Writing Isn't What Makes Writers Succeed

Generally speaking, if you're a writer, you would assume that writing is what determines the success of your career. Dedication to your art form, clever execution, quality storytelling, and even the rate at which you can churn out new work, though... none of this is really what makes you successful as a writer.

No... instead it appears to be how famous you can make yourself as an influencer, YouTuber, or TikTok channel, as Matt Wallace points out.

Yeah... it's like that.

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!

Writers Don't Get Famous For Writing Anymore

When you think of famous writers, chances are they're famous to you for their books. Whether it's Poe, Lovecraft, King, Gaiman, or dozens upon dozens of others, you know these people's names because of the books they wrote. Period. But even back in the relatively recent days of the 1980s and 1990s, things worked differently than they do now... and the things you need to do to be successful in today's market are getting further and further away from actually writing books.

I talked about this a few years back in I Just Want To Write... but Mr. Wallace really lays it out for all of us. Because 40 or 50 years ago the best advice you could give a writer was, "The best way to move copies of this book is to start working on your next book."

Sadly, that advice is for a world that no longer exists.

Now you have people trying to get seen on TikTok, to start podcasts, to run YouTube channels, and to do anything to get noticed in this media-saturated landscape we find ourselves in... and even when doing that works, and gets you attention, that doesn't mean it's going to actually get you closer to your goal of being a successful author.

Take the above story as an example. I wrote The Final Lamentation as a stand-alone piece of fan fiction set in the Warhammer 40K universe. My text version of the story, no matter how hard I tried to push it, or how many Facebook groups, subreddits, etc., I shared it on barely went anywhere. A few folks read it here and there, but generally speaking it probably hasn't amassed more than a few hundred reads at time of writing.

The audio drama version, though? That has 157,376 views, over 500 comments, and over 7,000 upvotes! Enough people have seen this version of the story that I've had folks recommend it to me, without knowing I'm the guy who wrote it in the first place.

Now, to be clear, I adore this adaptation of my work. I love how it helped more people come across my story, and how it helped boost the signal. I am remarkably touched by some of the very kind things folks said about this story, and how much they enjoyed it. However, making something like this production is both not writing, and it's something that is a far larger undertaking than just putting words on a page. It takes voice talent, recording equipment, sound effects, the right music, and so much more to turn a piece of fiction into an audio drama.

But, even worse, there's no guarantee that the popularity of a piece of media like this will turn into something profitable. Because even if someone enjoys an audio drama, or a video you made, they're not all that likely to go check out your website, or to follow the links you left in the production. They probably aren't going to type your name into a search engine to find more of your work, either. People consume what's in front of them, and then move on to the next thing more often than not.

Which leaves you making more and more content to try to pull in the audience, to let people know about your work, which rarely does anything to sell the books you've already written, but which also eats up all the time you would spend writing new books which you now aren't.

So What Can You Do To Help?

As with all my other diatribes on this subject, it really does come down to you as the audience. I've said this before, but authors are like gladiators in the arena; we could put on the finest show of weapons skill possible, and defeat three dozen opponents, but unless you all make some noise for us we aren't going to get any kind of reward at the end of the day.

We need you to elevate our signal, and make people aware of us. We need you to share links to our books on your social media pages, tell your friends and family, leave reviews, share our posts, follow our pages and our channels... in short, we need you all to raise your voices loudly enoug that the algorithm cannot ignore you, and it becomes impossible to throttle our signal because so many people are talking about what we're making.

And, of course, it always helps if you can donate to help us keep producing more work. Because the further we can keep the wolf from the door, the easier it becomes to put words on the page.

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!

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!

Unknown Authors Need The Help, But Famous Authors Get The Help

There is an old story told by a celebrity (I want to say it was Michael Jordan, but I couldn't track down quotes to say for sure) that I'd like to paraphrase. When they first started their career, and they didn't have a lot of money or connections, nobody wanted to give them anything. They had to pay for everything out-of-pocket, they didn't get invitations to big events, none of that. When they were at the top of their game, and they had more money than they could ever spend, that was when everyone wanted to give them free stuff. Free seats in first class, front-row tickets to big events, VIP treatment for coming to gatherings, and more merch than they knew what to do with.

Hey, I know you've got a lot of this already, but have some more, huh?

Said celebrity remarked on this irony. Because when they were just starting out, that was when they could really have used someone paying for their drinks, comping a meal, or slipping them some tickets to something they couldn't normally go out to do. Once they were rich they had people tripping over themselves to give them presents, but this was all stuff they could actually afford for themselves now, if they so chose.

If you're an author, this is something you're going to see whichever level of the profession you're at. And it's probably going to make you mad. So let's talk about why it happens, and how we could start changing the game if we so choose.

As I say every week, to stay on top of all my latest releases, subscribe to my weekly newsletter. And if you want to help me keep the skids greased, then consider becoming a Patreon patron as well... even a small pledge is a serious boon!

The Catch-22 of Being a Lesser-Known Author

In the interest of full and fair examinations, there is a very good reason that famous authors, famous athletes, famous movie stars, etc., get all the red carpet treatment. It is, simply put, because they have a high profile. They have fans who want to send them gifts, they have potential sponsors who want to get on their good side to make money, and they have a well-known name that's going to draw people to an event. Big names get this kind of treatment in the hopes that it will grant access, favor, or lead to a partnership where those giving them screen time, gifts, etc., can make more money. It's about talk show hosts and radio shows trying to get more viewers, podcasts to get a bigger audience, and so on, and so forth.

As a concrete example, most people have no idea who the hell I am. So if a convention were to make me the author guest of honor, I wouldn't be a draw for them. No one is going to hear that I'm showing up somewhere and think to themselves, "Shit, I got to get tickets to that!" But if it was Neil Gaiman instead of Neal Litherland as the head author? Tickets would be sold out in the snap of one's fingers, and the event would be packed.

That's the dream... by the by, check out The Rejects if you haven't yet.

The frustrating part of this scenario, of course, is that if you were to give a lesser-known author that kind of platform, they would have a chance at actually building their audience in a big way. They may not explode overnight, but if they got an interview slot on a YouTube channel with millions of followers, or their book was featured by a TikTok personality, or they were interviewed by a popular host, that spotlight might be all it takes to get people to pick up their books and become fans.

But the reason that doesn't happen is, of course, lesser-known authors aren't bringing a wake of fans with them to see their appearances. We aren't jackhammering a show's numbers by appearing as a guest, and our presence isn't selling tickets for events we show up to. So because we aren't well-known, we can't get the spotlight to actually let people know who we are and what we do so we can become well-known.

It is extraordinarily frustrating.

It's Why We Need Your Help

In the digital age the old kingmakers aren't gone, but they aren't as powerful as they used to be. It is entirely possible for authors to build a grassroots community and following through social media, smaller appearances in their local area, and through networking without ever once appearing on a mainstream show, getting on TV, or having a review of their work posted on a news site.

But possible isn't the same thing as easy.

If it was, Painted Cats would have WAY more than 6 ratings.

If enough individuals band together, they can send up a flare to get people to pay attention to the authors they love. 50 reviews on Amazon gets the algorithm turning, and starts broadcasting our signal to other people. I've been told the 10k follower mark on both Facebook and Twitter is when the sites start spitting your posts out to other people who might be interested in you. We cannot make those wheels turn on our own... but you can lend your voice to make them move for us.

Because you know something? I'm pretty sure that if I picked up 50k Twitter followers overnight (@nlitherl for those who are curious) that I'd have a lot of book sales that followed. Enough that I might go from that indie author nobody's heard of, to the guy who writes those cat mysteries everyone on social media won't shut up about.

Incidentally, grab a copy of Marked Territory and Painted Cats if you haven't done so yet. And if you're more of a military sci-fi kind of reader, then consider snatching up my post-apocalyptic noir thriller Old Soldiers about a small squad of defunct alien/human hybrid bio-weapons tracking down a conspiracy to wipe them out once and for all.

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!