I didn't realize until I was an adult that there's a significant portion of the reading public out there who will read the same books over and over again. This is not a habit I have, and while I will listen to a book more than once (if I like the voice actor), the reason for that was always because I needed something to fill the silence while I was cleaning, drawing, driving, or performing some other task. Devoting myself entirely to a text that stopped me from doing anything else while I was consuming it felt very strange to me if I already knew the story and where it was going, and what the ending was. Even today if I pick up a book I've forgotten about, I'll stop reading it as soon as I remember what the ending is, and how our protagonists get to it.
While re-reading favorite books is a fairly complex behavior, psychologically, as Men's Health points out, it's at least partially connected to comfort. It takes far more energy to consume new media rather than to simply put an old favorite movie or song on and follow the familiar beats, for example. It's also the sort of desire that leads to the consumption of fan fiction when someone runs out of the initial content from the original source.
So, with all that in mind, I think it's important for all of us writers to admit something. We're far more likely to succeed if we can give our readers a new story that feels like a story they already enjoy.
It tastes the same, but has a unique kick to it!
Before we get started, remember to sign up for my weekly newsletter if you want to stay on top of all my latest releases. If you want to help me keep the wheels turning and the lights on, consider becoming a Patreon patron. And lastly, to follow all my followables check out my Linktree!
Now then, let's get to it!
More of The Same, But Different!
If I had to pick a concern that a lot of writers and authors alike seem to have, it's worrying that their work is going to be too much like something that's already on the market. Someone writing a high fantasy trilogy may find that being compared to Tolkien puts a huge amount of pressure on their shoulders. Others may worry that their novel about a team of teenage superhumans is going to just be X-Men with a different color scheme. And I've seen some writers tie themselves in knots trying to find some way to avoid their stories about vampires being compared to everything from Dracula to The Strain.
So today I wanted to remind everyone out there of something very important; most readers aren't looking for some totally fresh, unique take. They're looking for something they already know, and already like, but presented in a way that might feel new to their palate.
Put a different way, there's always going to be those people who are looking to explore food in all its forms. A lot of people are going to want to try something new every now and again. But you're never going to go wrong with promising your audience a classic taste that they already know they like, even if your version of the burrito, cheeseburger, or pizza promises to have a zest that will make it their new favorite iteration of this staple.
Speaking of the same menu item prepared a hundred different ways...
As Alice Liddell points out, the entire romance genre (one of the most lucrative genres out there) is based on providing the same experience to readers in different ways. The ending is already something of a foregone conclusion, it's just the journey to get there. Anyone that's a fan of Warhammer 40,000 has seen how Games Workshop cannibalizes sci-fi and fantasy properties alike, ensuring that whether you want big stompy robots, heroic soldiers fighting alien wars, space wizards, or tech knights, they have covered every, possible base to appeal to an audience who loves everything from Alien and Terminator to Judge Dredd and Mechwarrior. There are dozens of Conan lookalikes slaying monsters and laying maidens in their pages, and probably hundreds of books that present new mysteries and adventures around Lovecraft's terrifying mythos.
It is a lot harder to sell a reader on something outside their experience or comfort zone than it is to get them to try a story that looks like something they already know and like. I say this both as someone who has sold books at cons and shows, as someone who's surveyed a lot of fellow authors, and as someone who's checked the buying habits of readers out there according to marketing data.
So, for all my fellow creators who are wringing their hands because they're worried people aren't going to like their book because it's too similar to this-or-that property in aesthetic, style, story beats, etc., just stop. As long as you've told a good story that's interesting to read, people are going to want it. Period.
Times are tight for everybody out there. With only so much money in the entertainment budget it feels like it's harder than ever to convince people to actually spend money on a book... especially if they aren't familiar with you and your work. And even if you have a big audience who enjoys what you make, they may not have particularly deep pockets to support you.
We've all got to eat, though. So this week I wanted to talk about why I make stuff that's freely available, and how you can still support me by consuming content you aren't paying for access to, but which can still help me keep my bills paid.
Got to keep the level bar going up, after all.
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. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron!
Lastly, to be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree!
How Me Giving You Free Stuff Can Pay My Bills
I want to start with a basic premise that all long-time readers are well aware of. I am a professional author. That is to say that while I enjoy the task of creating content (blog entries, articles, RPG supplements, novels, short stories, YouTube videos, etc.), and I like knowing there are people out there who find my content entertaining, useful, informative, etc., at the end of the day its primary purpose is to make sure my rent is paid and I have food on my table.
Or, as the song said, being a rock star is a fun job, but it's still a job.
Ahem.
So if the goal is to make money, why am I giving away so much content for free? How does putting in hours of work and promotion for a product no one has to pay for earn me money?
If you've ever wondered, I'll do my best to explain.
The first situation is where the content itself acts as a way to draw eyes and traffic to a website. For example, if someone read one of my Vocal articles like What's The Difference Between a Fetish and a Kink? (Linguistically Speaking), or perhaps What Does Cannibalism Do To Your Body? they wouldn't have to pay a single cent for that access. Vocal.media, the hosting site for this content, tracks my reads, and pays me as the creator a flat rate based on my traffic (which is about $6 per 1,000 reads, for those who are curious). I'm drawing traffic to them, and they pay me for that traffic, because they use their numbers to justify charging clients for ad space, sponsored content, etc.
This is not an uncommon way for creators of all types to fund their endeavors, and pay their bills, while ensuring their audience doesn't have to fork over cash for their content. It's the same as how radio stations sell air time for ads, or how TV had commercials way back when. Or YouTube, assuming you're a creator who has a big enough following and enough consumed hours for the platform to agree to monetize you.
Brief aside, it's 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours worth of watched content to reach that milestone. And if you'd like to take a second to help me out getting Azukail Games to that goal, subscribe to their channel so I can keep making content like my latest audio drama, The Duel!
This actually segues us into the second way that "free" content can end up making money for a creator. Because as I mentioned in With Drugs and Books, a Free Sample Can Go a Long Way (a post that, incidentally, has a laundry list of all my free content out there waiting for you!), it's hard to convince people to take a risk on creators they don't know. Free content allows you to build that bridge with your potential audience, and to give them a chance to sample your work to see whether or not you are, in fact, the sort of creator they'd be willing to spend money on when they have it.
For example, if someone isn't sure they'd like a full fantasy tabletop RPG setting designed by me, they can read my gaming blog Improved Initiative to see if my tastes and opinions about what makes a good game or setting align with their own. Someone might be in the market for a new sci-fi novel, but they may not want to just buy my book Old Soldiers sight unseen. However, if someone reads my short stories Field Test or Waking Dogs, which are both grim tales set in the Warhammer 40K universe, they might decide they like my style and they want to give my novel a try.
In this case, the free content gives the audience an idea of the sort of quality they can expect. Not only that, but it builds a relationship with someone so that they see you more favorably in the future. After all, even if someone doesn't personally know me, if they've read my blog, watched my videos, or consumed my free stories for a while, they might start ranking me higher in their mind as an artist they want to follow and support. So when they do have a bit of discretionary spending money they decide to order a copy of one of my books, be it a novel, and RPG supplement, or something else that does have a price tag attached to it.
Creators Need Your Support To Fight The Algorithm
Creators need support. A lot of people read that as, "Creators need your money," but they aren't actually the same statement. By all means, I would love if everyone who read this became my Patreon patron or just gave me a tip by buying me a Ko-Fi, but support comes in a lot of different ways... some of them are even free!
You see, most of a creator's reach depends on the algorithm, and on popularity. The algorithm favors creators who have the most followers, and who have the most interactions. A Twitter page with a million followers gets boosted all over the site when they make a post, while one with a thousand followers gets ignored. So just by going to a creator's social media pages and liking or subscribing to them (such as my Facebook, Twitter, or even Tumblr if that's your jam), you are helping increase their visibility. It takes thousands of people to really make a difference this way, but big crowds are made up of individuals.
And if that was literally all you did, that would still help.
However, you could also use your own social media presence and actions to boost creators' signals. If the share something you like, react to it, share it, and leave a comment that's at least 5 words long. Post it in a group or on a forum you're a member of. Tell people about it! Because when we try to boost the signal ourselves, we often get ignored or shouted down. In some circumstances we just get outright banned. But you are not the creator. You had nothing to do with generating the content, you're just sharing it to the community because you think it's good, and you want other people to see it.
I cannot overstate how much that organic, word-of-mouth attention helps creators. Because it's something we cannot generate, and it can be the spark that starts a wildfire of attention on our work.
So if you have a creator out there that you want to support, buy their stuff, give them money, etc. But if you can't afford to do that, and you still want to help, use some of these methods. It may not feel as important as cutting a check, but it still makes an impact at the end of the day.
Most of us think we have a pretty decent grasp on how a story works. We understand character and description, goals and motivations, tropes and world building... but something we often don't think about very much is conflict. Which can be a problem, because conflict is the central part of basically any story. Without it you just have a bunch of people standing around for no particular reason.
And since I've come across my share of stories that didn't seem to have any conflicts, or had ones whose conflicts felt flat and empty, I wanted to take some time to talk about this topic.
Seems basic. But that's why it's important.
Before we get started, remember to sign up for my weekly newsletter if you want to stay on top of all my latest releases. If you want to help me keep the wheels turning and the lights on, consider becoming a Patreon patron. And lastly, to follow all my followables check out my Linktree!
Now then, let's get to it!
Tip #1: Make Sure It's Clearly Defined
Brevity is the soul of wit, as they say. Even if your story is a huge, sprawling affair you should be able to summarize your conflict succinctly. This both shows that you understand the nature of it, and it can help you generate a solid elevator pitch when you need to sell someone on your story.
Old Soldiers is the longest novel I've ever had published, weighing in at close to 100k words. The central conflict of it is pretty damn straightforward, though. "After surviving an assassination attempt a de-commissioned supersoldier re-activates his old squad, and uncovers the conspiracy that targeted them in order to yank it out by the roots."
While there are a lot of twists and turns in this book, and it takes its sweet time building relationships, laying out the world, and unveiling the mystery, that's the central conflict; a race against time, and unknown assassins, to uncover why it is they're trying to kill our protagonists.
Tip #2: Ensure It's Immediate
Folks often say your conflict should be interesting, but interesting is subject to taste. However, if a conflict has immediacy then it is something that is actively going on in your story. It's not a background element, or something that could simply be sidestepped; it's an oncoming train.
You can't just walk away. Not in these alleys.
The plot of Painted Cats, for those who haven't checked out the second novel in the Hard-Boiled Cat series, is Leo is trying to find a friend of an old flame that's gone missing. One of the main conflicts of the story, though, is that a lot of street beasts are going to an inordinate amount of trouble to steal a kitten named Trouble, who happens to be the missing cat's kitten. Trouble is under Leo's protection, so we have alley scratchers, bruisers, and back biters all coming out of the alleys trying to take Trouble away, which only complicates Leo's attempts to find out where the kitten's mother went.
Think of a conflict like a thrown punch; when it's rocketing at your face, you're paying attention to it.
Tip #3: Assign Stakes To The Conflict
Conflicts come in an infinite variety of shapes and sizes. With that said, a conflict needs to have understandable stakes underwriting it so that your audience can get a sense of why it matters. Because even if a conflict is immediate, one without stakes is going to just slap like a fat drop of rain instead of hitting you like a truck.
Time's running out in the north country.
The plot of my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife is that Dirk Crier is dispatched by his witch grandmother to retrieve his cousin. The boy wandered afield, and is in over his head. The stakes, though, are set up right in the introduction to the book, where we see his cousin Teller trying desperately to escape from a cult that has taken him captive. He's recaptured by the end of the prologue, and we the audience know that if he isn't dead yet, he's got an extremely limited amount of time before he will be.
Stakes is what makes the conflict matter. Because if there's no real negative that comes with the lose condition, then who cares how it turns out? But if the protagonist loses someone they care about, has to leave their home, or might lose their life, these are stakes that add serious weight to the conflict... what was a trapeze act is now being performed without a net!
Crisp, Clear Conflicts Work Best
Conflicts often drive the plot in convoluted ways, and depending on the story may force characters to make hard choices, or to come up with intricate strategies in order to come out on top. However, the conflict itself should be easy for the audience to grasp.
Think of conflict like a fight scene in a movie. You want the audience to be focused on the action you want them to see, and no matter how involved the maneuvers on display, you want it to be easy to witness. Shaky cam, in this case, is the equivalent of a shaky storyline that can leave your reader confused and disoriented about what's happening, and why. And just like a fight scene in a film a conflict can have clear winners and losers, it can be left ambiguous, or it might remain unresolved for a time as the forces clash again and again to determine who is the ultimate winner.
Just something to think about for your next story.
What got me thinking about this, though, is that's literally how all product marketing works. While our sneakers, fast food, and lip balm may not be physically addictive the way hard drugs are, the same marketing tactic often aims to create that kind of customer loyalty. It's why so many companies give out those little snack boxes, tee shirts, and travel-sized trial samples of their products. It costs them money in the short-term, but it also gets that product into the hands of people who may never have tried it in the first place, and who now want more of it.
If you tell stories for a living, this can be a way to help build your readership. "Can" being the operative word.
Don't worry... first one's always free!
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. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron!
Lastly, to be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree!
There's Still Other Obstacles To Overcome
On the surface, this seems like a simple enough proposal, right? You either hold a giveaway of one of your books, or you create a story that's expressly offered for free as a way to get readers' interest in the hopes they'll actually buy more of your books once they've had their free trial.
And in theory, it is that simple. In practice... not so much.
Just go for it! The jump isn't THAT far...
Price is just one reason people aren't reading your work, and in some instances it isn't even the biggest reason. If you don't have a huge following of people subscribed to your social media channels and boosting your work, then the algorithm may be strangling your signal so that no one actually hears you. You might be writing in a genre folks aren't a huge fan of, or your elevator pitch might need some work. Some people may not like reading electronically, while others are looking more for audio so they can listen to your stories while doing something else. Maybe your samples are decentralized, making them difficult for folks to find more of even if they liked one of them.
The list is legion, and it's daunting as hell.
However, as I so often tell people, you can't win the game if you don't roll the dice. While free samples may not be the perfect solution for building your audience and brand, they can make for enticing bait when you're fishing for new readers. So don't depend on them alone to get people interested, but at the same time, remember there are folks out there who will become supporters because you gave them that "no strings attached" taste of what you can do.
And remember, stories aren't like chocolate chip cookies or loaves of bread; they don't have a shelf life. So just because you gave them out once, that doesn't mean you can't hand them out over and over again until you reach the people you need to.
Speaking of Free Samples...
If you made it this far, and you're one of those people who enjoys trying a bunch of different flavors any time you're at an ice cream parlor, I've got a treat for you. I've put out a lot of free stories over the past few years, and I thought that since this was my topic for the week that I'd collect and categorize them for folks who are looking for something to kill a bit of time with.
For those who enjoy these tales, I have full books on the market as well! However, even if you don't have the money for making purchases right now, sharing the stuff you like on your social media channels so that it gets more attention is also a big help (especially for the audio, since I'm still trying to build that YouTube audience). So make sure you follow my social media pages linked at the end of this post, and subscribe to any channels whose content you enjoy!
Now, without further ado...
Pathfinder Tales
Folks who've been following my work for a while know that one of my earliest publications in the RPG world wasn't actually for game mechanics; it was the short story The Irregulars which was part of the Pathfinder Tales series by Paizo. To recapture some of that high-fantasy fun, I thought I'd do something similar and write a pulpy series of shorts following my current game group's run through the Hell's Rebels adventure path.
The city of Kintargo is under the bootheel of Barzillai Thrune, who has brought the iron fist of the hellknights of the Order of The Rack to quash any independent ideas running through the populace. This hardline stance, though, has inspired a ragtag group of revolutionaries who want to break Thrune's hold on their city. In their search they've found references to a group that's been all but scrubbed from the history books... the Silver Ravens! Adopting their name and mantle, these revolutionaries set about trying to free their city. Thrune won't let go without a fight, however, and then there's wild cards in the deck... like the mysterious Ghost of Old Kintargo who appears when the Silver Ravens need his aid, and then vanishes just as suddenly!
I am a long-time World of Darkness/Chronicles of Darkness fan, and I find the setting absolutely fascinating in a lot of ways. It's why I've released a good deal of content for players and Storytellers, including my 100 Kinfolk Project Bundle for Werewolf: The Apocalypse, along with supplements like 100 Resources and Rumors to Find on SchreckNet for Vampire: the Masquerade and Buyer Beware: 10 Goblin Markets for Changeling: the Lost. However, mixed in with these supplements I've been testing the waters with short fiction pieces as well.
For example, if werewolves are your thing, then you should check out Tales From The Moot. And if you're not sure this is an anthology you really want to spend a couple bucks on, you can read the introduction story for free! It's by yours truly, and it sort of establishes the framing device for the book going forward.
Or if you're a fan of audio dramas and short fiction, then you should check out this little piece about a Nosferatu trying to make contact with a fellow lurker, taken from the SchreckNet collection above.
Or for those who prefer their skullduggery to have a faerie flavor, you could follow along with this story as a Winter Court handler meets with one of his field agents after dealing with enemy operatives, taken from 100 Mourning Cant Dialects, Phrases, and Meanings.
The most recent piece we have, which I titled "Hedge Caller," is also up now. The first in a series of small adventures featuring the Hedge guide Jacoby, it gives us a little insight to the bizarre things that can happen in the Hedge.
As mentioned above, make sure you subscribe to the Azukail Games YouTube channel if you like these, and want me to keep doing them! The publisher pays attention to numbers, and the more subscribers and views I bring in, the more of these I can make, and the more involved they'll be able to get.
Warhammer 40,000
In case my love of grim, dark things didn't give it away, I'm a fan of the Warhammer 40,000 setting. I find its sprawling nature fascinating, and the sheer amount of potential it offers intriguing. And it was out of a desire to add a few drops of my own to the bucket that I wrote a couple of tales set out in the blackness of the far future.
- Waking Dogs: A World Eaters Tale: On a lost and unimportant battlefield, one of the infamous World Eaters space marines stares around him. Amidst the blood and carnage, he remembers a time when he had a greater purpose. When all the violence meant something. In that moment a sea change happens within Crixus, and the War Hound aims to remind his erstwhile allies that this old dog still has his share of tricks.
- Field Test: When Inquisitor Hargrave came to New Canaan days before an ork rock was going to hit, she promised them a weapon that would wipe out the greenskins. Caught up in the fury of movement and preparation, all the people on the world looked to the skies... but the inquisitor's weapon was right there, moving among them and ready to be unleashed with a single command.
Now, while I would ask everyone interested in these tales please read the text versions linked above (and share them to help me get eyes on the stories), as I said above I know that digital reading isn't everyone's cup of tea. Which is why I wanted to let folks know that the very talented A Vox in The Void has done dramatic readings of these stories. So check out both versions, see which ones you like better, and subscribe to his channel while you're there!
My Novels and Independent Short Stories
In addition to tinkering in existing worlds and universes, I also create quite a lot of independent, original content. I've got several novels on the market, all of which have pretty generous free samples to help you decide if this is the kind of book you want to dedicate your time, energy, and wallet to. And I've also got some free short stories that you can take a peek at, as well!
- The Rejects: A collection of short stories that always wound up as bridesmaids but never brides, I decided it was time to give them a home of their own. The first story in the collection, Dressing The Flesh, is a tale about a homeless kid on the streets of Chicago trying to find a missing friend after a blizzard. He winds up in the teeth of a monster worse than the storm outside, but Ace still has a card up his sleeve.
This story was also read by yours truly at the start of the pandemic, so take a listen if that's your preferred medium!
- Crier's Knife: A sword and sorcery novel, when Dirk Crier's cousin goes missing, it's his job to track the boy down and haul him home again. If he's alive, so much the better, but if he's not then Dirk aims to be certain he has plenty of company on the dead man's cart.
- Old Solders: The Myrmidon were made during the war with the Hyperion that reduced the Earth to a polluted, subterranean wasteland. They helped win the conflict, but now Pollux wanders through this city like a ghost, unsure of where he belongs in a world that no longer needs him. Trying to build a life, and to grapple with the demons that live in his head, he's starting to get his feet under him again. When an assassination attempt fails, though, he rounds up what's left of his old squad, and opens the caches they stashed just in case... whoever was behind this is going to learn they should have just let these old soldiers fade away.
- Marked Territory and Painted Cats: Leo is a Maine Coon bruiser who likes to keep his nose out of other people's business... but problems just keep washing up on his doorstep. From helping out a church mouse on the south side and uncovering a turf war that makes no sense, to helping track down a missing cat for an old flame, Leo just can't stay away from old friends, and new enemies.
