Just Because I'm Not Writing Novels, That Doesn't Mean I Stopped Writing Fiction

I announced a little while back in So My Novels Have Been Unpublished (For Now) that the 3 novels of mine that have been unpublished should start coming back into print under a new publisher sometime this fall, and with luck all three of them will be back on the market by the end of the year. In addition to those 3 novels, though, I have one self-published dagger-and-witchcraft novel, as well as a collection of short stories that are still in-print, and those are all the physical books of my work currently out in the world.

Over the past year and change, however, I've had more than a few folks ask me when I'm going to put out a new novel. Will I write another noir cat mystery? More grim sci fi? Or will I show up with an entirely new premise?

Sadly, it's unlikely that I'll be writing novels for several years to come, if at all, again. And I wanted to talk about why that is, while also mentioning that just because I'm not writing novels that doesn't mean I've stopped writing fiction.

If anything, I put out more of that than ever these days.

And even better, a lot of it is free!

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!

Struggles and Realities

Full disclosure for folks who don't know, and thought the name of my blog was just a quirky little joke, but I'm a professional writer. This is my job, day in, and day out. And over the past decade or so, my margins have gotten thinner, and thinner with regards to what kind of earnings I need to justify my time and energy. And I know that, for me, writing a novel takes anywhere from 8 to 12 months for the rough draft, another month or so to edit it, and then once I turn it over to the publisher I've got between 3 and 12 months before it hits the market.

So writing a novel is an investment of somewhere between a year and two years of effort. And given that I tend to write them at around 500 words at a time, well, that's not that big of a deal, is it? Can I just not find time for that in my packed schedule?

No, actually. I can't. Not anymore.

Let me run you through what goes on behind the scenes.

During an average day I spend several hours on social media promotion (honestly it's one of the most frustrating tasks that is one of the most necessary for paying my bills). Then I have to add material to the two tabletop RPG supplements I have to turn in every month (because those have both an up-front payment and a royalty attached to them, so they're a priority). I update one of the two blogs I run (which are funded through my Patreon, and whose links earn me additional money if I make a sale through them). I record/edit video for the Azukail Games YouTube channel, The A.L.I.C.E. Files, or sometimes both. If I have any time left at the end of the day, I will work on a fiction assignment for a client if I have one, because when I hand those in, there's a check in my hand.

With all of that, I have enough free time to eat a few meals a day, go to the downstairs gym 3 times a week, and attend my bi-weekly RPG session for 2 evenings out of the month. That's it. My day starts when I roll out of bed, and it doesn't end until somewhere between midnight and 1 in the morning, depending on when I put the final words on that day's last project.

Now, this isn't me saying that I don't want to write novels anymore, or that I'm just not up to the task. If anything, I'd love to crack my knuckles, sit down with an outline, and get back to work on a full-sized book again. And if my books find an audience when they're re-released? If a good marketing campaign causes a booktok stir, or for some reason everyone starts paying attention to them? Well, if I don't have to cram so much stuff into every, single day, then I might just be able to find a little bit of room in my schedule to start working on another book.

I've got outlines and plots for days. Somewhere between 20 and 30 of them, at last glance through my notebooks. I could do nothing but write novels between now and whenever I die, and I'd probably still have more I wanted to write... but thanks to capitalism, that's not going to happen without folks out there raising a clamor, boosting the signal, and getting their friends into my fan club.

A Novel's Worth of Text Has Gone Into "The A.L.I.C.E. Files"

While I've written at least 17 RPG supplements this year, as well as 4 short stories, and a slew of blog entries, one thing I've been pouring a lot of work into is the ongoing audio drama of The A.L.I.C.E. Files. I launched this YouTube channel with Alice Liddell earlier this year, and we were hoping to grow it into a monetized channel where we could tell stories, dramatize some parts of our own books, and provide a fun tale for listeners to follow.

Well, I just finished editing the final episode for Season 1, and by my calculations, there's at least a novel worth of text that's been put on the screen thus far... and that's just for the main series plot. Alice herself has narrated the entirety of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland as a companion piece, and she's just started in on Through The Looking Glass to make sure folks don't run out of things to enjoy.

I bring this up here for folks who wonder where I've been putting my efforts, and what I've been making, because this is a project that's free, a little experimental for me, and that I've put a lot of sweat and thought into. However, it's also on a ticking time clock. You see, we need to get 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 public watch hours on this channel by the end of 2026, because in 2027, requirements to get a channel monetized are doubling. I mentioned more details in my recent post Thanks To YouTube's Recent Announced Changes, The A.L.I.C.E. Files Needs Your Help!, but I wanted to try to raise awareness of this again.

Especially since we're currently at 362 subscribers and we're just shy of 1,500 watched hours... so we really need folks to help us pull this one out before we run out of time, and find ourselves trapped between a rock and a hard place.

So if you could, please:

- Subscribe to The A.L.I.C.E. Files

- Watch all our episodes (preferably without a VPN or ad blocker on, as those hours get ignored by YT)

- Leave upvotes and comments (especially if you have theories on the ARG elements going on in the stories).

- Share the links on social media, and tell your friends about the series

I have plans for at least a second season of the show, where I'd like to expand the format, the cast, and more... but all of this is going to be dependent on audience interaction, demand, and whether we can hit our numbers.

So if you can help, please do! And if there are other small creators you want to see succeed, do these things for their channels as well. It makes a huge difference at the end of the day!

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)

- The A.L.I.C.E. Files (an audio drama channel I launched with Alice Liddell)

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 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 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.

So My Novels Have Been Unpublished (For Now)

I've been sitting on this update for a little while because I've been waiting for all the particulars to shake out. However, since things seem to have (mostly) settled down I wanted to take some time this week to bring my readers up to date on what is happening with my novels, and what's happening with my career as a fiction writer. Also, if you're inclined to check out some of my work that you might have missed and which is still very much available, I'll have links to that at the end.

Okay. Deep breath. Let's dive in!

 

There's a lot to unpack here...

 

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!

All Right, What The Hell Is Going On Here?

As regular readers (and anyone that's seen me at a convention) know, in addition to all the RPG writing I do, I also have half a dozen books on the market. Short story collections and novels are always available at my table... however, three of my novels are currently off the market, and it's not looking like they're going to be back for a little while. 

How did this happen? Well let's begin at the beginning, shall we?

It was the year 2020 when I was first published by Eric Flint's Ring of Fire. That publisher put out three of my novels, Marked Territory, Painted Cats, and Old Soldiers. And that was overall a positive experience, and I was looking forward to being a part of that house... sadly, it only lasted a few years before we lost Eric Flint, and the company came apart afterward. Fortunately for me some of the folks who's been a part of that publishing house reached out to me, and helped me get my books picked up and republished.

This is the start of the rollercoaster, so follow the timeline with me!

- 2023: My books are republished by Untreed Reads.

- 2024: Untreed Reads (and the parent company Top of The World Publishing) are acquired by Histria Books.

- 2026: Histria decides to start cutting authors out of their catalog, returning rights en masse.

So in the past 6 years my novels have showed up under 3 different publishers, they've been given at least 2 different covers each, and I've had to contact half a dozen different individuals just to get author copies to bring to conventions... and what's worst of all is that I've made something like $50 from these books in sales thanks to the constant publishing, unlisting, relisting, and needing to direct readers to completely different catalogs to find my titles.

The pressure is climbing, let me tell you.

Now, this saga does have a happy ending (fingers crossed) which is part of why I'm writing this update. All three of my titles have been picked up by Misti Media, which has put out titles like (I Just) Died in Your Arms: Crime Fiction Inspired By One-Hit Wonders as well as its sequel Lunatic Fringe: More Crime Fiction Inspired By One-Hit Wonders. And while it seems that Leo and Pollux will be in good company with titles like that, sadly, these things take time. By which I mean to say, my titles likely won't be back in circulation until sometime this fall at the earliest, or just in time for Christmas if things get in the way of that timeline.

I Do Have Plenty of Other Fiction Out There, However

While I very much want all of my books back on the market, I do have other fiction on offer... and if you haven't checked out these titles, I'd recommend you give them a gander. It should keep you busy between now and this Autumn, and if you haven't given these a look, I'd appreciate a boost to my numbers!

- Crier's Knife: My dagger-and-witchcraft fantasy novel, we follow Dirk Crier as he is sent forth from his mountain home to find his wayward cousin and bring him back... but also to make sure those who harmed him learn why the people around Ben Morgh say only a dead man crosses a Crier.

- The Rejects: A short story collection of mine, this book contains all the stories I've written that were always bridesmaids, but never brides. From trolls that eat child molesters, to angels in Los Angeles, to serial killers stalking the personal ads, there's a little bit of everything in here.

- Tales From The Moot: A tie-in collection for Werewolf: The Apocalypse, I was one of the main drivers behind this anthology. I wrote the introductory fiction, as well as the Silver Fang story Late Bloomer, and many of the other tales were contributed by talented people I tapped to help make the project a reality.

If you're in the market for fresh fiction, but you don't have any money to spare, then I'd highly recommend checking out The A.L.I.C.E. Files. This is an ongoing audio drama podcast by myself and Alice Liddell as we bring our stories (and others) to life, while weaving a narrative about the mysterious, dimensional-exploring organization known as the Carroll Institute. And if you enjoy audio dramas and RPG fiction, I highly recommend heading over to The Azukail Games YouTube channel and checking out the 50+ audio stories I've contributed there as well!

Lastly, if you want some more free fiction (both fan stories and original tales), then I highly recommend checking out my contributions in the Vocal communities Fiction and Futurism! There's probably two dozen stories on there that are completely open for readers, and every read puts a penny in my pocket, so if you read something you like make sure you share it around on your own socials to help fellow fiction enthusiasts find it!

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)

- The A.L.I.C.E. Files (an audio drama channel I launched with Alice Liddell)

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 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 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.

Writers Can't Take Breaks (Because The Wheels Don't Stop)

I do a lot of complaining, both on my platforms, and on my socials. Because sometimes it's important to open the vents, and let some pressure out so the engine can keep working. However, time and time again I find myself getting well-meaning comments from folks out there about how I should take a break. Go on vacation. Just set everything down and breathe for a little bit. I need to stop working so hard, and all this stress can't be good for me.

And while the diagnosis about what I (and so many of my fellow creators) am dealing with is accurate, the suggested course of treatment is a death sentence. Because we need to rest, relax, and stop pumping every bit of energy we have into this struggle, yes... but the only way to do that is if something breaks out way, and we can be successful.

Because we live inside a machine that eats money, and if we can't feed it, it will kill us. I am not being hyperbolic here... that is literally the stakes most of us are playing for.

And the machine is hungrier with every passing day.

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!

No Days Off For Good Behavior

So, this is where I want to discuss the problem of how people in the audience don't usually understand how creators make money. This is a topic that needs to be understood by folks who wonder why it is authors, artists, YouTubers, etc. are working themselves to the point of burnout every day.

We don't do this because we like to. We do it because it's a necessity. We would love to stop, but like sharks, if we stop then we die.

Hey, have you heard about my Patreon?

I know a lot of folks are academically aware of this, but creative professionals generally don't make money the way other folks do. Because most people either earn an hourly wage, or they make a salary, meaning that you are compensated for the amount of time you work. Creators, though, don't have that. We get paid either based on the project (meaning that we get a check in-hand once the work is complete and we turn it in), or we get paid based on the amount of activity our work generates.

An example of the former was that when I accepted a writing assignment for the project Night Horrors: Primordial Peerage, I was paid 6 cents per word when I turned in my portion of the book. And it didn't matter if I wrote those assignments in 1 day, or 30 days, I was paid the same amount of money for it. And with projects like my article Henchmen And Goons, I earn money based on how many people actually read the article; if no one reads it, I don't make anything. And while I earn 30% of the sales for any of my 100 Kinfolk supplements, if no one actually buys them, I don't make any money off of them.

All of that is to say that when it comes to our earnings as creators, the amount of work we put in is often wildly disproportionate to the amount of money we make. Because we could put weeks, or months of work into a project, but if no one reads it, watches it, or buys it, then that was all shoveled into a hole to disappear forever with no return on that investment. And we might put only a few hours into something, but if it explodes for no reason that we can put our fingers on, it doesn't matter, because we still get paid.

I had that with my video essay The Problem With Pentex, which is still the most-watched thing on the Azukail Games YouTube channel.

And if you are lucky as a creator, and something you made goes viral, you can afford to take a few days off. If you get really lucky, you might even be able to lower your overall output, because when more people are watching your videos, buying your books, or reading your articles, you have a steady stream of money flowing into your bank account, which allows you to relax a bit.

But if you don't have that, then you're just spending entire days earning no money. That's stressful as hell, I can tell you from first-hand experience.

The thing to keep in mind here is that if you're a creator who already has a loyal fan base, or has popular material out there that pulls in regular sales, you're already not stressed. You're probably even saving a little money for a rainy day. The creators you see who are pulling 10+ hour days, and releasing content on a ridiculous scale and schedule, taking no time for themselves, and not leaving the house? The problem those creators have is that they aren't making enough money to cover their bills, and to buy them the security they need to take a break, or let their foot off the gas a little bit. We aren't addicted to working... we aren't being paid enough to stop.

And if you want them to be able to afford the rest that you acknowledge they need, then you (and all the other folks who want them to rest) are the only people who can make that happen.

Care And Feeding Of Your Creators

I've said this so many times that my soap box is starting to get serious wear and tear, but I'm going to say it again because there's folks out there who don't seem to have gotten the message yet. Authors (and other creators) don't make money because of how hard we work. We make money because of the amount of support our audience gives us. Period, flat out, that's the way the machine works.

It does no matter how much we write, or what kinds of projects we make... if no one buys our books, reads our articles, etc., then it's all for nothing. And it is people like you, the audience who actually make up the numbers we receive which determines our earnings at the end of the day.

So if you want that creator you love to be able to buy food, pay their bills, and rest, ask yourself what you're doing to make that happen... because your efforts are what matter!

And if you don't know what you can do to help a creator, well, consider all of the following steps.

If You Have Money To Spend

- Buy their books/merch

- Send them a tip on Ko-Fi

- Become a Patreon patron

If You Don't Have Money To Spend

- Subscribe to all their socials (bigger subscriber numbers make the algorithm support a creator)

- Comment on and share the posts they make (this also makes others likely to see them)

- Consume their free content (watch YT videos, read blogs, etc., with ad block off to get them paid)

It might not sound like a lot, but creators generally don't have huge needs. As long as they're making enough money to pay the rent, keep the power on, and maybe go out for tacos every now and again, they will keep making stuff... but it takes a dedicated group of at least 50-100 folks just helping boost their signal and regularly consuming their content to actually make the wheels turn.

And yes, that takes some effort on your part as a fan. You need to visit creator's pages, make sure you leave comments, upvote them, and help spread the signal... but we literally cannot do it on our own. We are basically trees, rooted to the spot. We're trying to make the tastiest-looking seeds possible, but we need you to act as the wind the scatters them, or the animals that consume them to spread them out far and wide.

Because unless you do, we're probably going to wither and die. Maybe literally (especially for those of us who have medical debt to pay off), or maybe figuratively... but if your favorite creator has to stop creating because they're forced to work a minimum wage job that leaves them no time to make videos, write books, or do anything else... what's the functional difference from where you're sitting?

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)

- The A.L.I.C.E. Files (an audio drama channel I launched with Alice Liddell)

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 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.

Avoid Putting Asides In Your Stories (Without Careful Consideration, At Least)

It can sometimes be difficult to get information directly to the audience. After all, you can show them an entire scene, describe everything perfectly, and insinuate the threads you want them to weave together, but there will still be some folks who just don't get it. A common device used in stage productions, and even in some TV shows, is the Aside; those times when a character will speak directly to the audience, usually voicing unspoken thoughts that aren't heard by the rest of the characters onstage or in the scene with them.

 

While asides are a viable tool, it's important to ask yourself if it's the right tool to bring across the proper feeling for your story. Because like a lot of other things adapted from more visual mediums, it can often backfire when you try to use it in text.

 

Sometimes you don't need to swing a hammer, you know?

 

But before I get into the meat of today's post, remember, don't forget to sign up for my 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! Also, be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree.

Lastly, for hundreds of extra articles on gaming, weird history, and for more free fiction, check out my Vocal archive, too!

Should You Set Asides To The Side?

We've all read fiction where we have the protagonist (or at least the point of view character) talking directly to us. Sometimes it's direct 4th wall breaking, like we see in Deadpool or She Hulk comic books, but other times it's just reading the direct thoughts of the protagonist in the form of an inner monologue. And while this is an established way of doing things, it's worth asking if this is the way you want your book to read.

 

It's all about the tone, here...

 

The main reason this is worth asking yourself is because asides have a tendency of cutting through tension, and giving you a method to tell your audience what's happening in your character's own words, rather than trying to show it through descriptions and actual dialogue. And while that can be expedient, it can also make it more difficult to take a story seriously, or to build proper tension.

For this reason it's important to consider what the benefits of an aside are in your story, what the drawbacks are, and how naturally an aside slips into your narration.

 

For instance, if you're writing a story from a first-person perspective, then asides will feel pretty natural even if they don't take the form of dialogue. On the other hand, having asides in third-person requires a third-person omniscient perspective, or for the asides to come from the narrator, as who else would have the ability to see into the minds of the cast in order to deliver these asides to the reader?

 

The key question you need to ask is how do you want to limit your readers' access to information, or present them with particular perspectives? Because if you are getting asides from the POV character, but no one else, you're still limited to their perspective, which can allow you to keep certain facts behind the curtain, so to speak, until they're presented in prose or dialogue. If you are able to present asides from different characters as the narrator, this can be used to enhance dread or tragedy as the reader sees the big picture, but also knows that the characters don't. And asides can also be used to tell jokes, turning the tool itself into a form of comedy.

This last is actually one of the most common uses for asides in books, and it's for that reason it isn't always advisable to use them. Because it can sometimes be difficult to deliver an aside without it feeling like a joke. Even if you have a literal Greek chorus that's intoning doom and tragedy, making an aside that straight-faced can also feel like a joke... and if that's not your intent, it can be a serious problem.

 

So, to reiterate the thrust of today's post, asides are a perfectly functional tool. So is a 12-pound sledgehammer. And in a task requiring that tool, and its lack of subtlety, it's absolutely the right choice for the job. If it isn't, though, then it's probably a better idea to use a tool with more finesse in order to get the job done.

 

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)

- The A.L.I.C.E. Files (a channel full of short stories, many of which are mine)

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!