The Insincerity of Crowds (Trying To Separate Genuine Demand From Hot Air)

Most authors pay at least a modicum of attention to the audience when they decide what projects they're going to work on next. Whether it's figuring out what kinds of blog entries are popular, what sort of novels people want to read, what kinds of YouTube videos get the most views, etc. we are all (whether we like it or not) paying attention to what kinds of projects succeed, and what kinds of projects fail.

Because unless you are extremely wealthy, most authors don't want to spend 1-3 years on a passion project just to have it met by thunderous indifference.

To help hedge our bets, most of us will reach out to members of our audience, as well as potential members of our audience, and ask what it is they'd like to see. It sounds like a good practice, since it should take the guesswork out of figuring out what people want, allowing you to make sure that at least part of your audience is going to be ready and eager for your project when it drops.

The problem is that a lot of people will say one thing, and then do another. And I mean a lot of them!

Which makes giving the stamp of approval to one thing over another a difficult choice.

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!

Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is

I cannot count the number of times I've spoken with fellow creators who've had fans stridently demand something, given them what they asked for, and then found that no one was willing to actually support that project once it was completed. For example, I've had people say that they don't read short stories, but they'd love to hear an audio drama version of my book The Rejects... despite that, though, those folks didn't check out the audio versions of either the Weird Western Dead Man's Bluff or the dark modern fantasy story Suffer The Children, even though both of them are from that book, and they are free to listen to on my channel The Literary Mercenary. My partner and fellow author Alice Liddell (whom you should go follow on YouTube at Alice The Author if you haven't yet) has had readers tell her with enthusiasm that they'd love her to write something darker, more historical, and with vampires... yet when her book Succumb To Darkness dropped, there was only a fraction of folks who loudly proclaimed it was exactly what they wanted who showed up to buy a copy.

Every author, RPG designer, YouTuber, blogger, and general creator that I know has had to deal with this problem, and it is one of the most exhausting things that crops up time and time again in this profession. Because if you have hundreds (or sometimes thousands) of people who all say they'd love to see X, Y, or Z project made into a reality, then you would expect them to actually turn up to check out the project when it's done. And even if all of them don't, you'd expect maybe half of them to give it a look, right?

Well, as I said in my recent Tabletop Mercenary episode, Audience Support is a Reverse Iceberg, you're lucky if 1 in 10 people in your audience sees that something when it exists, and then if as much as 1 in 10 of those people actually does something to support it.

This is where I'm going to repeat something I've said time and time again on this blog, and which you likely heard in the video above if you watched it (which you should, it's an important topic). In short, creators need the support of their audience if we're going to keep making art. Period, full stop, end of story. If you don't show up for the artists you love, then eventually they're going to give up, and you won't get anything else from them. All we can do is make the art... we depend on you to actually appreciate and consume it so we can get paid at the end of the day.

Now, to be clear, I'm not saying that you need to subscribe to every Patreon for the creators you like, or that you need to buy every book and every piece of art they come out with. That's ridiculous. Yes, it's always good to directly support artists by throwing money at us (we appreciate it very much), but that's not the only way to show your support.

Other things you can (and should) do include:

- Engaging with things creators make (watch videos, read articles, etc.)

- Subscribe to their social media pages, channels, etc. (so your presence weighs on the algorithm scales)

- Boosting their social media signal (leaving comments, heart reacts, sharing posts, and so on)

- Leaving reviews and ratings on the things you do buy

Lastly, and this is perhaps the most important... if you're going to lend your voice to a call for a project, please be sincere about it. You don't have to throw a handful of Benjamins at someone's Kickstarter, or be the first one to get their new art print or plushie, but don't pull a Morbius and say you really want something, only to be a no-show when the creator puts in the work to try to give you what you asked for.

Because Sony might be able to eat that kind of ghosting... but most artists, authors, and others who are just trying to scrape by really can't.

Support The Literary Mercenary

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

- My Facebook

- My LinkTree

- My Weekly Newsletter

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

- My Rumble Channel (longer videos that won't show up on YouTube)

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. 

Whenever Possible, Let Your Characters Solve Their Own Problems

Stories are full of conflicts. Whether it's soldiers on the battlefield, star-crossed lovers trying to make their relationship work, someone who is trying to win a big competition in order to win enough money to stop the local rec center from closing, we're here to see how our characters handle these conflicts. However, too often we end up letting the machine of the gods come down and save the day on the behalf of our characters.

It's why I wanted to say that, whenever possible, you should make sure that your characters are responsible for solving their own problems.

Eh, I'm sure lightning will strike the dark lord at the proper moment.

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!

Pull Yourself Up By Your Plot Hooks!

There are often a slew of factors involved in a story, and there are often circumstances outside of your protagonist(s) and their actions. However, the main thrust of today's post is about how the problems and conflicts in a story should be solved by the character, and the actions they take.

For example, let's say you're writing a coming-of-age story where your protagonist is in middle school, or maybe a freshman in high school. One of the problems they're facing is that they've become the target of a school bully, or maybe even a pack of them. Now, they might be the main antagonists, or they might merely be secondary threats that represent something your protagonist has to deal with. And maybe it comes down to a good, old-fashioned schoolyard brawl where the bully gets their nose bloodied (or broken). Maybe your protagonist lays a trap for them, scaring the pants off their bullies without actually hurting them. If there's an additional threat in the story, ranging from a haunted school to a serial killer targeting kids, your protagonist might actually save their bullies from danger, taking them from foes to friends in a rather big hurry.

Now imagine if your protagonist just told a teacher, and that teacher swooped in and reprimanded the bullies for their behavior. Or, worse, the bullies' parents just showed up right when things got tense and dragged them off with no provocation from our protagonist. These other characters just swooped in from out of nowhere to handle the problem for your lead who didn't do anything to fix it themselves, and as a result they've done nothing, but their problems have been fixed for them. Is that a satisfying resolution to the problem your protagonist was facing?

I have learned nothing, and accomplished nothing... away!

If you find that too many of the problems in your books are being solved by forces outside your protagonist's control, and without any input or effort from them, it may be time to reconsider the way your story is being told. Your protagonists don't have to single-handedly defeat armies, or solve everything with a fist fight, or always know the most obscure of facts that just so happen to be the bane of the enemy's existence, but their efforts should have some impact on the overall outcome of your story.

And if they're not... well, ask yourself why, and if the audience is going to be less-than-pleased that the character they've been following didn't actually fix anything themselves.

Support The Literary Mercenary

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

- My Facebook

- My LinkTree

- My Weekly Newsletter

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

- My Rumble Channel (longer videos that won't show up on YouTube)

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 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!

Fan Art, Sponsorships, And Other Goals I Didn't Expect To Have When I Became An Author

For folks who aren't regular readers, I've wanted to be a professional writer basically since I was in 8th grade. It was the first time I wrote a short story that really affected someone (it was a found-journal style short about a giant crocodile in the Amazon where the author suggested the thing stalking them was more than just an animal, which was inspired by Robert R. McCammon's story Lizard Man), and the feeling was intoxicating. I decided I was going to try to recreate that, and so I started writing more short stories, as well as several novel attempts, and I took every creative writing class or assignment I could get my hands on.

Now, over a quarter of a century later, I've at least figured out how to reliably craft a good story. However, the older I've gotten, the more my personal goals for my career have changed. It's sort of caught me off-guard, as well, so I figured I'd take a moment and talk about it this week, since I feel like professional goals are something a lot of us don't really consider beyond, "Get my book published."

I wouldn't say no, but things like this have become less important to me over the years.

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!

When You Realize Your Goals Aren't Realistic

I'll admit, when I was young and had yet to even finish my first novel, I had dreams of becoming one of those Big Name (TM) authors. I wanted to be one of those people who made millions of dollars, whose name topped the bestseller lists, and who would have my work turned into hit movies and TV shows. In my mid-20s I expanded that out into having a shelf of awards in my house, showing off my brilliance.

Over time, most of these have sort of fallen by the wayside. Though I would still love to win a Stoker or an Ennie, those are more in the, "Well, it would be nice," category, rather than something I legitimately expect to happen.

Seriously, look at how goddamn NEAT this thing is!

The reason I've given up on so many of these goals I was once striving for is that the longer I've been an author, the more I recognize both how rare these kinds of successes are, and often how little they have to do with the things you're actually writing. I've said repeatedly on this very blog that making sales is a marketing success, and that in the end it's often divorced from the artistic quality of your book. And with every awards scandal that comes across my feed (I'm looking at you, Sad Puppies) the more it feels like awards winding up in the hands of truly deserving, talented creators is a fluke rather than the process working how it's supposed to.

In short, both the idea of becoming a Rich And Famous author, and a multi-award-winning author felt like I was standing out in a field and waving around a lightning rod. Yes, it's certainly possible that I'll catch lightning in a bottle, but it's also possible for me to win the lottery just by buying a single scratch ticket. In the end it sort of felt like striving to make those things happen was just setting myself up for disappointment, and not focusing on what I should be doing; writing the best books I could.

As a lot of folks out there know, nature abhors a vacuum. So while I didn't consciously choose new goals to replace the ones that I felt were too unrealistic, they showed up anyway. And while some of these still feel like long shots, I'm of the opinion they're more achievable than what I had before.

So What New Goals Made It Onto The List?

While I've more or less given up on the life of fame and fortune (it would be nice, but I'm trying to be realistic here), I do have a couple of goals that I think I could manage. Hopefully in the next 5-10 years, but if they take longer, well, it's not like I was going to stop writing, or something.

Let's not get ridiculous... I've been at this since I was 13. You don't put down a habit like that short of anything but the reaper.

Goal #1: Fan Creations

This is a goal I've technically achieved in a few small ways, but it's something I'd like to be able to do more of. The idea that something I made affected a reader of mine so strongly that they wanted to add their own creativity to what I've made, either through the form of writing their own stories, drawing art, or even painting minis styled after a character I made, is one of the sincerest forms of flattery I've ever received.

Perhaps the most notable thing I've seen folks be that excited about is, ironically, some of my own fan stories titled Waking Dogs and Broken Chains, which are about the trials of a renegade space marine in the Warhammer 40K setting. There are even audio versions of these tales, which still give me a chill to listen to, and I highly recommend checking them out (along with more of my work) on the YouTube channel A Vox in The Void.

Goal #2: Be A Convention Guest Of Honor

I've been to my share of conventions over the years, and while I still enjoy them, they're a lot different when you're there for work than when you're there to play around. And if I'm there I'm usually on panels, running games, holding down a table in the dealer's hall, and sometimes all of these things in a single day. However, it would be a feather in my cap to be invited to a convention as a guest of honor. Additionally, it would just be nice to be recognized for my achievements in that way, whether I'm there as an author, a gaming guest of honor, etc.

Of course, it would also be nice getting the perks that come along with such a position. Realistically, I expect I'll be able to manage this for a smaller, regional convention, but it would still be nice for it to happen at a bigger event if and when the opportunity arises.

 

Goal #3: Become An Institution

In the past I thought about essentially being a stand-alone writer who sold enough books that I could pay all my bills, buy a house, and just sort of live that celebrity lifestyle. However, like I said, I know exactly how rare that kind of success is for most people in my profession. But what I would like to do is to create projects that help keep me afloat financially, but which allow me to give work to other creative people in my circles.

This, for example.

I've had a few, smaller examples of this already. Sales of Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic, as well as any supplements that use Anonymous Katsodon's art ensure that part of the royalty payment goes right to her. Additionally, Isiah Burt has written two novellas for my fantasy RPG setting Sundara: Dawn of a New Age. Legacy of Flames is a story about a hulking lizardfold warrior, and his unusual mission in the Dragonsbreath Mountains, and Blight Bane's Gambit follows an orc mercenary company as they attempt to solve the riddles of a tricksy dragon in the woods beyond Hoardreach, the City of Wyrms.

Honestly, what I'd love to do is for something to get so large in terms of popularity and earnings potential that it allows me to start hiring people on as staff, or giving them positions are regular contributors, so that we can all share in the bounty. I'm not saying that I essentially want to get successful enough where I can form an LLC and give regular, reliable jobs to all my friends so we can work on our projects together while shielding each other from the roving wolves of capitalism... but yeah, I'd love to be able to do that.

On that note, I feel like the next project with that level of potential might be my Chronicles of Darkness audio drama, Windy City Shadows. If you haven't heard about it yet, check out the elevator pitch at Windy City Shadows, A Chronicles of Darkness Podcast Proposal, and take a look at the Ask Me Anything I put together for it a while back!

Goal #4: Get Sponsorship (And Maybe A Gift Or Two)

This is probably my shallowest, most selfish goal, but we've all got to have one or two of those. However, the idea that things I'm creating are so popular that a company decides that they need to butter me up in order to reach my audience by sending me a free trial of their service, and perhaps a cool present for me to keep in the background of my videos, is something that would be pretty nice, not going to lie.

Whether it's game books, a portable dice tower, an unusual display shelf, filming accessories (I'd love to have a green screen I could break down and store in my closet, as an example), or even something as seemingly random as a cool mini fridge (I like having drinks on hand for when I'm recording), it would just be a mark of pride for me that I was considered well-known, popular, or influential enough to make that happen.

The issue here, of course, is that sponsorship tends to come with a wide reach and a big audience. I don't really command one of those, but every little bit helps. So consider subscribing to the Azukail Games YouTube channel if you haven't yet, and help me keep climbing up that ladder so I can get myself noticed!

Support The Literary Mercenary

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

- My Facebook

- My LinkTree

- My Weekly Newsletter

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

- My Rumble Channel (longer videos that won't show up on YouTube)

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. 

Having Trouble With Your Villain? Write An "Am I The A**Hole?" Post In Their Voice!

Writing a good villain is hard. You need to decide if you want them to be relatable and human, or monstrous and terrifying. You need to balance them being a serious threat, with them not being so competent and powerful that your protagonist has no chance to defeat them. They need to be flawed, but also compelling. Understandable, but with an air of mystery and threat to them.

And that is not an easy thing to do.

However, this week I wanted to talk about a little trick you should consider if your villain is giving you trouble... consider writing an "Am I The Asshole?" style post in their voice to see if it helps you get a handle on them.

And, before we progress, a shout out and a thank you to Dara Williamson for suggesting this trick!

I've been brooding about this... guys... am I the asshole, here?

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!

No, Seriously Though... Am I?

So, I've got to come clean here, and I'd like honest input from people.

I had a rough childhood. I was raised by a single mother, and I had to get a job as soon as I was able to. Things were hard all around, so when a recruiter came around and offered me a deal that sounded too good to be true I took it without asking too many questions. I spent a lot of time on foreign soil with a weapon in my hand, and I lost a lot of myself there... literally, and metaphorically. But I also met a girl. Things got serious, and even though it was against protocol, she ended up pregnant. I swore to myself I was going to be there for her, and that I was going to do what my father couldn't. Everything went to hell, though, and I lost her, and my kids.

Or, at least, that's what I thought.

I dedicated myself to my position after I got the news that I'd lost them. I can't lie, I went to some dark places, but I told myself it was in the service of a greater good. That whatever the failings of my methods were, they were better than the alternative for everyone.

I recently found out that, despite what I'd been told, my children survived. Both of them had been placed in foster care, and neither of them knew about me, or their mother. I was enraged by that, but at the same time I knew I had a chance to do for them what hadn't been done for me. They didn't know me, but I wanted to open the door for them, and bring them into my life... but I didn't come right out and tell them who I really was. I admit I should have, but I ended up playing coy for far longer than I meant to. My son, who was as headstrong as I ever was, reacted quite negatively when I told him the truth, and offered him my hand. I admit, with my position being what it is, I haven't heard the word, "No," in a long time. I definitely overreacted, and we got physical. I injured him worse than he did me, and while I'm disgusted by what happened, I'm also so proud of what I saw. That fire in him, the courage he showed... it reminds me of better days.

I don't want this to be the only impression he has of me, and I don't want to make the same mistakes with my daughter that I'm making here with him. Other than keeping better control of my temper, and not cutting off my son's hand to win a light saber duel, what can I do here?

I get that I'm at least a little in the wrong, but at the same time I feel like this could still be salvaged if I could just make them see things from my side, you know?

I'm doing the best I can as a quadrapalegic war veteran.

For those of you who have never been to the subreddit r/AmITheAsshole, this is not an uncommon structure for these kinds of posts. You have someone who, from their perspective, seems to be taking reasonable actions. Sometimes they'll even make small admissions that they overstepped or overreacted, but they want it to seem like they're in the right. Or, in some rare circumstances, they're genuinely confused and trying to get outside opinions as to whether what they did was really wrong, or if the other party is blowing things out of proportion.

However, I chose such a well-known villain and story for my example to show something else that is particularly useful for this exercise; ask what your villain leaves out of their admissions. Not just that, but what do they leave out because they don't know, and what do they leave out because it would shape the narrative in a way they don't like. As an example, phrasing this story in a way that (if you don't know) implies that our poster came from a hardscrabble life and joined the military, was deployed overseas, developed psychological problems and likely lost limbs, is not inaccurate. It also lays the groundwork for what comes later. Someone who has survived that kind of life, and then thrown themselves into their position as an enforcer of the will of their empire, is not someone you could expect to act with kindness, empathy, and compassion. Those traits, which may or may not have once been present, have been buried, hidden, and rarely used, leading to conflict and trouble when they attempt to brute force their way through a messy, emotional matter like a family reunion.

What isn't mentioned is that our poster is a person with significant authority in a fascist regime. He doesn't mention that both his children hate that regime so much that they have been radicalized against him, and are working not just against him on a personal level, but against everything he represents. He also doesn't mention any of the murders he's committed, or those he hasn't prevented from being committed. Perhaps they aren't mentioned because they aren't germaine to this discussion. Perhaps it's because the villain is so jaded that he doesn't even register those deaths as people... it's not until presented with individuals who have a connection to him that they become real in his mind. Or it might be that he knows it would make him look bad, so he doesn't mention them, purposefully shifting the narrative to the conflicts between him and his children as individual misunderstandings, rather than matters of a galactic empire attempting to stifle the voices of its own citizens, and leading to a fometing rebellion.

If you've never tried doing this before, consider writing sample versions like the post above. As long as the character in question is capable of thought and written communication, you can write something like this for them. Jason Voorhees, Thanos, Horus Lupercal... pick a villain you know fairly well, and try to present their view of a situation in their own words. And if the exercise works for you, consider trying it with your own villains if you ever have difficulty truly realizing them on the page.

Also, if you're looking for a similar exercise for your other characters, consider Making A Dating Profile For Your Character (Seriously, It Helps).

Support The Literary Mercenary

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

- My Facebook

- My LinkTree

- My Weekly Newsletter

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

- My Rumble Channel (longer videos that won't show up on YouTube)

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 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!