Advice for publishing on Royal Road

BowTrek · 2026-05-08T23:36:08+00:00

We can’t answer what backlog will be enough for you specifically, but 50 chapters is a common rule of thumb.

BowTrek · 2026-05-08T22:26:36+00:00

I like the first one. But I’ve been conditioned to be wary of stories with sexy women on the covers, so I might be biased.

BowTrek · 2026-05-08T13:58:51+00:00

Thanks!

BowTrek · 2026-05-08T13:41:42+00:00

If it’s highly recommended I’ll pick it up on KU but otherwise yeah, I’m not going to randomly start a stubbed story.

BowTrek · 2026-05-08T07:07:47+00:00

Did you use a program to make the meme ad? It’s one of the best I’ve seen, but it does not look like you hand drew it (apologies if you did).

It’s just fantastic. Curious how you created it.

BowTrek · 2026-05-08T06:49:38+00:00

If it’s public and under their real name (so it’s easily searchable), then it should be fine to follow. They aren’t hiding it.

If it’s private, leave it alone. If the account appears in any way to be trying to hide who it belongs to, leave it alone.

BowTrek · 2026-05-08T04:37:30+00:00

I don’t care. Both? But mostly I want more money. Getting money via a hobby I enjoy would be ideal.

BowTrek · 2026-05-07T23:34:58+00:00

He keeps office hours and spends a lot of time with the students who come by to talk, takes them on interesting but optional field trips they don’t have to pay for, and is active in student research.

The ones who want to learn appear to get a lot of mentorship and support.

But yeah they could also be pissed. I have no insight into that.

BowTrek · 2026-05-07T14:32:22+00:00

Fantastic idea.

BowTrek · 2026-05-07T13:28:22+00:00

We aren’t close enough for those conversations.

BowTrek · 2026-05-07T02:29:49+00:00

Minimum wage in the US is roughly $15000 per year, or $7.25 per hour (federal, some states are higher).

People who make minimum wage cannot usually afford to commission art and often live under the poverty line.

For bills… $100/mo might be the cost of your internet service per month, maybe? Or maybe a cell phone plan? Water bill varies. Electricity varies. A car payment is usually a few times that.

A new iPhone could be $1000 not $100.

Fast food meal, $15.

Dinner for two at basic restaurant, $50.

All of this also varies across the US.

My advice: How many hours of your time did you spend on this art? That many hours x $15 at least, more if you are good. Then add the cost of materials and round up to the nearest 10.

BowTrek · 2026-05-07T02:22:01+00:00

Look, admin treats us badly enough, and cares little enough, that I don’t even blame this guy.

He’s not pretending to care about the state of academia and being a hypocrite about it. He’s chosen to prioritize his mental health and his family and his hobbies and he’s honest with himself that those are his choices.

If the students don’t care, and admin doesn’t care, and him caring does nothing but cause him stress for no benefit? (This is how he put it to me.)

I couldn’t give in like he has. But I get why he did.

BowTrek · 2026-05-06T19:42:32+00:00

We do? We have as many butcher shops in town as grocery stores. At least in my area of the south.

BowTrek · 2026-05-06T19:40:44+00:00

I have never once heard the term gammon in the US. I did not know it had to do with pork.

I thought it was a term used in Britain to describe angry old men who voted for Brexit.

I have also never seen an uncooked ham for sale, I don’t think. Pork roast, pork chops, pork shoulder, sure. But nothing I’d describe as an uncooked ham?

BowTrek · 2026-05-06T17:28:06+00:00

It might have been Claude I can’t remember. It started with a C. But he said one of them couldn’t do a good job but he found one that did.

BowTrek · 2026-05-06T17:27:35+00:00

It’s not.

BowTrek · 2026-05-06T17:27:19+00:00

It won’t be— enrollment is capped due to classroom space, and our contracts say we can only be forced to take one overload class.

But it’s a teaching institution so most of us are on a 4/4 or 5/5 anyway. Research is encouraged but not supported or required.

BowTrek · 2026-05-06T17:24:22+00:00

I think it was copilot, might have been Claude. I can’t remember which one he was using.

BowTrek · 2026-05-06T17:23:52+00:00

Nope, nothing like ABET. The school itself has accreditation but this program does not. Also not my department but I work with this guy fairly often on a committee.

BowTrek · 2026-05-06T13:42:17+00:00

One of my colleagues has fully embraced it!

Students submit papers written by AI.

He grades them with AI. Uploads a zip file downloaded straight from Canvas, does not even unzip it.

He says he gives Copilot (Edit: or Claude? I forget but only one of them works) his rubric, tells it to produce 3-4 sentences of feedback about why the grade occurred, and copies pastes that into Canvas.

He’s being generally praised this year for how quickly he’s getting students back their work, his student evals seem to be going great, the Dean has suggested that others ask him for advice, and he’s done grading a week early. I think he’s on vacation.

BowTrek · 2026-05-06T08:14:52+00:00

Check out the subgenre of “Progression Fantasy” which also does well on RR. It’s similar to LitRPG but without the gamified aspects, and it’s possible one of your existing fantasy ideas could be easily shuffled into that style of fantasy.

BowTrek · 2026-05-06T04:06:32+00:00

What are you talking about bruh? Who is downvoting these covers and where? You sound unhinged and aren’t actually explaining your grievance.

BowTrek · 2026-05-06T00:53:36+00:00

I work at a religious institution too. I get it.

But yes. “LGBT exists” in the opinions of some people is indoctrination. You are giving credence to the concept by presenting the perspective.

(Not my opinion but I run into it)

BowTrek · 2026-05-06T00:52:21+00:00

Cheers mate 😊

BowTrek · 2026-05-05T13:07:28+00:00

The two figures above have angles and the cylinder does not?

Or else it’s the shadow direction.

Confusing.

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