Don't Make The Mistake of Equating Popularity With Quality

Before we get into the meat of this week's update, I want to be clear that this is not about bashing popular fiction, or declaring that just because something has a diehard following that it's inherently of lesser quality. People are free to like what they like, and to enjoy what they enjoy, as long as they aren't hurting anyone. However, as authors we often equate earnings and popularity with our worth and skill as creators... and I think it's important to regularly remind ourselves that just isn't the case.

Your books mean nothing, I've seen what you cheer.

As usual, before we get into it 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!

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Being Skilled and Being Famous Aren't The Same Thing

There is a question almost every author out there has asked themselves at some point in their career, and while it's usually a rhetorical question, it's one that I feel we should look at, and try to answer.

"Why is that author being paid hundreds of thousands of dollars, and being read by millions of fans, but I'm not?"

Because there are all kinds of answers to this question.

A lot of authors will ask themselves this, and begin to fill in the blanks with their own perceived failings. Their story isn't good enough, their writing is flawed, their characters are derivative, and so on, and so forth.

And while that might be true, it's important to remember that it isn't necessarily the reason. After all, there are a lot of hacky stories, cliched characters, and predictable prose that's made its way onto the bestseller list over the years. And even if your writing isn't perfect, that doesn't mean it isn't entertaining, and that it doesn't speak to the hearts of your readers. No, what is more likely is that you haven't found your audience. The problem is that there's only so much you can do about that, and the deck is stacked against you.

Let me give you an example.

This is an audio adaptation of my short story Field Test from the YouTube channel A Vox in The Void. The story itself has just over 200 some odd reads in its original, text form, but if you check the view count on the YouTube channel it has 65,000 listens and counting!

That disparity is a perfect example of what I'm talking about this week.

While I wrote the original text of the story, I have maybe a couple dozen hardcore followers, and at best a hundred or so casual readers beyond that. A Vox in The Void, at time of writing, has over 43,000 subscribers, and it's growing every day. So the channel has a bigger platform, draws a bigger crowd, and presents a format that people can listen to while painting minis, cleaning the house, or doing other tasks that are impossible to do when reading. There's also the matter of that channel's name carrying more weight with the community, and feeling more legitimate to a lot of folks, who despite listening to the story may still have no idea who I am.

And, you know, the presentation is beautiful. That helps, too.

Why didn't I draw 65,000 reads when I first posted the story? Well, I don't have that kind of a fan base. Vocal, as a platform, doesn't draw the kind of audience a popular YouTuber can. The algorithm is more likely to draw eyes to said YouTube channel than it is to bring readers to the text version I posted. There's the name and brand recognition that I lack. The list goes on and on.

So the next time you start getting down on your work and questioning whether you're really good enough to do this, I want you to take a moment and think about all the famous people you've heard stories about that claim they got their big break from someone who opened a door for them. Whether it was Stephen King turning his audience on to the works of Clive Barker just as he was about to fade into obscurity, Dolph Lundgren getting early acting gigs through his association with Grace Jones, or anyone else who has had to seize opportunities as they come, remember, none of us are self-made successes.

Write the best stories you can, and work hard to master your craft. But remember that if you don't have a marketing budget measured in the thousands, a huge audience that means the algorithms automatically promote you, and a name big enough to get you radio, podcast, and talk show spots, people aren't going to psychically know that you wrote an amazing story that they've yet to discover.

I Could Also Use A Little Help (If You Can Spare It)

If you made it this far, and you'd like to help an author who's fighting the algorithm every day, please consider doing the following:

- Follow My Facebook

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Also, if you're interested in even more free fiction, gaming articles, weird history, and more go give my Vocal archive a browse. It's got 263 entries at time of writing, and each read helps me earn a little bit of cash to pay my bills.

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 sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife, or my most recent short story collection The Rejects!

 

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