Independent Creators Are Small Businesses (And Need The Same Kind of Support)

We all have that one local business everyone knows about, but no one ever seems to go to. Maybe it's that cafe on the side street, or the breakfast restaurant just off the square, or that secondhand bookstore that's been there as long as you can remember. While most of us know about these places, not a lot of us actually go to them. Not even once. We see them in passing and think to ourselves, "You know, one of these days I've got to go in there and check out what they've got to offer."

Most of the time, though, we never do. Then one day we're at a stop light, or waiting to cross the street, and we see that business shuttered up for good. And many of us think the same thing when that happens. "Damn... now I guess I'll never get to try them out."

Independent artists of all stripes are small businesses... and just like those bookstores, cafes, and breakfast joints, we need people to at least walk in the door to take a look around so that we don't have to close our doors.

Because we literally need you, or we will have to close up.

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!

Local Businesses Can't Survive Without Support

All of us have seen this happen to businesses in our communities. From game stores to bookstores, from cafes to restaurants, businesses have shuttered their doors and disappeared from the local area. And every single one of them did this for the same reason; because they didn't make enough money to stay open. Maybe there were extenuating circumstances, but at the end of the day the root cause was the business wasn't making enough money to keep going, so it had to stop.

This seems obvious, but it often gets lost in these discussions, so I'm going to reiterate this point. Businesses close because they aren't bringing in enough money. I think that all of us can agree on this point, because if a business continues to turn profits, then it's usually going to at least maintain, if not grow.

Follow me on this, I AM going somewhere...

Businesses need customers, and generally they get those customers through a lot of different strategies. They might:

- Use advertising.

- Offer sample products or deals.

- Host themed events to entice people.

- Offer a unique, quality product.

- Engage online using social media, blogs, and videos.

At the end of the day, though, it doesn't really matter what the business does or doesn't do; it matters if people spend their money there. People who come in and buy things keep the business running, regardless of what the business chose to do or not do. A business can cut their prices to the bone, engage on social media all day, make fun videos about their store, and host raffles and giveaways to customers... if no one buys anything from them, it doesn't matter. And if it doesn't matter long enough, the business closes up, and blows away. That's the life cycle of commerce.

You May Have No Idea What You're Missing

Inevitably when I start talking about the life cycle of business, and pointing out that independent creators are small businesses, there's a slew of people who get defensive on the subject. Some of the most common remarks include:

- "I don't have to buy anything I don't want."

- "No one is entitled to my business!"

- "If they offered a better product, maybe I'd go to them instead."

The list goes on, and I'm not digging through my social media history to find all the examples. However, I feel like a lot of folks who comment on this issue are leaping ahead, or responding to things I did not say. So, I want to step back, and return to the point I reiterated.

Artists cannot survive, and keep making art, if they do not get support from an audience. This is just a simple statement of fact. Whether it's an audience who buys a certain number of books, or who watches a creator's videos, or who listens to their podcasts, or who buys their merch, the source of an artist's income is their audience. Period, full stop.

If no one buys, it doesn't matter what you make.

To be clear, here, you are not personally obligated to be a part of that audience if you don't want to be. You don't have to read anyone's books, watch anyone's YouTube channel, listen to anyone's podcast, or follow anyone on social media if you don't want to. No one is sitting here demanding that you immediately open your wallet, and spend all your time signal boosting the profile of independent creators, and to act like that's what's being said in this conversation is disingenuous.

The only point I want to make (and which I've made repeatedly on this blog) is that consumers need to realize how much power they have when it comes to whether or not independent creators are successful, and what directions their art takes going forward. More than that, though, it's important to remember that all of us are small businesses... and unless you've checked us out, you don't actually know whether you want to support us or not.

That's the message I wanted to deliver this week. Not that you are personally obligated to help me and every other indie creator out there. Not that you owe us anything. I don't want to give anyone The Hard Sell with a side of Guilt Trip.

All I'm saying is to maybe come inside, and have a look around. See whether our work is actually something you want to see more of, and if we as creators are people you want to encourage.

Don't go too crazy. For example, if you see a book that looks cool, read the preview (you can usually get the first chapter or so for free). If an author has free work, like the cyberpunk audio drama above which I made for the Azukail Games YouTube channel, or my Weird War II tale Where The Red Flowers Bloom about a Japanese force dealing with a terrible curse on a Pacific island, check those things out to see if they're to your taste. Maybe read some reviews of their work, or check out their social media posts to see if they're the kind of creator you can jive with.

Think of it like checking out any other local business. If you walk into that weird little cafe, and you dig the vibe, then you should take a look at the menu and see what they've got to offer. If the prices are too high, or the food and drinks are not really to your taste, you aren't obligated to buy anything. If you go into that little thrift store, but most of what you find are knicknacks and clothes that aren't in your size, you don't have to make a purchase that day. If you're lactose intolerant, then maybe the local ice cream parlor isn't going to have something that really fits with your needs... but who knows, maybe they will?

The same is true for independent creators and their potential customers. If you're not into tabletop roleplaying games, or you don't like your games to have their tongues firmly in their cheeks, then you probably won't enjoy my RPG Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic. If you don't like sword and sorcery novels with a rough country edge to them, then Crier's Knife probably isn't for you. If you don't like short fiction, then The Rejects probably isn't something you'll enjoy. And even if you like any of those things in concept, it's possible that when you check them out in more detail that you won't really be sold on the idea.

That's fine.

I'm not demanding that you use the power of your purse, and your social media signal, to immediately support all of us, anymore than I'm telling you to go out tomorrow and patronize every local business in your town. However, I would like it if more people who noticed a small business (or a creator they've seen around) decided to actually check them out instead of saying, "One of these days I'll have to see what that place is all about."

Just take a moment, and check us out. Maybe you won't care for our work, or it just won't do anything for you. Maybe you like the vibe, and you subscribe to our newsletter or follow us to see what comes out next. Or maybe it turns out that our work is the new thing you've been searching for, and you can't believe you were sleeping on us this whole time!

I'm not telling anyone to support businesses or creators they don't like. All I'm saying is actually find out whether you like someone before making the decision to support or not support their work.

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. 

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!

Don't Wait Until A Series Is Done To Check Out The Books

There is a common attitude among readers (and particularly readers of sci fi and fantasy) that if an author is writing a series that they aren't going to get into it until that series is over and done. They want to be sure that the author isn't going to die halfway through, or that the series isn't going to peter out before they get invested in it. And while that is a fair point, I want to address something that's extremely harmful about this attitude toward these specific projects, as well as the profession in general.

Because if the author can't eat because no one is buying the series, then they aren't going to be able to continue said series, and all the misgivings end up becoming self-fulfilling prophecies.

Something to keep in mind.

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!

Authors Can't Do What We Do Without Audience Support

On the one hand, I very much see where readers come from on this issue. Because if you're the sort of person who likes to read series, then you like to really get invested in the story. So if there's only one or two books out, you might not feel like you're really on solid ground just yet. Even if the early entries are good, you don't want to jump in with both feet and get really into this world and these characters only for an author to leave the series on a cliffhanger, or for a publisher to decide future installments aren't worth publishing.

And this could happen all on its own. However, lack of participation practically guarantees the series will die before it really gets a chance to live.

For those who were curious.

This is the way the process goes. An author decides they want to write a series. They finish the first novel. That novel is published, either traditionally or through a self-publishing platform of some variety. The author is, essentially, giving the audience a sample of the story. They're saying, "This is the story I want to tell. If it's a story you all want to see more of, then I have more to tell you!"

Under ideal circumstances, this first book will get the audience's attention, and enough people will buy copies that the publisher considers it a success, and greenlights the next book in the series. The author will then get to work on the next book, using the earnings from the first one to help pay bills and stay afloat long enough to tell more of the story. This process then rinses and repeats until one of two things happens; the author runs out of story, or the sales peter off to the point that the publisher no longer considers it a valid investment.

The problem with folks who are, "Waiting until it's done to get into it," is that you're actively denying a series and its creator the oxygen they need to actually finish the project in the first place.

As a good example, consider my Hardboiled Cat series linked in the pics above. I've got a dozen more stories I'd love to tell about Leo and the other street beasts of his setting, as well as a whole spinoff series about the kitten Trouble when he grows up to become a streetwise stray in his own right. However, I'm not writing those right now because I literally cannot afford to. I sell a few copies online every quarter, and move a couple more at conventions, but overall these novels can take as much as a year of effort to write, and they just don't move the numbers for me to justify adding to this series, even though I'm very certain my publisher would happily take more books about the rough, brutal lives of this hard-nosed Maine Coon heavy.

However, if these books suddenly moved a couple hundred copies each? Or a couple thousand because someone on BookTok gave me a shoutout, or an influential furry told their fans how much they loved my novels? I would have a fresh notebook out and the plot of book three figured out down to the chapter by end-of-day tomorrow.

Authors Need Support Or We (And Our Projects) Die

I've said it dozens of times before, but audience engagement is literally what decides whether creators live or die, and whether our projects succeed or fail. It's not just novels, either. Everything from YouTube videos, to podcasts, to comic books depends on the audience turning up for installment after installment, giving us your eyes, your ears, and your approval. Whether that comes in the form of purchases, watch/listen hours, or straight up Patreon donations, your engagement directly translates into the money that we use to pay our bills, and keep telling our stories.

And if you don't provide that support until we reach the end... well, that makes it that much more likely we won't be able to afford to reach the end.

Now, that's not to say that you must support every creator out there who is writing a series, or that you owe anyone your purchasing power, your reviews, your engagement, etc. However, if a series has caught your interest, whether it's on Netflix, Spotify, YouTube, or it's good, old-fashioned print books, don't sit on it and wait. Authors and publishers alike judge whether a creative endeavor is worth pursuing further based on the reaction of the public, and the money it's making. So if something looks interesting, but there's only a few installments out, go check them out and see if you like it! If you don't, well, now you don't have to worry about it anymore. But if you do like it, and you do want it to keep going so you can see how things turn out, now you know this is worth putting in your efforts.

Yes, you might end up with a George R.R. Martin scenario where you're waiting for years on end for him to finish the damn series. But you know something? At least you know Martin didn't give up on writing it because it wasn't making money, and since no one seemed interested he moved on to another project, or had to go back to a job doing something else to keep the lights on.

Speaking of Series and Support...

While I'm on the subject of series and audience support, there's a project I proposed about a year ago that I've been trying to get off the ground. It's a dark modern fantasy audio drama series set in the Chronicles of Darkness that I've tentatively titled Windy City Shadows, the first season of which can best be described as fairy tale John Wick set in modern day Chicago.

If that sounds like something you'd be keen to check out, then you can get the details in Windy City Shadows: A Chronicles of Darkness Podcast Proposal, or watch the video I made on the subject a while back!

The short version is that, while the show would be a podcast available on a variety of platforms, one of those platforms will be on the Azukail Games YouTube channel... and before we start in on it, we need to get that channel monetized! So if you want to see this idea come to fruition, help us reach that first goal by subscribing to the channel, as well as watching and sharing our videos so we can get the final 500 and change hours we need for YouTube to agree to share ad revenue with us!

Because once we cross that goal, that's when I can start revving the engine on this bigger, more involved project... and I'd love it if all of you out there could join me!

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. 

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!

The Balance Between The Dramatic and The Believable

There is a weird phenomenon I've come across when average, workaday folks find out that I'm an author. After we get through the usual, "Oh, that must be so interesting!" and "That sounds so exciting!" certain folks will get a gleam in their eyes. That gleam is almost always followed by some variation of the following statement:

You know, you should let me tell you some stories! I bet my life would make a great basis for a book.

I mention this for two reasons. First is to ask anyone who wasn't an undercover operative for the ATF, or an intelligence asset going on dangerous missions, to please stop asking writers to grant you a touch of immortality. But second, and more germaine to this week's topic, is that stories we tell are supposed to be dramatic, tense, and exciting in order to keep our audience hooked. While you need to have internal consistency in your story, you also don't want 200 pages of someone going to work, coming home, doomscrolling on their phone, and then going back to work again.

Unless your commute is off-roading away from gunships, that's not what we're here for.

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!

Are You Not Entertained?!

A while back, in my blog "Why Don't They Call The Cops?" A Question You Always Need To Answer, I provided a short, simple explanation from Alfred Hitchcock on this matter. In the immortal director's words, "It's boring."

We can apply this same logic to so many of our tropes and criticisms of fiction out there that may seem trite, played out, or tiresome. For example, why do we leave James Bond in the clutches of some intricate death trap instead of just shooting him in the head and being done with it? Well, for one thing, we'd lose our protagonist, but it's also boring. Why don't Romeo and Juliet arrange a talk with their families to settle the ongoing dispute so they can be together without pressure and strife? First of all, they're stupid teenagers (which is kind of the whole point of the story), but also because that would be boring. Why doesn't Holmes explain the entire mystery as soon as he deduces the relevant details from the crime scene? Firstly, because all his stories would be three pages long, and secondly because that would be boring!

You may be seeing a pattern, here.

The key with your story is to find that intersection between something that is exciting, but which doesn't challenge the internal consistency of your story (something which is, and I hate to use this word, believable). As an example, take a plot where the protagonist needs to come up with a large, fixed amount of money in a short period of time. Maybe they have to pay for an operation, or they're going to lose their house, or there are a bunch of leg breakers who are going to smash up their knees over a mob loan... whatever it is, there's a definite obstacle that needs to be overcome.

Now, it is believable that this person would contact not-for-profit organizations that help in this specific area to cover some of the cost? That they would host a GoFundMe, or some other kind of fundraiser? Maybe that they'd cash in some life insurance early, get a loan from a bank, or sell off other things of value to raise that money? They might even take that job offer for a position they hate just to get the cash to keep living? Sure, that's more believable. But consider how much more dramatic it would be for the character to enter a sports tournament where they're the underdog, to get involved in an underground poker game, to plot to kill a rich family member who has left a large estate to them in their will, or to pull a bank job with their old crew.

Your job, as the author, is to make that exciting answer (whichever one it is that you choose) seem believable to your audience.

For example, perhaps your protagonist did reach out to local charities, or try to run a fundraiser to handle this issue. Maybe they have reached out to friends and family, or to their job, but they can't get the help they need from the network they have access to. So with the "normal" options exhausted, they have to do something more dramatic to get the results they need, and that is where our story takes place. It's still exciting and dramatic, filled with all the complications that come with a high-stakes answer to a high-stakes problem, and we can read on knowing that those more pedestrian solutions have been explained away, allowing us to really enjoy this version of the story.

It's also important to remember that something doesn't have to be high-stakes to be dramatic. The solution to a simple teenage relationship problem can often be dramatic, whether we're talking about Twilight or we're going back to Shakespeare, even if it isn't high stakes in and of itself. Stories about a personal vendetta between two people may not be high stakes, but if we're invested that is all that matters. And part of what gets people invested is that the story is how exciting it is! Whether it's a meet-cute at a cafe, a man getting involved in the underground cage fighting circuit, or just some guy getting kidnapped by the cartel due to a case of mistaken identity, that drama gets people to keep turning the pages.

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!

A Shout Out For "Joy On Paper Live!" (Author Interviews With PatZi)

Long-time readers (or even short-term ones) have likely heard me lament about how difficult it is to get any kind of visibility when you're an author. Generally speaking, unless you are part of a bigger publisher who has the money and connections to buy ads and get you onto podcasts/TV/radio shows for interviews then you're relying on word of mouth, social media, and the sheer luck of the draw. Which might sound romantic, but in practice it's frustrating as all hell.

Which is why I wanted to give a shout out this week to Patzi Gil, and her attempts to help all of us rise above the noise with her show Joy on Paper Live! which is now on YouTube!

And if you haven't tuned in yet, you definitely should!

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!

The Saga of Joy on Paper, And How You Can Help!

For those who haven't come across the show before, Joy on Paper started off as a radio program out of Sarasota, Florida hosted by PatZi Gil. She would have on a variety of authors, ranging from the very well known with folks like Clive Cussler, to independent authors and unknowns... which is how I found my way onto the program! PatZi first had me on as a guest several years ago, before most of my current novels were on the market. And it was actually this very blog that first caught her attention, and it's the reason she invited me on.

Which is why I wanted to take a moment, and help her in her current endeavor!

PatZi has been in the game for a long time, but this year she stepped away from running her program for the radio station, and she's now trying to make it on YouTube! However, as anyone who's been following my own struggle on the platform as I try to get the Azukail Games YouTube channel monetized, you know that PatZi is definitely struggling with an uphill battle.

While I outlined the changes to YouTube's platform in the video above, the short version is that you need to have 500 subscribers to your channel, and at least 3,000 hours of watched content in a 365-day span before YouTube agrees to share the ad revenue with you. Until you manage to do that, the only person making any money off of your content is them! Unfortunately, at time of writing, PatZi only has 52 subscribers on the channel, and none of the current interview streams have even broken 100 views... which is saying something, given there's no small amount of name recognition for some of the guests she's had on!

So I wanted to ask folks who read my blog to take a moment, go subscribe to Joy on Paper Live!, watch some of the interviews, and while you're there leave an upvote and a comment! PatZi has a great ability to find authors who deserve a little time in the spotlight, and she's doing her best to bring them to all of our collective attention... but you know what they say about trees that fall in the forest with no one around to see them or hear them. So let's help her get the recognition she deserves, get her channel the subs and hours it needs, and maybe even check out the works of some of the authors she's had on as guests while we're at it!

For more information about Joy on Paper's journey, check out the show's homepage, and make sure you follow Joy on Paper on Facebook as well!

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. 

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!