A Lot of My Content is Free (But I Could Still Use Your Support)

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.

Like, Follow, and Stay Tuned!

That's all for this week's Business of Writing!

If you'd like to see more of my work, take a look at my Vocal archive, or at My Amazon Author Page where you can find books like my noir thriller Marked Territory, its sequel Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife as well as my recent collection The Rejects!

If you'd like to help support my work, then consider Buying Me A Ko-Fi, or heading over to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page! Lastly, to keep up with my latest, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now on Pinterest as well!