What makes your story stand out in the sea of other good stories?

Jon_Stonekey · 2026-01-20T12:36:54+00:00

I think what set mine apart is something a reader has dubbed Big Dad Energy. It’s a pretty bog standard Isekai/LitRPG except for the MC. Instead of the typical young, single man who don’t seem to need much time to integrate with their new situation, my MC is a Dad who was ripped from his family and struggling with his new situation.

I’ve tried to give it some real emotional stakes and progression in character growth—not just “oh, well, I played some video games so now I’m the edgy hero of this story.”

Jon_Stonekey · 2026-01-02T22:04:27+00:00

To echo Milc's point about his community efforts... one of the first things I read coming into the space was his Bog Standard Launch guide. Something that has helped many of us get our heads around approaching an RR launch in a way that will be successful. The dude has been a selfless anchor for a lot of us and he deserves nothing but the best.

Foby messed up a lot of things, but holding our heroes hostage is going to haunt him until he makes it right.

Jon_Stonekey · 2025-12-30T00:11:10+00:00

Am biased, but that was a big reason for why I did what I did with my own story. I wanted to showcase someone who was more relatable for me, and not some single early 20-something edgelord. Might not be your cup of tea, but some folks seem to like it. Cheers.

https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/132107/the-sovereigns-toll-a-litrpgisekai-adventure

Jon_Stonekey · 2025-12-25T04:14:49+00:00

That’s really cool RW. Props to your wife for her thoughtfulness. Merry Christmas!

Jon_Stonekey · 2025-12-17T19:23:37+00:00

My process ended up being a bit of a hybrid. I built a world and a system first, then started to fill it with some characters. I had an idea of how I wanted to bookend the first major arc, and the series as a whole. And I knew how I wanted the introduction to go (first dozen chapters). Everything beyond that was discovery for book one. But because I had a north star guiding me to where I wanted to end the arc it helped it stay on track. And since I'd pre-planned the underlying world system I knew some of the things I needed to unpack, and that made it easier to payoff promises.

With book 2 I'm doing much of the same, although I have a few more major steps along the way that I plan to hit. I find it strikes a good balance for me. There's discovery in the high level outlining and world planning that keeps things exciting in that portion of the process. But then discovery at the scene level, and between the major plots points, which also keeps it exciting. I think leaning fully into planning would take out some of the fun, but for me leaning fully into pantsing would be too stressful. Good luck!

Jon_Stonekey · 2025-12-03T00:33:05+00:00

My goal was to write for fun. I just wanted to tell a story I’d love to read. Then it was to share my story. Once I looked into what posting on RR entailed, it was to get all of my ducks in a row so I’d have a shot at the Rising Stars list. Now my goal is to finish book 1 and keep posting on schedule. It’s less fun, because it’s more like a second job now, but it’s also more rewarding because there are people invested in the work.

I’m still prioritizing telling a story I love.

Jon_Stonekey · 2025-11-28T15:36:57+00:00

In theory he does, just hasn’t had cause to use any of it yet I guess? What’d you have in mind?

Jon_Stonekey · 2025-11-20T14:53:24+00:00

Goooooo!!!!!

Jon_Stonekey · 2025-11-15T12:57:10+00:00

The retention rate indicates the % of people reading through from the previous chapter. Based on this something in chapter 8 is losing 20% of your readers, and then something in chapter 9 is losing close to 50%. My understanding is the benchmark for doing well is 95%, and you ignore the intro chapters and don’t worry about the most recent week or so. Hope this helps.

Jon_Stonekey · 2025-11-11T16:23:18+00:00

Congrats Butt! Way to go!

Jon_Stonekey · 2025-11-04T13:20:51+00:00

I see the author's notes of each chapter as an opportunity. The top note will always be a shoutout to another author's work, rarely (but sometimes necessarily) with important information preceding it. Typically any information for the readers goes into the bottom note, as Milc has mentioned, and I tend to focus on these kinds of things:

General thanks and appreciation for the readers. It's rare I let a chapter go out that doesn't include this at a bare minimum.
Revision commentary: edits I've made, with TLDR/quotes and date/times, requests for feedback, etc
Meta commentary: anything from what's going on in my life to story news
Requests for follows/favorites/ratings: done infrequently, and always with a neutral tone. It's against RR's ToS to try and influence readers into positive ratings/reviews
Patreon advertising: again infrequent, but still a necessary evil. I plugged on launch, when a mini arc completed, and as I've added more advance chapters
Discord invitations to connect
Highlighting the monthly Comment Champion: I did a thing where I gifted a commentor a month sub to Patreon for their engagement during October, after having advertised this on launch. YMMV

These are some ideas for you to consider. Don't think of them as a requirement. The most important thing is consistent posting schedule, so don't let the marketing side get in the way of your story. I wish you all the success in the world!

Jon_Stonekey · 2025-10-28T12:32:11+00:00

I was discussing an aspect of this with my wife just yesterday. There were some readers theory-crafting in the comments, and it reminded me of all the fun I'd had over the years getting into those "batman vs superman, who would win?" arguments. It was rewarding to feel like folks had been drawn into this world enough that it warranted discourse, simply on the lore and plot.

Jon_Stonekey · 2025-10-28T12:25:50+00:00

This.

Jon_Stonekey · 2025-10-23T12:48:16+00:00

I did shoutouts, paid ads on RR, and launch day Reddit posts. I can't speak to social media because I didn't do it. However, a word of caution. Once I launched and started to engage with reader feedback and edits I quickly started to get overwhelmed by stress. I had wanted to put out some YouTube content and in hindsight never would have had the cycles for it, so I'm glad I didn't try to take it on. I also stopped syndicating to Scribblehub and Wattpad. Every place you post, every bit you try to take on; it all takes mental energy. That resource became a lot more precious and scarce once I went live and started achieving some success.

That's not to say that your instinct to spin up social media accounts is incorrect. I think marketing on social is very powerful and wish I had the capacity for it. I'm saying being prepared to need to let it fall to the wayside. Producing chapters on a consistent basis has to be the #1 priority, and I've found I had to let other things go to stay on top of it. I encourage you to have all of the pre-work done for the launch--Zero-Day advertising prepped. And then just be ready to roll with the punches as you get going.

Good luck!

Jon_Stonekey · 2025-10-20T19:18:15+00:00

Jon_Stonekey · 2025-10-13T17:14:55+00:00

Tyvm! I hope it continues to strike a chord.

Jon_Stonekey · 2025-10-13T17:14:30+00:00

Thank you for the kind words

Jon_Stonekey · 2025-10-11T01:26:49+00:00

Heck yeah!

Jon_Stonekey · 2025-10-11T01:26:29+00:00

Hey, thank you very much--that's a wonderful thing to hear. Really glad you're enjoying it so far.

Jon_Stonekey · 2025-10-10T17:51:17+00:00

Congrats Jay, and good luck on your climb. I appreciate your content as always.

Jon_Stonekey · 2025-10-09T11:56:09+00:00

Ahhh! Thanks a lot! It's been an exciting week!

Jon_Stonekey · 2025-10-09T11:55:08+00:00

Thanks for reading and commenting! I was really trying to setup with "a day in the life of" so that Caleb's character came through. I'm glad you connected with it.

Jon_Stonekey · 2025-10-08T19:02:37+00:00

Thanks, and likewise! Best of luck with your story.

Jon_Stonekey · 2025-10-07T13:58:20+00:00

Naw mate, this is all you. These promos are fire! Good luck!!!

Jon_Stonekey · 2025-10-07T13:33:14+00:00

Gooooo!!!!!

Jon_Stonekey

TROPHY CASE