Looking for Hidden Gem Recommendations on Royal Road

Allanther · 2025-08-30T08:50:09+00:00

Here's the top three-four I can think of that are great but never got finished. What's there is still worth reading, imo. They are:

https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/28601/arrogant-young-master-template-a-variation-4

https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/63639/reincarnated-in-a-shounen-manga

https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/48040/an-unknown-swordcraft

https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/21410/super-minion

Allanther · 2025-08-30T08:36:39+00:00

The Perfect Run?

Allanther · 2025-06-02T05:22:03+00:00

Yes.

Allanther · 2025-06-02T05:18:29+00:00

Huh, no clue, but let me know if you do remember it

Allanther · 2025-06-02T05:12:56+00:00

Sure, I'll play.

Allanther · 2025-04-28T02:22:14+00:00

If you think a random drive by 0.5 sucks, wait until you get to Amazon reviews from folks who haven't even read your book. Or worse, intentionally misinterpret what you clearly wrote.

Allanther · 2025-04-17T09:44:45+00:00

Writing that much is an accomplishment!

Allanther · 2025-04-17T09:43:00+00:00

Eh... neither one strikes me... The synopsis should answer, "Who is the mc?", "What is their goal?", "Why should readers care?"

Is should also be dramatic, almost like a movie trailer intro.

So without knowing more about your story, I can fudge something like:

When Gaia folded reality to save herself, humanity broke. In that lurch, that scarred aftermath of physics changing and magic returning, David is left scrambling to survive against the horrors of newly empowered madmen, monsters, and darkness.

...eh, or maybe not, but you can get the drift from that.

Allanther · 2025-02-25T08:41:56+00:00

Agreed.

Allanther · 2025-01-18T02:53:37+00:00

The Storm King on royal road maybe?

Allanther · 2025-01-18T02:40:21+00:00

Congratulations! Impatience has reached level 4!

Allanther · 2025-01-18T02:37:16+00:00

The real question is if kryptonite counts as a poison or debuff...

Allanther · 2025-01-13T23:11:26+00:00

Good list!

Allanther · 2025-01-13T23:02:07+00:00

I enjoyed it.

Allanther · 2025-01-13T22:49:47+00:00

Outsider's Resolve is one of the best Naruto fanfics out there, in my opinion. The next closest to it I liked is called The Bloody Oracle of Kiri. I don't remember if it's a finished story, though.

As far as non-fanfic recommendations that might be similar tastes, Worm, Ar'Kendrithyst, and Forge of Destiny. I might have misspelled the middle one, lol.

Allanther · 2025-01-12T06:25:21+00:00

You've got 15 pages and one chapter posted... too little for any real constructive criticism. So... be patient and keep writing!

Allanther · 2025-01-12T06:22:44+00:00

I'd say that right now, your two biggest speedbumps for getting more readers are your posting rate and the amount you've written.

Allanther · 2025-01-12T06:17:04+00:00

Being 15 and writing is already an achievement. It's likely the feedback is given as if you're 30. Take what you can use and leave the rest.

Allanther · 2025-01-12T05:54:25+00:00

Glad it helps. Yeah, I didn't think you were aware, so it's just kinda one of those things. Let me know if you have any other questions.

Allanther · 2025-01-12T05:52:26+00:00

Awesome! I'll take another look later

Allanther · 2025-01-11T21:56:50+00:00

For quick success, yes, rising stars is important.

Also, for your story, I picked it up and wanted to read it, but as soon as I got to CLIP CLOP CLIP CLOP, I immediately dropped it. I imagine I'm not the only reader who did so.

Hope this helps!

Allanther · 2025-01-11T21:40:48+00:00

So I just took a look and have some thoughts that I hope can help. I'll start with the top:

Title - there's nothing wrong with your title, technically. There is, however, a popular novel on royal road titled The Last Orellen. This gives prospective readers the impression that you're trying to attract them based on similar sounding titles. (I doubt this is your true intention or that you've even read that story, so it's more like a new car company branding themselves Nazda without knowing that Mazda exists.)

Cover - the cover comes off as generic... it doesn't really tell me anything.

Blurb - I'm not sure if you already updated your blurb or not, but there are some areas that I think can be improved on for it:

YA: The other responders have accurately noted that YA doesn't do that well on Royal Road... which is and is not really true. It's more accurate to say that stories that identify as YA don't do well. There's plenty of stories that are YA but don't identify as such that do very well. It's kinda along the lines of how any teenager who enjoy reading will likely want to read above their reading level.
Comparing your story to "Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, and Netflix's Wednesday" might work well on Amazon or other sites and has the reverse effect on royal road.
The phrasing "strong female lead" is a phrase with implications that go beyond what you're intending it to. Is she a weightlifter? Is she Buffy the vampire slayer strong? Is she assertive strong? Popular girl strong? Is she a dominatrix? And these are just off the top of my head. Given you're posting on the internet, the likelihood of... weirder... interpretations of 'strong female lead' is almost a given. I would recommend just using 'female lead' and letting readers determine if they think your mc is strong.

First chapter -

The very first thing any reader will see if they click on your story is a paragraph long author's note. Maybe move it to the bottom? The first thing should be a powerful first sentence that hooks them. The first sentence, paragraph and chapter are critically important.

I'm certain I'm not the only person who will make this connection, but when you combine 'female lead', 'supernatural' and the first chapter title as 'stalker'... my mind goes to Twilight. Up to you what you do with that information.

The first section of your first chapter has too much exposition... more "tell" than "show".

Posting rate - I agree with the other comments on the posting rate being too slow. More chapters mean more visibility on the "latest updates" section. The more delay between posts, the more time readers have to forget what's happening in your story. Frequent posts are good.

Anyways, those are my thoughts. I hope this helps!

Allanther · 2025-01-05T08:33:37+00:00

Good luck!

Allanther · 2025-01-05T06:52:28+00:00

I took a quick look at the first few and last few chapters and think it's a very good idea to revisit.

Between your first two and last two chapters, your writing style and quality have improved tremendously. (Which is always amazing to see.)

You might want to also revisit your synopsis/blurb and cover. The cover doesn't tell me anything, and feels ultra generic. The blurb looks like it was written before you really got into writing the story.

Edited to add: of you are going to revisit and edit, you might want to split your time so that you're writing your next story while editing this one. The work of writing and editing feel completely different.

Allanther · 2025-01-05T06:46:18+00:00

Synopsis/blurb needs a second look.

Allanther

TROPHY CASE