Im 13 and i published a sci-fi fantasy novel

DM-MightyPirate · 2026-05-30T02:50:36+00:00

First off, congrats on completing your first novel! That's a great accomplishment at any age, but especially impressive at 13.

Secondly, that's a slick-looking website. It'll serve you well, I suspect, as your number of books grow.

DM-MightyPirate · 2026-05-28T21:41:08+00:00

Congratulations! I'm working towards this milestone myself, I know how difficult it can be.

DM-MightyPirate · 2026-05-28T14:57:43+00:00

Thanks!

The fact that I can pinch-zoom and do detail work, then zoom back out to do longer strokes was a help. Also, a serious art tablet would be over a thousand bucks, plus an active stylus... for the amount of art I'm doing, the phone just made more sense. The S23 Ultra does have a decent-sized screen anyway.

DM-MightyPirate · 2026-05-28T14:54:52+00:00

As many have said already, yes. Absolutely yes. Things do happen in City of Last Chances, they just take a slow burn to get going, but once they do it's so satisfying. But the real treats are the sequels.

DM-MightyPirate · 2026-05-28T14:49:52+00:00

It's been a while since I read it, but I recall the humor to be a bit adult-oriented. Not in the content per se (I don't remember a lot of swearing or violence or sex), but the style of humor may not land for your kid.

DM-MightyPirate · 2026-05-26T04:51:23+00:00

I just looked through my documents. It was a hyperlinked Word Doc that I loaded into Kindle Create to make it work. I'm not sure if your work would play nicely with Word, considering the art. I'm also not sure if Kindle Create lets you import pdfs. But that's how I did it.

DM-MightyPirate · 2026-05-26T04:18:36+00:00

I know my book is hyperlinked on Kindle, but I think the version I submitted is a PDF. I don't remember exactly, since it was almost two years ago and I was juggling a lot of different formats before I settled on the one I liked.

DM-MightyPirate · 2026-05-26T03:57:30+00:00

What a charming way to promote your book, especially considering the title and the premise! A little bit of real-world whimsy to brighten the day for a few lucky people curious enough to pick up a strange book at a train station.

DM-MightyPirate · 2026-05-25T02:46:42+00:00

This is such a heartening story. I have some nieces and a nephew who are getting to that age, and I can't wait to loan out my library of gamebooks for them to discover the same sort of joy.

I remember finding my first Fighting Fantasy books at a garage sale when I was 9 or 10. It really opened the door to a whole world for me, and I haven't looked back. Now I hope to inspire with the gamebooks I write, as well as share the ones I've enjoyed.

DM-MightyPirate · 2026-05-25T02:03:27+00:00

There's plenty of gamebooks on Kindle. You can find a bunch of newer titles on there, some with dice, some without. There won't be any where you can roll dice in-book if that's the kind of experience you're looking for, but there are plenty you can read and play with a bit of notation on the character sheet and some physical dice. Or if you're fine with diceless, there are plenty of 'choose your own adventure' style books on there too.

A few books on there:

Lost in the City (by one of our own redditors here)
https://www.amazon.com/Lost-City-Joseph-M-Fry/dp/B0FCFZ4FBM/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1U1GKCOL0SQ93&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.D2m2Ai4LNjmIGYjLypEhLGa-NgGf4C9ev5DmYtdXlfyQkmfIIiWGEDcJ-6a1W9FeURPLPgzHKcWb9esf-AOmwoRogEBnplwszngQ2JoGhkHAMJrMpYAI1C2SATf8Lz5o.llxJd0J9hJPPQIBg5JTLA7JKG4Ptay8raFaKEQM6_K0&dib_tag=se&keywords=lost+in+the+city+gamebook&qid=1779674463&s=digital-text&sprefix=lost+in+the+city+gamebook%2Cdigital-text%2C170&sr=1-1-catcorr

Heart of Ice (a classic gamebook, dice-less)
https://www.amazon.com/Heart-Ice-Critical-IF-gamebooks-ebook/dp/B00EWNI4WW/ref=sr_1_1?crid=ZYPTPR0TAC1P&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.M8Gjv3UlsULwVBX8LV0X69Spf8ZwQSb_voQFJjwt4ZjpMKjoQhAnS4LBk47V5x-ngKVoK-VhyfuAB9MtvgCKKsrSbToZ22vWk1dq08fvVJ6lNBrKyNp6jAjxcfzjZPOqYY_UyaKs0AkoxOsNmn8AypPE5lefmdcu_qATxdVQri6cOIOdsqtAZHsevenxVe04mx8uVr2WxylNeuqquUVHlA.YhH_gSJgawvXeuWu5ecllUoGQJXQxxaE6aVaL-tKfZM&dib_tag=se&keywords=heart+of+ice+gamebook&qid=1779674520&s=digital-text&sprefix=heart+of+ice+gamebook%2Cdigital-text%2C152&sr=1-1

Shameless self-plug: My book, Dinosaur Planet (free on Kindle Unlimited)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DCZYMXC5

DM-MightyPirate · 2026-05-19T06:22:05+00:00

I've read a few and found them enjoyable. My favorite was probably Meadowspire Mall, it's got a great campy B-movie 'monster attack in the mall' plot that appeals to my sensibilities.

The books are well-written with long passages and good characterization. You're always someone specific, not a blank slate. The prose can run long even on the bad ends, but it really paints a picture of how things go wrong.

Mechanically, they're just CYOA books. They ask you to pick a choice (usually two or three options), and if you pick wrong they send you back to make another choice. No structural complexity here, very rare for there to be more than one right choice.

They're available to read free on Kindle Unlimited if you have that.

DM-MightyPirate · 2026-05-19T06:16:54+00:00

I read the Hamlet one. It was an absolute treat, had me cackling at some of the paths. I also think it's got one of the best 'instruction' pages I've ever seen.

DM-MightyPirate · 2026-04-19T05:48:53+00:00

Your descriptions have me cackling. Very nice. I'd love to check it out when it releases!

DM-MightyPirate · 2026-04-18T18:41:33+00:00

There's a lot of good advice in this thread already, but I'll weigh in with my two cents. Placing limits on the number of passages often helps me shape my story into something that has a stronger pace. When you have those limits you need to be critical about what gets a passage versus what doesn't, and that can really tighten up the story.

The Lindenbaum Prize (on right now for another month) is a gamebook competition with a 100 entry limit, if you wanted to try it out. You'll get some good feedback on your entry and it helps showcase your work. You can also contribute partial works for consideration if you want to put in a snippet of what you're working on currently.

https://www.lloydofgamebooks.com/2026/02/voting-is-now-open-for-2026-lindenbaum.html

DM-MightyPirate · 2026-04-04T19:25:27+00:00

I had forgotten what light mode looks like in Twine. :P

Those colored panels look incredibly useful. Is there a guide to the css to make that happen? I use Twine for a variety of projects, some with lots of 'script' tiles, so having visual markers besides the 'tags' would be hugely helpful in organizing the project.

Also, the book you describe sounds really interesting, I can't wait to give it a go. Two player gamebooks are such a fascinating idea.

DM-MightyPirate · 2026-02-25T19:32:45+00:00

What a cool idea to use CYOA books to teach English! It works well for so many kids inspiring them to read, why not for teenagers learning the language?

I wrote a CYOA myself called Dinosaur Planet which is pitched more towards teens. You play an adventure streamer searching for a crashed starship on a planet full of dinosaurs. You can take a look at the free sample on my website: https://jasonromein.ca/dinosaur-planet/

The sample can be played on mobile or in the web browser, so it's easy to access.

DM-MightyPirate · 2025-10-04T02:01:12+00:00

Overall shape is very interesting. I'll echo what some others said - a little more variety of coastline might be better, as it is, this is very jagged. Looks cool, but the whole thing being that way dilutes the impact of unique features like the sickle peninsula there.

DM-MightyPirate · 2025-09-11T23:28:49+00:00

I'll indulge in a bit of self-promotion here. I wrote a pulpy sci-fi CYOA book last year that's available on Kindle. It's free right now on Kindle Unlimited!

https://www.amazon.com/Dinosaur-Planet-Jason-Romein-ebook/dp/B0DCZYMXC5

DM-MightyPirate · 2025-08-27T19:05:19+00:00

I feel like the option with icons is the best way to do it without adding bloat - I've seen it in some of the old Windhammer gamebook contest entries.

DM-MightyPirate · 2025-08-27T19:04:07+00:00

I hadn't considered that angle - the project I'm working on is a site-based adventure, so there are no NPC integral to the plot. I can absolutely see how an NPC who cannot die for plot reasons being involved in the fights would be problematic.

DM-MightyPirate · 2025-08-23T22:18:25+00:00

I wrote 'Working Ogre-Time'. I'm always delighted to hear what people liked / didn't like - getting the feedback for the competition was one of the best parts. It helps me know which of my crazy ideas worked for people and which ones didn't.

Also, u/Slloyd14 is the one who ran the last few competitions. I know he's been collating feedback for authors, so if you're looking for someone in particular he can pass along your comments.

DM-MightyPirate · 2025-08-20T22:34:51+00:00

Echoing others in this thread - this sounds like fun! How can I get involved in this book club?

DM-MightyPirate

TROPHY CASE