Writing Is About The Process, Not The Output

Normally when I talk about writing I'm concerned with the technical aspects of storytelling, and trying to help folks overcome common pitfalls. However, with the advent of plagiarism software, I think there is something that really needs to be addressed. Something that is so intrinsic to making any kind of art that we didn't even need to put it into words before now... but this is the world we live in.

In short, the output you generate is worthless if it doesn't have a soul. What makes a story, a drawing, or a sculpture worthwhile is that it reflects the process the creator went through. It has to be the result of action, creativity, blood, sweat, and tears. If all you did was turn the assignment over to a computer to execute on your behalf then not only did you not make something, but you are poorer because you didn't even have the experience of making something.

That is what makes art valuable, and what lends it a unique flavor; the fact that it is made by a human creator who did their best to execute this piece to the fullest extent of their ability.

You can't trust the process if you aren't even going through it!

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!

Making Art Is About Having An Experience

I want to take a moment to reference a piece of fiction from a place even bleaker than our world, but which at least realized it should ban any form of Abominable Intelligence. In the grim darkness of Warhammer 40K, the Emperor of Mankind genetically engineered several sons who were colossal in size, strength, and power, considered demigods forged from science and warp-touched sorcery. One of these was Fulgrim, a being who sought perfection in himself, and in all things.

Fulgrim once entered a competition to carve a statue against a baseline human sculptor. Like something out of a Greek myth, the human artist couldn't hope to defeat Fulgrim... but somehow he did. Because while Fulgrim executed a technically perfect piece of art, there was no denying that the other man had carved something that truly made a connection with the observer. There was a soul to his art that people could read into, gaze upon, and which made one feel something. When they looked upon Fulgrim's statue, all they saw was a flawless depiction of a subject, but it seemed empty. Hollow. It had no soul, and no story to tell. Even Fulgrim himself, enraged and with his pride bleeding, acknowledged that the human had made a better piece of art than he had... he just couldn't understand why.

How... how do they do it!?

There are dozens of examples of fiction talking about the process of creating art, and what a quintessentially human experience it is (Asimov had a lot to say on the subject, too). However, I find myself thinking of this example from a very silly dark space opera series about big manly men having violent punch-ups, because this one snapshot encapsulates so much about the fundamental misunderstanding so many people have about creating art. Any art.

People who are defending AI, who get super stoked about being able to push a button and have it make things for them, are Fulgrim. They have the ability to effortlessly create an output, that even if it is technically perfect (generative AI isn't, but we'll set that aside for now) it is empty, soulless, and the eye just slides right off of it. He is so fixated on why his flawless sculpture has less regard, and less beauty, than the flawed creation made by someone who lacks his enhanced gifts, and his unusual abilities. How is this art made by a mere mortal better than his?

And we can have the whole debate about using words like soul to describe a piece of art, or arguing over whether something digitally painted is less "real" than something made in a physical medium... but that gets into higher, philosophical hair splitting. However, generative AI creates an uncanny valley effect. Even if it gets the hands right, and even if it gets the proper number of teeth, just looking at it we feel there is something off about it. It feels like an imitation of something in a way that triggers our brains that it isn't safe, and it isn't right. It's off-putting, and once you recognize it for what it is, it's ugly in a way that no crayon drawing can match, because at least those were made with genuine effort.

Don't worry, this applies to text-heads, too.

Everything I said above about sculptures and images? It applies to books, too.

Because even if you get lucky, and an AI manages to write a story that doesn't have massive grammatical errors, constantly forgets who the cast of characters is, and has plot twists that spiral in on themselves in a way that makes no sense, it feels off to read. Reading something written by generative AI feels like hearing something in the Apalachian wilderness call out in a voice that sounds human, but which clearly isn't. You don't know if it's the intonation, the accent, or just that no living person speaks like that, but you know it isn't right... and it creates that same uncanny feeling.

Roll Up Your Sleeves, And Get Stuck In!

Art is about doing. Yes, at the end of the day, the output is going to matter if you want to be able to sell your art and make a living as a creator. But it takes years to hone your skills, and to be able to make art with your own mind, your own hands, and your own skills. Whether you're writing, drawing, making videos, or sculpting, that end result is not the end-all-be-all. It is the result of your journey, and the experience you had getting there. It is the result of your process.

You cannot skip the process just because you don't want to do the hard work, and then claim this uncanny fey creation is your work. You didn't make it. You just pushed a button, and made a pact with another creature, who did the work for you.

It's sort of like people who download video games that play themselves without any input from you. Or people who just pay to win a game without actually playing, skipping straight to the end scene. Those people didn't have the experience of playing the game, didn't develop the skill necessary to achieve that victory, and as such they didn't actually do anything. The experience, even when it's hard and frustrating, is the goddamn point of it all!

Support The Literary Mercenary

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

- My Facebook

- My Blue Sky

- My LinkTree

- My Weekly Newsletter

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

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!

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!

Care and Feeding of Your Creators (5 Steps All Fans Should Take)

So, you've been out wilding on the Internet, or maybe you were in real space at a convention, and you found someone who makes things you like. You want this person to be able to keep doing what they're doing, but you've never had a pet creator before. How do you take care of them? How do you ensure they've got enough enrichment in their enclosures to keep their creative juices flowing properly? What do creators even eat?

Don't worry. Just take a deep breath. I'm going to give you the inside scoop on just what your creator needs, and how you can make sure that they continue to do that thing you love for years to come!

Stimulants may be necessary, but we'll get there when we get there...

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! And, of course, check me out on Blue Sky, since that's what we're talking about today!

The 5 Steps To Taking Care Of Your Creators

In the old days, artists had patrons who would give them money, food, a place to live, and so one. Whether it was rich nobles who wanted to show off by having a pet artist, or the church who needed their skills to create works of art to ensure the proper feeling of reverence in the populace, these old style patrons handled the day-to-day expenses of the creators so they could focus on using their skills to make art.

The world has changed since then. These days it's possible for anyone to support the work of an artist they like, though, and we definitely need all the help we can get.

Just follow these 5 Steps, and your artist will be perking up in no time!

Method #1: Direct Patronage

Seriously, every little bit helps.

You may not be a member of the Medicis, but you can still help creators directly. Whether you want to become a Patreon patron and give them a specific amount every month, or just toss them a tip using a platform like Ko-Fi when you have a little bit to spare, these tips can add up when there's a lot of people participating. Never underestimate the power of a lot of people doing something small in large numbers... that is going to become a running theme throughout this post, for folks who are wondering.

And if you want to give me a hand up, consider become one of my Patreon patrons, or giving me a tip on my Ko-Fi.

#2: Buy Their Merch

Since a lot of folks haven't checked out this novel yet...

Did you know that a band makes way more money from the purchase of a tee shirt or a CD than buying a ticket to their concert does, more often than not? In fact, most of the money made from concerts (even those that sell out) often go to pay for the expenses of the show. Even some tours that seem really successful from the outside can barely break even... or in some case leave the performers in debt if they don't sell enough merch to actually make a profit.

So if you have a creator you like, take a look at their merch. Authors have novels, RPG rule books, and so on, which makes them easy to support in this regard. But even if you have a YouTuber, a painter, or any other kind of creator, ask what kind of merch they put out. Do they have stickers? Tee shirts? Shaker cups? Prints of their artwork? Or do they have a sponsorship deal with a product or service that you would actually use (since every purchase through the creator's link puts money in their pockets)?

For those interested in novels and short stories, check out my Amazon author page. If you're more of an RPG players, I've got nearly 200 titles on Drive Thru RPG. And if you're a fan of energy drinks that I can attest absolutely get the job done, consider clicking right here to check out Dubby!

Method #3: Consume Their Content

If a creator you follow makes content that is free for you to consume (they have a YouTube channel, a podcast, or they publish articles on a website or a blog), then make sure you're actually watching, reading, and listening to the things they make! In some cases that free content does have a method of getting the creator paid, such as how YouTube gives a portion of ad revenue to the person who runs a channel once they've met the website's qualifications. Your reads, views, etc. will only be a tiny fraction of what they'd need to make a living, but it costs you nothing, and increases the creator's numbers, which matters a lot.

Why does it matter? Because the algorithm, which can decide our success or failure, pays attention to numbers. Videos, articles, podcast episodes, etc., that get a lot of interaction (which is both watches/views/listens, but also shares, upvotes, reviews, etc.) are the things the algorithm chooses to signal boost because it believes they're more popular. So the more you can add to a creator's numbers, the better they look overall. As such you should listen, but also like, comment, subscribe, and all those other things that can help them push the rock up the hill a little further.

For those who'd like to help me in this regard, I help out with the Azukail Games YouTube channel, but I also have an archive of 329 articles and growing on Vocal.media (and every 3 articles read basically puts a penny in my earnings cup... so reading even 1 article a day would make a big difference if enough people did it).

Method #4: Actively Follow Them on Social Media

On it, chief!

Social media is the lifeblood of how a lot of us stay in touch, as well as how we find new things. The problem is that thanks to platform decay, only those with the loudest followings and the largest numbers actually seem to get anywhere... everyone else is just drowned out by the sea of noise, ads, and bots that exists on these platforms.

Again, if you want the algorithm to notice the creators you like (and possibly pay them, as apparently that's a thing that can happen if your following is big enough), do your part to increase their numbers!

That means you should absolutely follow/subscribe to the creators you like on all the platforms they're active on, but that's just the start. Interact with their posts by liking, commenting, and sharing them. Turn on notifications if that's an option so you don't miss posts. Make sure you're plugged-in so that you see the things they put up, and if possible try to persuade your friends to do the same! Pushing someone's signal up takes literally tens of thousands of people, but it can be done if folks show up and keep the energy going. Like the other stuff above, this isn't a one-and-done... make this a part of your regular routine. It will only take a few minutes a day, if that, and it does make an impact.

All of my social media links are at the end of this blog for folks who are interested... Hope to see you there!

Method #5: Make Sure You Tell Them How Much You Like Their Work

Being told that people like your work, that people are excited for a thing you made, is like a straight shot in the arm for a lot of creators out there. We put hours of time, energy, editing, an often collaborating to make our creations into things that can be experienced... and when we do all that, and no one ever reads, watches, listens, etc., it can feel like it was for nothing.

I wrote Waking Dogs Part 3: Warhounds a few months ago, and the audio drama above by the YouTube channel A Vox in The Void gave me chills to listen to. Even more than hearing someone else's interpretation of my work, though, were the comments folks left behind!

I'll be honest, I wrote the first story abotu Crixus and his bloody adventures in the grimdark galaxy because I was hoping folks would then turn around and check out my novel Old Soldiers... but this little fanfiction series has taken on a life of its own. And seeing just how excited folks were not just to have a new installment of the series, but how stoked they were to know I had plans to keep it going... that's a great feeling to have, and it's one that we don't get as often as you might think.

So if you love a creator's work, tell them. Because a lot of the time we might be wondering if anyone actually cares, and if there's anyone actually rooting for us to keep going. Sometimes a little cheering from the sidelines really does help us keep putting one foot in front of the other just a little bit longer.

Final Thoughts

I want to make it clear to folks that this advice is universal. Any creator you're following, whether they're an author or a graphic artists, a YouTuber, a podcaster, a voice actor, or an essayist, they need you to help them keep their career alive. You are literally the life blood of art. PBS wasn't screwing around when they said we can only do what we do because of viewers like you... without your support, a lot of us will have to stop making art... so support the people whose work you want to see flourish!

Support The Literary Mercenary

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

- My Facebook

- My Blue Sky

- 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.

Variety May Be The Spice of Life, But It Is Often Too Risky (As a Creator)

There is a cycle I've gone through several times as an author, and it sneaks up on me every time. In short, when I first get a new job, or enter a new niche, it's thrilling, exciting, and I have fun with it. Whether it's writing short stories, putting together newspaper articles, or working on TTRPG supplements, there's always a period in the beginning where it feels good to flex the creative muscles to accomplish a new task. Then the check comes, and it validates all of the effort I put in, giving me the fuel to get up and do it all over again.

With that said, though, it's really hard to keep doing the same thing day in, day out, with no changes in sight. And while it's an uncomfortable topic, I wanted to broach it today, because it's something that affects all of us who create professionally, and we're often not allowed to talk about it without sounding like we're ungrateful. However, I want to remind everyone that if you're doing the work, you have the right to complain. Period.

And this is something we ALL have to grapple with.

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!

The Grind, and "The Muse"

Have you seen the ARG from Happy Meat Farm? Well, in stage two this mysterious company that's conducting bizarre experiments started reaching out to various YouTubers with "sponsorship" opportunities. Those who accepted at first seemed to be doing great thanks to a strange "muse" who started dictating their content to them. While these creators were making money and getting the numbers they needed, most of them felt this was not the direction they wanted to go with their channels. The content was too socially engineered, too filled with clickbait, and too creatively hollow, even if it was paying the bills. In time these mysterious muses seemed to murder the creators, leaving clones of them behind who happily toed the line, delivered the content they were told to, and had no ambitions to do something other than what their corporate masters told them to.

Game Theory had a great video on it, in case you didn't see it.

What does this have to do with this week's topic? Well, everything, since you ask.

Because artists of all kinds (writers, YouTubers, audio dramatists, animators, etc.) are stuck living under capitalism the same as everyone else, that means we have to find ways to monetize our skills and abilities to make art that people want to consume. And when we're faced with the option between a project that we think would be exciting and fulfilling, and one that is likely to pay the bills, we often have to go with the latter simply because we cannot afford the former if it turns out the thing we want to make has low prospects for actually keeping the lights on.

And because I can hear throats clearing in the comments, and the future echo of people saying, "Just work on those passion projects in your free time..." you're grossly overestimating the amount of freedom and juice most of us have. Because if an artist has the energy, time, and ability to handle the "pay the bills" projects on one hand, and to work on longer-shot projects that are more fulfilling on the other hand, they do not have a problem.

Most of us, though, have both hands full with pay-the-bills work. We spend all day, every day working on it, and when the day is done we have nothing left except for a couple of fumes in the tank to maybe jot a couple of ideas into a notebook, or maybe sketch a concept or two. We simply cannot do more than that because there are only so many hours in the day, and only so many actions your brain can take before the quality of your output degrades, or your brain simply refuses to do more.

What Can Help Avoid This Problem?

The best solution would be the fall of capitalism so that artists could just make art without having to worry about the twin threats of starvation and homelessness if they don't make a certain amount of sales/reads/views every month. Failing that, though, the best practical solution would be if folks listened to the advice that Mat Pat gives at the end of that video about the muses and the Happy Meat Farms ARG.

In short, when a creator you like tries something new, or does something different, audiences should support them if they want to encourage them to keep making things. You aren't obligated to automatically love everything a creator makes, but if their new book, new podcast, new show, etc., seems like something you wouldn't normally go for, give it a try. See if you like it, and do all the things a creator needs from their audience to keep them moving forward (buy copies, make donations, share stuff on social media, read articles, watch videos, and so on).

Numbers matter, and the easiest way for you to help the creators you love avoid burnout is to make sure they have enough money on-hand that they can try new things, or that experimenting with a new format, new genre, etc., isn't going to land them on the street because they didn't pull in a certain amount of sales, views, etc. Because if the only thing that ever gets support is one type of content, then that's all a creator can afford to make if they don't want to come up short at the end of the month.

Getting Personal About This Problem

The reason I wanted to talk about this topic is that it's been creeping up on me for a while now, and a lot of the time I want to use this platform (small as it is) to talk about issues I'm facing as a professional. Especially if they're issues that other writers might consider personal failings, or just try to endure because they don't want to be seen as complaining too much.

A soldier's privilege is to grumble, though, and we're all mercenaries here.

Folks who are familiar with my work know that the bulk of my output these days is tabletop RPG supplements, which typically take the form of some kind of numbered list. Whether it's more general supplements like 100 Fantasy Professions (That Aren't "Adventurer") and 100 Knightly Orders For a Sci Fi Setting, or more specific ones like 100 Shadow Names (And Their Meanings) for Mage The Awakening, that format is the dominant one.

And the reason is because that's the product that sells. Full stop.

I would love to write more short fiction, like what I did for the Werewolf: The Apocalypse collection Tales From The Moot, or even more free stories like 50 Two-Sentence Horror Stories, Cthulhu Mythos Edition. I'd love to write more novels like my sword and sorcery book Crier's Knife, and I wouldn't even mind putting together additional gaming modules like my recent piece The Price of Iron where players take on a dark fey threat in the middle of a major city. I've also been steadily releasing content for an entire fantasy setting titled "Sundara: Dawn of a New Age," and I've been putting out audio dramas for over a year now.

At the end of the day, though, what moves copies is numbered lists of random stuff. So that is what always takes priority.

What brought all of this to something of a head for me is "Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic". This RPG is on Kickstarter for one more week, and though we've met our minimum funding goal, I was really hoping to at least make it to the first stretch goal. This game has been several years in the making, and it's nearly been killed twice in pre-production. I have all kinds of plans for expansions, additional rules, new enemies, and all manner of ridiculous, tongue-in-cheek nonsense for it... but I need folks' help to make that a reality.

Because I think this game has a lot of potential... but it's going to be really hard for me to actually explore that potential (and create more content for it) if I have to devote a majority of my time and energy to writing even more supplements for other genres, other game lines, etc. because those are what pay my bills.

If you could back this KS, I would really appreciate it. If you can't, or if you already have, please help me spread the word about it so we can reach more fresh sets of eyeballs. And if you're reading this article in the future after the campaign is over, consider searching for Army Men on Drive Thru RPG, and getting yourself a copy... hopefully future me got the support he needed to write some of those extra expansions I've got in my notes!

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 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!

Marketing, Sales, and Insanity (A Glimpse Behind The Curtain)

"Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting a different result."

- Rita Mae Brown

This quote, often attributed to Albert Einstein, actually came from mystery author Rita Mae Brown according to Quotes Explained. Whoever said it first, though, the idea is pretty sound. After all, if you go through the same motions, and do the exact, same thing you can usually expect to get the same results time and time again, for good or for ill.

Unless we're talking about marketing, of course. Because when it comes to marketing (or just creating content in general), you've gone fully through the Looking Glass into a world where what seems like madness is now the order of the day.

It doesn't make sense... none of it makes any sense...

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!

How Many Factors Can You Control?

The above sentiment regarding madness makes some assumptions, and they're assumptions that we don't always keep in mind when we start concocting our plans. The biggest is that, "doing the same thing," assumes that all the factors involved are the same every, single time. Because the same action, taken within the same parameters, should yield the same results... but a lot of the time we just feel like we're doing the same thing when, in fact, the only thing that's the same is our input as creators. Other factors (often factors we may not even think about, or which are drastically outside our control) play a part in this.

As an example, consider my Pathfinder Character Conversion For Batman.

Just stick with me, I promise I'm going somewhere with this.

Now, when I first wrote this piece it was published on Yahoo! Voices (a site that no longer exists), and it received something to the tune of 30k views the first week or so it was up. That put about $60 in my pocket, which wasn't bad for an article I'd put together in a few hours. However, Yahoo! Voices closed, and the article eventually migrated over to Vocal along with a lot of my other work. And even though the article was updated to reflect changes in the game, it barely received 800 reads, which was worth maybe $2 to me at the time of republishing.

On the surface this seems like the exact same action yielding wildly different results. After all I published the content under the original title and with many of the appropriate SEO tags, I shared it in the same social media groups who had proven receptive to my content, and I did all the same things on my end that I had the first time around. Yet the results were extremely different. Why?

Well, because other factors had changed, which created different results.

Firstly, say what you want about Yahoo! Voices, but it came with a built-in platform that provided high visibility and a lot more traffic than Vocal does. So right off the bat (pun very much intended) there was a huge difference caused just by the platform being used. Another factor was that at the time the original article went up, character conversions in RPGs were just starting as a trend in a lot of places, and as such they were quite popular. By the time this guide was re-posted, conversions had become sort of passe, and there were a lot fewer folks interested in them. It could even be argued that the colossal failure of Batman V. Superman coming out in between the original post and repost had made the public less interested in the character on the whole, and as such Batman himself was no longer a subject of as much interest to readers out there.

This is the sort of thing we often overlook as creators. Everything from which hash tags are currently the best to attach to your posts, to which platforms have the best visibility, to what kinds of content are most popular at a given time, all affect your marketing, your message, and whether your work gets shared by everyone who sees it, or drifts off into the void.

How Many Times Can You Hear The Same Joke?

There's an old story told about a wise man who tells a great joke. Everyone laughs. He tells it again, and some people laugh, but they're mostly confused. He tells it a third time, and nobody laughs. The moral is about how we often take less pleasure in good things, but allow bad things to keep being as powerful as the first time they hit us... but there's a lesson here for marketers, as well.

Just because something hits hard the first time, doesn't mean a follow-up is going to have the same results.

Trust me, I wish that wasn't the case.

I can give you another example for this one. When I wrote 50 Two-Sentence Horror Stories over on Vocal, it shot up to over 5k reads. A pretty solid showing, and far-and-away the best piece of fiction I'd ever put on the site, performance-wise. The format was one of the things that readers said drew them in the hardest, so when I put together a sequel I narrowed the scope slightly and wrote 50 Two-Sentence Horror Stories, Warhammer 40K Edition. While it didn't perform as well, it still netted just under 3k reads which was more than worth the effort to put the piece together. I decided recently to put out a third installment, and to keep the change-up going it was 50 Two-Sentence Horror Stories, SCP Edition. Following the trend I figured it might eke out about 2k reads at best, maybe 1,500.

The actual result? About 53 reads. Heck, the audio drama version got more attention than that (though not much more... but if you like it, consider subscribing to me on Daily Motion!).

Why did this happen? Too many factors to count, ranging from the popularity of the niches I explored, to the timing of the posts, to where I shared them, and what the algorithm supported or blocked. However, one thing that was clear to me was that the initial installment was something of a fluke. It happened to hit at the right time, in the right place, under the right circumstances. And while there was a positive reaction to the second piece, the format itself was not enough to support the series all on its own. The novelty has worn off, and attempts to recapture it by branching out into other arenas had... mixed results.

This can be extremely frustrating when it comes to our work, because (to put it bluntly) the public is fickle, and unpredictable.

As another example, when I first started this arc of my career, steampunk was huge as a genre trend. New Avalon: Love and Loss in The City of Steam took me a year to write, and another several years to finally get published. Steampunk was dead as a trend by then, but it hadn't been dead long enough that people were looking for nostalgia reads in the genre. I've released RPG supplements full of random encounters that folks said they loved and wanted more of, but then when I put out a second installment no one gets a copy because it's just "more of the same." Sometimes I pour time and energy into crafting a tale that I think will strike a chord with the audience, like Beyond The Black: The Emperor's Hand (a tale of the ogryn Gav Smythe as he fights the enemies of the Imperium), and it goes nowhere. Other times I'll just throw together something silly to fill space, like my article Let People Dislike Things, and it explodes for no reason other than it happened to strike a chord at that very moment.

It's Our Audience That Stacks The Deck

I say this time and time again, but at the end of the day it's you, the readers, who are the one factor that we have to count on. Because if there is support from the audience, it can force all the other factors surrounding our work and our careers into the proper, celestial alignment for success.

If you have a following of tens of thousands of fans on any social media platform, things you share are boosted by the algorithm purely because the audience made it known that you are a person of interest. If there's people buying your books in numbers large enough to hit the bestseller list (which really isn't as many sales as you think), that's going to make you newsworthy, and you'll get coverage from various outlets which will boost your sales even further. If you even have a couple dozen people who share your content around in a dedicated way, you'll start to see outsized numbers of new readers come your way because those readers are making a fuss over you. And even if your content is free to consume, if you regularly pull down a few million watches per video, or a million reads on an article, everything else falls into place.

But it takes numbers... and those are numbers we cannot do all that much about on our own. All we can do is produce the best stuff we're capable of, and put it out there. Which is why if you have a creator whose work you enjoy, help them out. Subscribe to their channels, share their posts, consume the free stuff, and buy their books when you can afford to. While it might not feel like you're doing a lot as an individual, remember that a blizzard is made up of a bunch of snowflakes that all fall at once.

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 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!

The Best Thing You Can Be as a Creator is Reliable

I remember when Suicide Squad was coming out, and there were reports of bizarre behavior from Jared Leto as he "tried to embody" the character of the Joker. Sending disgusting packages to fellow cast members, causing scenes, and just generally making people uncomfortable with his methods of getting into character. We've heard similar stories about actors like Christian Bale and the (sometimes extreme) things he goes into in order to truly become a role.

But you know what we don't hear about? Actors who just show up, act, and then when the director yells "Cut!" go back to being themselves. Actors who turn in a good performance, but who at the end of the day are just here to do a job without zany hijinks or bizarre rituals that make their coworkers uncomfortable. Ian McKellen, Viola Davis, Mark Hamill, and thousands of other great actors out there are perfect examples.

Sir Ian shows us how it's done.

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!

Reliable Is Worth Far More Than Brilliant

What does all this have to do with writing? Well, authors are not immune to this bizarre behavior, grandstanding, and gimmickry. Nor are we immune to excusing atrocious actions or statements by saying, "Well, that's the price you pay for genius."

While I have tried to find the origin of this quote, my Google fu has failed me. However, the sentiment could be phrased thusly:

"There's always someone a little less brilliant, a little less shining, who can do your job. And if they're reliable, and come without the baggage, they're the one the company will pick."

But I'M the TALENT!

Reliability is the key, here. If you're hired to make a movie, the backers want to know you aren't going to hold up production for months on-end because you insisted on using crutches and a wheelchair to move around everywhere, even after the cameras stopped rolling. And if you're writing a book the publisher wants to know that you'll have a manuscript ready by the deadline, and that you won't fight tooth and nail with your editors over every minor change. They also want to be sure that you aren't going to go out and cause an avalanche of bad PR whenever you're put in front of a camera.

Being reliable goes beyond the business relationship you have with a publisher, though. It's also about releasing regular content for your readers, and providing a quality experience every time. Because it doesn't matter how many awards you won, or how brilliant your past novel(s) were; readers are fickle creatures. The best way to get their attention is to provide something that they like, and then to keep giving them more stuff like that of a similar quality. Think of it like being their favorite fast food restaurant; sure, they came for the cheeseburger of your epic fantasy series, but eventually they'll branch out to try the sci fi chicken sandwich you released, or perhaps dabble in the romantic dessert you put out a while back.

Before this metaphor gets away from me, the important thing to remember is that being an author is a job. The same way being an actor, a musician, or a dancer is a job. Now ask yourself if the way you behave would be tolerated if you were, say, a member of waitstaff, or a sales team, or a bank teller.

If the things you're doing to "perfect your craft" would get you called into the manager's office, or summarily let go from a more "normal" place of employment, chances are good you should avoid it. Just show up, do the job, do it well, and people will notice that. Publishers, readers, other authors take note of the people who are reliable, and word will get out about you.

They also take note of people who are unreliable... and word will also get out that way.

Looking For Some Reliable Reads?

If you're looking for some reads to help keep your wheels turning, check out some of the following pieces from yours truly! And if you're a fan of audio dramas like the one above, don't forget to subscribe to the Azukail Games YouTube channel where I contribute a new video every Friday... how's that for reliable?

- Waking Dogs: A World Eaters Tale: The first of my Warhammer 40K stories, this one details one of the original World Eaters awakening briefly from the haze of violence and wrath he's been lost in. And all it takes is a single moment of clarity to change his destiny forever. This tale has an audio version done by A Vox in The Void, as well!

- Field Test: My second tale of the grim darkness of the far future, it deals with an inquisitor, an ork rock, and a secret weapon. When deployed, however, it is more devastating than anyone could have imagined. This story also has an audio version, for those who want to check it out!

You should also check out the Silver Raven Chronicles, a series all about punching fantasy fascists in the back alleys of Kintargo. A chronicle of the Hell's Rebels adventure path, the current installments include:

- Part One: Devil's Night: A mysterious vigilante prowls the streets of Kintargo.

- Part Two: From The Ashes: A protest becomes a riot as the new "mayor" attempts to establish control.

- Part Three: The Raven's Nest: The burgeoning rebellion establishes a secret base.

- Part Four: Circles in Salt: The Ghost joins the Silver Ravens, striking a blow against Thrune.

More Forgotten Volumes

If you're in the market for longer books (or you just want to check out some stuff you may have missed), then you should definitely consider the following tales, too!

- Tales From The Moot: A collection of short stories from the Wereolf: The Apocalypse RPG setting, this volume contains work by yours truly, as well as several other writers. Intended to be the first in a series of similar products, it hasn't found its audience just yet.

- Old Soldiers: For folks who can't get enough decommissioned super soldiers, this sci-fi thriller will be right up your alley. It's been ten years since the end of the war, and Pollux is still trying to come to grips with everything that happened... when an assassination plot goes wrong, though, he gets what's left of his old squad together to get to the heart of the matter. Whoever pulled the trigger on this thing is going to learn they should have just let these old soldiers fade away.

- Marked Territory and Painted Cats: The first two installments in my Hard-Boiled Cat series, these novels feature the adventures of a hard-nosed alley cat by the name of Leo. The Maine coon mostly tries to keep himself out of other people's business, but trouble keeps coming down his alley to find him. Curiosity's gonna get this cat killed one of these days, but it's gonna have one hell of a fight on its hands when it tries.

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!