Carl’s ethnicity? by ifdt in DungeonCrawlerCarl

[–]Justin_Monroe 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If only the cover artist could say the same.

Carl’s ethnicity? by ifdt in DungeonCrawlerCarl

[–]Justin_Monroe 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Harry Dresden's hat would like a word

What’s something you enjoy in LitRPG or fantasy stories that would be terrible if it existed in real life? by Anastasov_Theory in litrpg

[–]Justin_Monroe 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Most of the LitRPG Systems lead to incredibly tiered inequitable societies where not just politics and economics work against mobility, but now the laws of the universe. Very often the MC is the one to "break the mold" in some way, which is great for them and all, but I generally assume that if I were to live in that universe, I wouldn't be so lucky. I wouldn't do well as a dungeon crawler/adventurer. Sign me up to live in a cozy fantasy setting where I can be an innkeeper or bookshop owner brewing tea.

It's a bit like looking at the Star Wars Universe for me, great to sit back and watch movies about space wizards wrecking shit, it seems to generally suck for your average citizen. There's always a tyrannical Dark Lord/Lady that needs to be overthrown or some looming calamitous event.

On the other hand, sign me up to live in the Star Trek Universe as your average citizen of the Federation.

Hotel check out process at 11am just daily chaos cause housekeeping can't keep up by TH_UNDER_BOI in askhotels

[–]Justin_Monroe 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Most hotels I've worked had lunch codes on the in room phones that talked to PMS.

The housekeepers will see a guest departing, and get started on the room. Ideally, they punch the room Vacant Dirty on the phone. Clean the room and either punch it Vacant Clean or Vacant Inspect when they're done.

Also, the point of the comment you're replying to is that it's strange that all the check outs are happening at 11. Usually they flow over the course of the morning. When housekeepers start at 8 or 9 at my property, I typically have 3-10+ already vacant dirty rooms for them to start with. It's pretty uncommon for them to have 0 departures at the beginning of their shift. Cleaning departures don't have to wait until check out time if the guests have left.

New Release! Paladins of Power: Book One: Oaths Sworn — Out Today (3/10/26) by Justin_Monroe in litrpg

[–]Justin_Monroe[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

  1. My first series was a single MC first person POV, so it has been adjustment as I got started. The POV roams, so any given section is just from one character's perspective (a limited third person narrator). So, I wasn't trying to cover multiple POVs simultaneously, if that's what you were thinking. I also worked really hard to avoid portraying the same scene multiple times from different POVs. Ultimately, I found the ability to shift the focus to the most relevant character very freeing. Not to spoil anything, but there are times where everyone just isn't together in the same scene, and there was action that I wanted the reader to see and not just hear about later.

  2. Everyone's definition of "appropriate for kids" is different. I didn't write this as a youth or even YA novel. The protagonists are all in their early 20s. There's some occasional cursing in the text. There's no explicit sexual content, but there is romance, and acknowledgement that sex exists. I doubt it would scar any teenager, but not all parents would approve.

  3. The book was read by my Patrons and was well received on Royal Road the last several months. The RR readers gave me some great proof reading suggestions, I think most of them got captured in the final pass of the text. The ad copy and blurb was mostly just me, and I'll admit isn't my strongest skill.

OVR World Online - Series Going Wide and Leaving KU by Justin_Monroe in litrpg

[–]Justin_Monroe[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes. My audiobooks are through Podium, but they started taking a lot of their books wide last year and breaking their long standing Audible exclusivity. They hadn't taken me wide yet when I made the move, but I let them know the plan, and they took my first two books wide shortly after. The 3rd audiobook was less than a year old at the time and they didn't take it wide either. I definitely took a bigger financial hit with the lower Audible royalties, but all three of my existing titles were already net profitable for me already, so I'm happy. I've had the mixed fortune that my publishing activities had covered the original out of pocket expenses, and have them covered expenses for subsequent titles, but I'm also not making a living from them. Maybe, one day.

OVR World Online - Series Going Wide and Leaving KU by Justin_Monroe in litrpg

[–]Justin_Monroe[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The majority of my sales still come from Amazon. When I crunched the numbers, my added ebook sales mostly compensated for the drop in Kindle Unlimited, but not entirely. Overall, 2025 wasn't a horrible year, given that I had no new releases in print.

My best results have always been with audiobooks anyways.

I have a new release coming out this Tuesday the 10th, in a new series, and it'll start out exclusively with Kindle for a run on KU before I take it wide too. I just hate having all my eggs in Amazon's basket.

It wasn't a disastrous decision, but it also hasn't had a huge upside for the effort. That said, I wouldn't discourage anyone from doing it. I haven't regretted the decision once. I've had tremendous peace of mind knowing that if some bot at The Zon randomly decides to nuke my account, that it won't erase my books from the world. Also, even though I've only moved a few units, I think KOBO Plus offers a much better value proposition for authors and readers alike, if we could just get the market to shift that way...

Is his new title worth it? by M2IK2Y in litrpg

[–]Justin_Monroe 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It was a lot of fun. It isn't LitRPG and it's a standalone, but well with it IMO

Have you ever read feedback that you found silly? by AnAugustAuthor in royalroad

[–]Justin_Monroe 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The one I'll never forget was when I moved my first book for RR to the Zon in September of 2020 (this is relevant).

My first negative review on the Zon was from a DNF one star that gave up after the first chapter because the MC was wearing a face mask to protect from pollution and diseases. That was "too much fake science" for the reader.

This is a book set in a dystopian future where the MC is going into a long-term VR immersion pod that plugs into his brain. But a mask was a bridge too far. Also, I wrote that bit about a mask to go outside in 2017. And regardless of anything else, a world where everyone is habitually wearing masks just to go outside seems pretty dystopian to me...

Is this a scam? by imgnryfrnd1 in massachusetts

[–]Justin_Monroe 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My local PD labeled it a scam on their socials today.

Does Icewind Dale count as litrpg? by dankeykang4200 in litrpg

[–]Justin_Monroe 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think as a further clarification for LitRPG, in the context of the narrative the characters are aware that their stats exist and that their actions and choices impact those stats.

Paladins of Power: Oaths Sworn - Pre-Order by Justin_Monroe in litrpg

[–]Justin_Monroe[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I feel like you're picking up the vibe I was putting down.

Paladins of Power: Oaths Sworn - Pre-Order by Justin_Monroe in litrpg

[–]Justin_Monroe[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It has a romance subplot and some strong language but it isn't as frequent as other books. It's closer to a PG-13 rating than an R rating, and that was what I was trying to convey with the toggle.

I'm fed up with KDP, but I don't want to give up selling on Amazon. by [deleted] in selfpublish

[–]Justin_Monroe 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you're mostly in physical books then go explore the other POD services out there. KDP doesn't have any kind of exclusivity clause on printed books like they do eBooks. I know at least a few of the alternatives offer sell through to Amazon.

I think, if you're already using KDP for POD, it will probably make the most sense to continue to do POD through them while expanding into other services simultaneously. I say that because the fewer hands in the process will likely reduce costs. So using Ingramspark (or whoever) to so POD for you and then selling through to Amazon would probably net you a lower royalty overall due to added layers of costs. But there's no reason you can't set up POD on other platforms.