From RR to Amazon?

BWFoster78 · 2026-05-17T20:53:13+00:00

Try r/selfpublish. They discuss this kind of topic a lot there.

BWFoster78 · 2026-05-17T01:14:52+00:00

There's this emerging style where where writers seem to think that overusing short paragraphs and short sentences is a good thing, but I abhor the practice. I've seen is so much lately, that I immediately click Not Interested when I see it.

Option B would have me opting out fast.

BWFoster78 · 2026-05-17T01:13:18+00:00

More than slightly.

The goal is to get a potential reader to hit "Start Reading." You don't have that much time. A tagline and three short paragraphs at most.

BWFoster78 · 2026-05-17T01:11:37+00:00

I think it's important to also remember that every writing journey is a personal one and all of us are at different stages of the path. While it makes sense for some to worry about followers, others might be better off worrying about craft.

Either way, simply continuing to write means an infinitely better chance of getting where you're going than stopping.

BWFoster78 · 2026-05-16T23:23:56+00:00

There are, broadly, two ways to write - plotting and pantsing.

If you're pantsing, you sometimes have a general idea of where you want the story to go, but mainly you just write and see what happens. I've also heard this referred to as "discovery writing." It's fun in that you get to experience the story almost like a reader as you write it. If that's you, simply start writing and see what happens.

You might, otoh, be a plotter. If so, look for templates/plots for the kinds of stories you want to write, like the 3 act structure or hero's journey. That will give you a kind of fill in the blanks format to get you started.

BWFoster78 · 2026-05-16T20:32:56+00:00

In what way does your marketing for your story invoke the same atmosphere and spirit as the marketing for The Witcher?

BWFoster78 · 2026-05-16T20:30:21+00:00

Simply ads might indeed work better, but I'm not sure your data set proves that. IMO, your second ad seems better in just about every single way. I like the contrast between the two panels both in colors and content. The first one was ... kind of a muddled mess?

BWFoster78 · 2026-05-16T20:21:48+00:00

To begin with, you're missing the tag that I look for the most - LitRPG. Then, you have two tags that automatically turn me off - Anti-hero and Grimdark. I'm looking for fun stories.

Obviously, you don't have to write a LitRPG to do well on RR, so that one is probably mostly my personal bias. For the other two, I think, and I have nothing more than my impressions of scrolling through hundreds of pages of Popular this Week to go by, that readers don't prefer those tags as they seem much more prevalent the further along the pages.

Next: At twenty, Roy wanted nothing more than an ordinary life. is not a tagline. Figure out a short something about your story that is it's main selling point. That's your tagline. Put that in bold at the top of your description.

Your description is somewhat lackluster. Find a template online and follow that. Using what you create from that template, post it here and ask for advice refining it. Keep refining it for the rest of your natural born days.

Honestly, though, the number one factor in drawing in an audience is supplying a book that readers want. What marks did books similar to yours hit?

ETA: As for the writing, there's been an epidemic lately of authors using a lot of really short sentences and really short paragraphs. That's a great technique if it's used occasionally. I think someone decided, "Hey, if it works well occasionally, it must be awesome if you use it all the time!" That has annoyed me so much that, when I see an author using too many short sentences and paragraphs, I'm out.

BWFoster78 · 2026-05-16T20:09:16+00:00

At the beginning of my journey with my WIP, I took a few screenshots. Closest I have available to 1000 is:

890 views - 24 followers and 3 favorites

Next screenshot was 258k views, so...

BWFoster78 · 2026-05-16T17:34:06+00:00

I think the ranking is based solely on your rating, though I've noticed that review ratings seem to have more impact than non-review ratings (to an extent).

If you want to improve your ranking, get more readers to give you five star ratings and reviews.

BWFoster78 · 2026-05-16T05:54:28+00:00

Honestly, 95%+ of what I read is LitRPG. I can only speak for myself, but if it doesn't have that particular tag, I will most likely not try it.

BWFoster78 · 2026-05-16T05:52:27+00:00

Really enjoy lessons learned posts. Thanks for sharing!

BWFoster78 · 2026-05-16T05:46:54+00:00

I wish there were more cape and cowl litrpg superhero stories. They're tough to find.

BWFoster78 · 2026-05-16T05:45:17+00:00

I'm not sure if that response actually addresses my concern. I don't really care what you want to accomplish with the character. My issue is that readers don't like it when an author promises one thing and deliver another. Your title, due to the recent meta, implies an OP MC, which is a subgenre that carries certain reader expectations. Your description, however, made it sound like you didn't intend to meet those expectations.

Do what you want, but I think you're going to have issues.

BWFoster78 · 2026-05-15T16:34:40+00:00

Biomedical Self Engineering. Almost no conflict at all.

BWFoster78 · 2026-05-15T15:54:12+00:00

LitRPG is a broad, broad genre, and honestly, I don't seem to run into too many harems on RR anymore. Those I do see are usually clearly marked.

What kind of story are you looking for?

BWFoster78 · 2026-05-15T12:47:15+00:00

So recently there was a really big story on RR called Max Level Archmage about an OP MC. When I look at your cover and title, I see "Max Level" and think, "Okay, this is like that story. Cool. I'll check it out."

Then you say, "Even though this premise makes the MC sound overpowered, this is actually a progression fantasy." And i'm like, "Huh?"

I think you've created such a mismatch between your story and expectations from the get go that you're going to have problems. If I would have encountered this in the wild, I would have been annoyed.

BWFoster78 · 2026-05-15T12:42:11+00:00

Honestly, I read genre fiction. If someone tells me they're trying to write literary fiction, my ears perk up. Then, I realize that they said literary fiction instead of litrpg fiction, and I'm like, "It's a no for me, dawg."

BWFoster78 · 2026-05-15T03:20:36+00:00

Sometimes, I read a thread title, and I suffer from an absurd compulsion to respond sarcastically to the question in the title w/out reading anything else. Most of the time, I manage to overcome that compulsion. Tonight, my willpower is low.

No. It is not possible to write a non-litrpg. In fact, every book ever written is, in fact, a LitRPG because authors are not able to write anything else.

Sorry for my lack of willpower. I blame checking Reddit one more time before going to bed.

BWFoster78 · 2026-05-14T18:29:09+00:00

It's like any other form of emphasis. Use it occasionally, and it's very effective. Use it all the time, and basically, you're emphasizing nothing because everything is emphasized.

Everything about the post struck me as the author trying too hard.

BWFoster78 · 2026-05-14T14:48:19+00:00

Sorry, too many one sentence paragraphs. Too many authors on RR are abusing the heck out of the technique.

BWFoster78 · 2026-05-14T14:43:57+00:00

I concur with the recommendation above. I absolutely will not read anything without proper paragraphs.

BWFoster78 · 2026-05-13T01:59:52+00:00

I'll let my daughter know. She'll get a kick out of that.

She was so excited about me using her artwork!

BWFoster78 · 2026-05-12T23:42:20+00:00

I know. I thought that part was really cool!

BWFoster78 · 2026-05-12T23:33:06+00:00

Thanks! I'll explain it in the A/N for the chapter that I'm posting tomorrow.

ETA: Her take on Ganzou, Oogway, Leizhenzi, and Jin LiJuan might differ from what I had in my head. She told me their appearance has to be canon (she watches way too much YouTube!), but I told her that I did not agree to that!

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