and one from E.A. Deverell. Just like there are non-AI generators out there for character and country names that use no stolen materials, and which aren't feeding into a massive overconsumption of resources.

Hell, if you're willing to part with a few bucks, there are simple lists produced by professionals available on Drive Thru RPG, like the Steampunk Street Name Generator by Adrian Kennelly, or my own supplement 100 Dark Secrets which works just as well for writing fiction as running a tabletop game.

More importantly, though, coming up with ideas is literally the easiest part of being a writer. Hell, children can come up with ideas! All you have to do is listen to an average 8-year-old ramble on, and you'll easily have three dozen story setups in the space of 15 minutes.

Now, will they be good ideas? Probably not. But you know what? Organically generated terrible ideas full of bad grammar and no understanding of story structure are still better than the terrible ideas full of bad grammar and no understanding of story structure these Gen AI programs spit out at you hoping for a pat on the head and a tummy rub.

You Are What Makes The Story

As was mentioned repeatedly in the Medium piece, most of what people claim these programs can do they actually can't. It's just snake oil salesmen promising you that this tonic will absolutely regrow your hair, add inches to your dick size, help you lose weight, and make your ex-wife love you again when it's just a bottle of piss mixed with ink.

It isn't a useful tool, and there are already non-AI options for people who genuinely need a little boost, or a story prompt, or some inspiration.

Most importantly, though, the thing that I feel a lot of people need to understand is that it's the writer's skill that makes or breaks a story. You can have an amazing story seed full of emotional potential and solid character concepts, but if you give it to someone with no experience or skill then they're probably going to flounder the same way as if you asked a 13-year-old with no drawing experience to recreate the Sistene Chapel ceiling using nothing more than a mechanical pencil and a few sheets of graph paper. However, you can also take a ridiculous premise or an absurd concept, hand it to an experienced writer, and they will mold it into a story that will make people laugh, cry, and demand to know why they're feeling things from such a dumb story.

Perfect examples of this are my animal-noir novel Marked Territory, or even my recent short story Gav and Bob: Sanguinala Redux which (apparently) brought a lot of Warhammer 40K fans to tears.

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

And to reiterate one of the responses on Facebook to the Medium article, if you cannot perform the most basic task of being a writer (coming up with a story idea), then why do you think you should be at the table for a company making video games, a TV series, or writing novels? If you don't actually put in the work to make something, why are you trying so hard to convince others (and yourself) that you're a real writer?

This is not about good or bad. There are plenty of writers and authors out there that I think are lacking in skill and talent. But you know what? If that thing they wrote came from inside of them, and they put those words on the page, I won't do anything to disparage that achievement. We don't have to be bosom companions, but they're more than welcome into the writer's club as far as I'm concerned.

And if you're someone who is so sure they need Gen AI to be a writer, ask yourself why. What does this plagiarism software do that you can't do yourself? If you know the issues with it, and the cost of using it to the environment and yourself, then why are you insisting on using it instead of one of the other, safer tools out there?

It's never too late to delete these things, and start the hard work of writing. And if you're feeling stuck on ideas, go to a writer's group, and ask to start a brainstorming thread. Talk with other writers, and get a conversation going. You might be surprised what they have to say, and how much they're willing to help.

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!

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 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. 

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 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.

Ask What The Purpose Of A Scene Is (And Cut It If There Isn't One)

Editing your book can sometimes feel like you're holding a sword in your hand, and being asked which of your children you're willing to part with. There are so many moments in your story, so many turns of phrase that make you smile, and so many arcs that you just can't bring yourself to part with. After all, they make you happy, and they serve the narrative... or so you tell yourself.

I can say from experience, though, not every scene that's in your rough draft belongs in your final book... especially if you're finding your word count running over, or your waters getting muddied. Which is why it's important to sit down, take a hard look at each scene, and really ask if it needs to be on the team. Because some of them probably don't.

Just make the cut.

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!

Unnecessary Stuff Gets Left on The Cutting Room Floor

For just a moment, let's compare a novel to a movie. These are two very different art forms, but both of them are vehicles for telling a story. And just like how a writer might splash all their ideas onto the page, so a filmmaker might shoot different versions of a scene, or even add in extra scenes. When filming is wrapped, and the rough cut is done, it's time to start making decisions about what scenes stay in, and what scenes get chopped out.

Because sometimes a scene that seemed poignant and interesting at the time just makes later scenes feel redundant. Sometimes a scene is meant to give extra characterization to a member of the cast but instead feels like it's over-explaining them, or it actually runs counter to their behavior in other scenes. Sometimes subplots are removed from the movie because there just isn't enough room for everything, and they just felt too busy.

If you get the chance to watch deleted scenes from movies you know well, ask why they were removed in the first place? What was the logic? How would their inclusion have altered the finished product? How would these elements change the story? Because once you understand that, it can give you a more solid perspective when it comes to your own story, what should stay, and what should go.

Some scenes are harder to cut than others, not going to lie.

As an example, if you're writing a murder mystery that's meant to focus on the gritty side of investigating serial killers, what purpose does the scene where the detective has coffee with their sister serve? Is it meant to act as a come-down after a brutal revelation? Are you trying to show the other side of the detective's life as they struggle not to be consumed by the job? Does it involve a difficult discussion where the detective asks their sibling to be on the lookout, knowing that she might be targeted next?

When I say you need to be sure that the book has a purpose, that doesn't just mean it's a scene that drives the plot forward. There are plenty of scenes that don't have any plot-relevant details in them that still serve your narrative, which show different sides of your characters, or which lay false trails or keep your readers guessing. The key is that you understand the purpose these scenes serve, and that you can take a step back, and say that they are definitely helping your book.

Like I said above, your book is the vehicle for the story you're telling. Each part of that vehicle is working together to achieve the end result. You don't want to strip out the pistons in your engine, or take off the tires... but do you really need that spoiler on the rear? Or the extra spoiler on top of it? The bull bars on the front that are just weighing it down? The rack of lights across the roof that are just shining more light, but not actually helping you see better?

It's important to strip out things that are hurting your story... but more important than that is the ability to recognize when something is serving its purpose, and when you could probably stand to bring down the blade, and leave that particular scene out of things.

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!

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 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. 

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!