If You Want To Improve Your Network, Offer People Genuine Help

Last week I experienced an incident that I wanted to share with folks out there. This is far from the first of its kind, but because it's fresh in my mind I thought I'd use it as the Ur example of a certain kind of behavior that damages you, your image, and your attempts to network. And then, once I've laid out the mistakes, I wanted to talk about how this could have worked better.

Names will be omitted. Because while I found this annoying, I don't want this to be read as a callout, but rather than as an object lesson.

I see you need some help. Have you read my book about successful marketing?

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!

I Was Minding My Own Business on Twitter...

As with most other creators out there, I'm active on as many social media platforms as I can manage. And though Twitter is by far the one I use the least at present (and it's experienced some, shall we say, trying times of late), I still try to get on there a couple times a week. I'm also not a stranger to unprompted messages, but like most authors, a majority of what I receive on that site is just slop and spam. The English is riddled with grammatical errors, the sender clearly hasn't read my book despite trying to praise it, and at the end there's a post laying out their fee to help me with promotion.

Those are easy enough to recognize, report as spam, and delete.

But sometimes I get a different type of message. These messages come from someone who has at least read some of my posts, figured out what my book is about, and they seem to come from a place where the sender does want to help. The problem is that their idea of helping is to offer me a copy of their marketing guide for selling more books, to ask if I'd like to write a guest spot on their blog, or something else that basically asks me to do some free labor on their part that might, possibly, potentially, if the stars align properly, maybe help me get more eyes on my books. Eventually.

I swear this will TOTALLY work... trust me!

This is its own, special kind of frustrating, particularly because I'm sure the other party thinks they're genuinely trying to help. So if you are someone out there who has been on the other end of this equation, I need you to understand in all seriousness that you are not helping. You are, in fact, making things worse.

What Help Looks Like

I want to clarify for everyone out there that, yes, offering help is a great way to expand your network. People like people who offer them a hand up, or who try to make their workload a little bit lighter. However, it's important to ask if what you're doing is actually helping that person, or just taking up bandwidth they probably don't have to spare... because if that's the case, you have likely burned a bridge before it was even built.

Huh... I wonder why it keeps falling down?

The questions you need to ask yourself go as follows:

Are You Offering A Specific Solution?

Generalities like, "You should try marketing on Blue Sky!" are not helpful. However, saying, "When you make a promotional post on FB, add a picture rather than just a link, because the site will suppress it if there's just a link preview," is an extremely helpful, specific solution to a problem. So is, "Hey, this subreddit/FB group/forum I post on loves welcoming writers. We have a three-posts-a-week promotion policy, so come over there and tag me in, and I'll help you boost your signal!"

The more specific the advice you're giving, and the more actionable it is, the more useful it will be.

Are You Asking This Person To Do One More Thing?

There is a simple truth among writers in general, and among authors in particular... most of us already have a full plate of stuff. I have 3 different social media sites I do promotion on every single day, with a 4th added into the mix every now and again. I run two different blogs, regularly turn out TTRPG supplements, make at least 1 fresh video a week, and a slew of other nonsense... I do not have the ability to add one more plate to spin among all this other nonsense I'm currently doing.

It is not helpful to tell a person who is already operating at their maximum capacity that they should try doing something else, or by giving them a homework assignment (suggesting they build a whole new platform utterly unrelated to their work, ghost blog for someone else, etc.). This is when stepping in and offering to do actual labor on their behalf is giving genuine help. Offering to share around a link to someone's book, blog, or channel, for example, is helpful. Even inviting someone onto a podcast, or to be interviewed as a guest on a YouTube channel, is helpful because you are offering them the use of your platform. Even if that platform isn't very big, this is an actionable, helpful gesture you can make.

Did They Ask For This Help?

Most creators are not shy about asking explicitly for what we need from people. Watch any YouTube video, and you'll see the host tell you to like, share, subscribe, and hit that bell. They aren't doing that for their health; it's because those actions are what tell the algorithm this channel is gaining traction, and it should be promoted to more people with similar interests. It's why authors ask you to please share their posts about new book debuts and sales, and why we all but beg people to review our stuff when they read it.

Before you reach out with an offer of help, ask if your help is on the list of things they asked for. Because even if you aren't making more work for them, and even if your solution is specific, there's a good chance they're asking for X, Y, and Z for a reason. So even if you can offer to do more, consider also doing these basic things as a sign of good faith. Authors are far more likely to listen to someone who followed their page, engaged with their posts, and shared some things to help boost their signal before trying to contact them than they are to respond positively to a random message in their inbox. Especially if that message isn't offering to help them shoulder their workload, or is demanding a fee we likely can't afford.

We Would Like Help... We Really Would...

Creators cannot, at the end of the day, make themselves successful. Every person out there who makes a living as a creator, whether they write novels, blogs, TTRPGs, make YouTube videos, or one of a thousand other things, is only successful because of the support of their backers. And for those of us who don't have big publishers, record labels, etc. helping boost our signal, we depend on people in our audience, as well as fellow creators, to help lift us up.

So, at the end of the day, you are never to big to accept a helping hand... but before you reach out, make sure what you're doing is actually going to be a real, material help, rather than unasked for advice, or a homework assignment from a stranger on the Internet. Because, and I feel I can speak for all creators on this, we are really tired of those things.

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!

Is Audio Fiction Breathing New Life Into Short Stories?

I've said this several times over the years on this blog, but selling short stories is a Herculean task. Whether it's doing digital marketing for titles I've been involved with, or hand-selling books at a convention, it is hard as hell to find people who are willing to check out these books. One of the only successes I've had in this regard is From A Cat's View: An Anthology of Stories Told By Cats, but it's sort of the exception that proves the rule (since everyone loves cats).

However, while my personal experience is that fewer and fewer people are interested in sitting down and reading short fiction, it seems like more and more people are actively seeking short audio stories... which is an interesting opportunity for folks who enjoy creating short stories, but who may be telling them in the wrong format to get the numbers they need.

Because who doesn't want to hear a good story?

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!

Listeners Instead of Readers?

Several years ago I put out a short story collection titled The Rejects, which was a gathering of all the short stories I'd written that I felt were quality pieces of work, but which had never gotten picked up by an anthology open call. While I've personally sold several dozen copies by hand, and moved a fair number digitally, the book has only managed to garner 7 reviews (positive reviews, but only 7 of them). It's got a handful of fans who've told me they've enjoyed it, but it hasn't made that much of a splash.

Now consider the audio version of Dead Man's Bluff, one of the stories found in the collection that I've dramatized, which wound up over on The A.L.I.C.E. Files YouTube channel.

Alternatively, consider the below story, Suffer The Children. A dark, modern fantasy tale of an Old Testament bruiser in the City of Angel, Malachi is on a quest to save a child from the fires of Moloch, and to send a message to the brazen bull's followers that there are rules even in a place as corrupt as Los Angeles. While not quite as popular as the weird Western, the two of them combined have amassed hundreds of views (and a few thousand views back when they were hosted on a different platform).

 

Now, it should be mentioned that the audio versions of these stories are free to listen to, while the book itself costs money to buy. However, even with all the giveaways I've done for the collection, I've never had that many people take me up on getting a free copy of the stories. I've shared the links to both in the same venues, and I've put the same marketing behind both of them, and overall people seem far more willing to check out the audio than they are the text version of my short stories.

Why People Listen Instead of Read

Reading a book, whether it's short stories or novels, is an activity that requires one to put their full attention into things. Whether you're sitting on a couch, on your lunch break, or tucked into a spot on a train or a bus, reading a book is something you actively do, and it takes your eyes and hands to do it. However, most people who listen to audio books do so while they're actively working on something else. Whether it's walking on the treadmill, going for a jog, cleaning up around the house, painting miniatures, doing data entry at work, driving somewhere... situations where someone cannot actually use their hands to hold a book, or their eyes to scroll the page.

While some listeners will still prefer novels for these scenarios, there seem to be quite a lot of listeners out there who are looking for something bite-sized to get them through a particular activity. Sometimes listeners just want tales of a particular genre, sometimes they want a series they can pick up at any point and enjoy (such as the various SCP podcasts and freak-of-the-week horror casts where one can come in on nearly any episode), and sometimes they want a full narrative series that plays out in multiple seasons following the same characters through their adventures.  However, whatever format of story folks seem to prefer, and whatever genre it is they like, short fiction seems to be far more enjoyed by the listening crowd than the reading one.

Does that mean you can't still sell short stories in their traditional print format? No, of course not. However, consider the fact that the original short story of mine The Final Lamentation got a few hundred reads, while the audio drama of the story is at 169K views at time of writing.

Something to think about.

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)

- The A.L.I.C.E. Files (ongoing audio drama series 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!

Your Setting Needs To Be a Character in Your Story

Too often when we write we focus exclusively on our cast of characters, and what they're doing. However, we sometimes forget that for the story to really stick in the minds of the audience, it needs to have a setting. And not just any setting, but a vibrant setting that feels like it's part of the unfolding drama the audience is watching. Because without a strong setting, a story is like a sandwich without bread; messy, and unappealing.

Where is this place? And why is our story unfolding here?

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! To be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree!

Lastly, make sure you check out my Vocal archive for several hundred other articles about geek ephemera, weird history, writing, and more!

Where The Hell is This Story Happening?

To illustrate this week's point, I want to tell a story about something I was asked to edit as a freelancer many years ago. I won't mention the title of the work, nor the name of the client (and it's entirely possible it was never even published), but I feel that one of the major mistakes this author made drives home this point.

The plot of this book was not at all uncommon. We had a kid from the suburbs who was on the cusp of turning 18, and hoping to flee an abusive situation. He ran away to the big city, and while he was there wound up on the streets. He met an older man with a penchant for taking care of strays, and the two of them formed a relationship.

We all know how this story goes.

There were a lot of things wrong with the nuts and bolts of this story when I got it, but one that I drew a big, red circle around was that it was never made clear what city our suburban teen was running away to, or what part of the country (there were enough earmarks to trig that this was America) he had grown up in. Even accounting for the fact that there was a truly cold winter in later chapters, that didn't narrow anything down. This still could have been New York, Chicago, Boston, Minneapolis, Seattle, or even L.A. if it was a particularly bad year for the weather.

But every, single one of the cities I mentioned (to say nothing of places like London, Paris, Belfast, etc.) would have their own personalities, history, architecture, and setup to inform the story. Everything from the layout of the city, to what kinds of public transportation exist, the sorts of social services one can find, neighborhood cultures, and just the way people talk will be radically different from one place to another. And, for this particular example, the suburbs of these cities also have their own histories, personalities, etc. that should be a part of the character's makeup, to say nothing of the story itself.

Now, including those elements would have fixed one problem with this project, but it would have been a sizable, and obvious one. Because it's not enough to just say there are cars on the street, or tall buildings around you... that's a light sketch. Your audience needs you to paint the picture for them so they can really get immersed in this tale you're trying to tell.

And this goes double if you're story is set in a fantastical realm, or in the sci-fi future... because in those situations you can't even draw on the assumption that your audience may have visited a place like where you're story is set, or at least seen one on TV.

Support The Literary Mercenary

For folks who just want to do their part to help keep me making more content, please subscribe/follow me in these locations:

- 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, consider checking out my show Tabletop Mercenary if you've ever thought about becoming a TTRPG creator, but you want a glimpse behind the curtain before you just jump into the deep end.

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!

Authors, You Cannot Do Everything Yourself (And You Shouldn't Feel Like You Have To)

Authors are often the subject of a lot of mythmaking, and this can lead to problems when people actually try their hand at the profession because they're trying to live up to a standard that was never real in the first place. For example, most books are not, in fact, the sole genius of a single creator who acted in absolute isolation until they gave birth to this beautiful brain baby, giving this textual gift to the world!

No... most of us have help in some way, shape, or form to make our books the best they can be. So stop punishing yourself for not being able to do something alone when this profession has always been dependent on team effort.

Seriously... everybody needs somebody.

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!

Let's Go Back To Walden Pond

One of the most romanticized versions of an author that I've come across is how people thought of Thoreau in regards to Walden Pond. Just a man, alone, out in the wilderness getting in touch with his inner creativity, and working to let it flow. It's held up as this idea of what being a writer should be, and of the sacrifice and isolation that the profession demands of people who create truly great work.

The problem is, like so many myths, it's bullshit.

While Thoreau was sitting out in the shack, which was on a friend's property, his mom was doing his laundry and making his lunches. He wasn't some literary genius who was out in nature, cut off from society while he struggled to realize his artistic vision... he was some guy who had a solid support structure who was given the time and permission to write.

And that's just one example.

Though this may not be the most direct example of what I'm talking about, the truth is that none of us are out here doing things all by our lonesome. Even if we're the ones putting the words on the page, there are usually a lot of other people who help get a book published and out to the masses. Maybe it's your friend that helps you work through plot holes, or your writers' group who gave you encouragement and assistance in cleaning up certain passages. It might be your beta readers who caught your historical inaccuracies, your editor who got rid of all your dangling participals, your cover artist, your layout person, your marketing planner... anyone who helped lend a hand or a shoulder to help you push this book up the hill!

Can you do some of these jobs yourself? Or might there be certain positions you don't need for your book? Sure, everyone's process is unique! However, successful books are rarely the product of a single set of fingerprints, and it's okay to admit that.

You aren't less of a writer because you paid an editor to look over your manuscript. It's normal for writers to commission their covers during self publishing, or to have their publisher create a book cover if they're being traditionally published. Most of us actively work with other people to help figure out some kind of promotion plan for our books, if not outright paying for a book tour to help us get the word out about what we're doing (assuming you don't have a publisher that's taking care of that for you).

No man is an island, and the authors who literally handle every, single aspect of a book by themselves are the exceptions that prove the rule. While there might be one name on the cover, the credits page inside, and the dedication, make it clear that most of us had a lot of help along the way... even if it was just someone doing our laundry and making us chicken sandwiches from time to time.

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!