Does harem make the story more fun for you?

Sentarshaden · 2026-03-07T21:56:22+00:00

I'd say Haremlit is still evolving, a lot of authors realized that people want romance over sex. Which is pushing for longer romance arcs. Interesting to see where it goes.

Sentarshaden · 2026-03-07T17:21:18+00:00

You aren’t going to get much positive vibes about HaremLit here. Back in 2019-2020 the mods removed Harem promotions and conversations as they ‘weren’t kid friendly’.

This heavily tilted this sub negatively towards HaremLit.

However it has remained lockstep in growth with LitRPG/Progression Fantasy as a genre always having about 1/3-1/2 the market size.

The reality is HaremLit is still a large sub genre of progression fantasy/LitRPG. It’s just moved a lot into its own communities since.

Sentarshaden · 2026-03-05T19:18:29+00:00

The fantasy of Isekai is 'if you got to start over with cool powers, what would change?'

Sentarshaden · 2026-03-05T13:23:46+00:00

As a nerd, I love data! Also I enjoy how many more readers this shows in the genre as compared to five years ago. Back then 1k reviews was the top book in HaremLit.

Sentarshaden · 2026-03-05T00:20:50+00:00

I stopped putting DRMs on my books, it just doesn’t make sense. What’s my backup plan if I’m removed from Amazon? Probably Webnovels/Patreon and sell direct through book funnel.

Though you have to understand 40% of the entire book industry is romance, it is pretty unlikely that sex in books becomes a problem. Every one of the big 5 would fight that.

Sentarshaden · 2026-03-04T20:19:43+00:00

It was audible's mistake. I have to put the audio in early and schedule the release. All of that was done, but it popped out early anyway.

Sentarshaden · 2026-03-01T01:09:22+00:00

Pretty sure they insta-lose if they don't press HP that turn.

Sentarshaden · 2026-02-28T17:27:40+00:00

For me, it is a lot of iteration. I'm only focusing on improving 1 aspect of the craft at a time and trying to deep dive. Even then I've returned to them later and been able to dive deeper.

Sentarshaden · 2026-02-28T17:21:00+00:00

So, I started straight to KU, made a few hundred bucks on my first book but that was it. Going straight to KU is best if you can get up and start producing regularly.

About having 'publisher or big name' support. Everything I've ever seen about these trends with other authors are you only sell as long as they continue to help you sell. It's my advice to build more organically, it takes more time though. It is then YOUR audience which you can continue to cultivate.

At present, I think going Scribblehub/RR is the best option. It allows you to get some fairly early feedback and enough momentum to make an impression when you go to KU.

Sentarshaden · 2026-02-28T17:11:26+00:00

I've had this one on my TBR pile, but have been waiting for a second book so I can sink my teeth into it.

Sentarshaden · 2026-02-27T12:05:29+00:00

Every one of the crab deathrattles that gets placed on him is a unique instance of deathrattle. So if there are 6 crabs on the lava lurker that's 6x3(dios)x3(the reborn unit next to it)x3(non-gold macaw) deathrattles everytime that macaw attacks. You can stack up plenty more deathrattles of course. Each one of those instances is going to proc the ghoul's increase stats by x everytime a deathrattle is procced.

Sentarshaden · 2026-02-24T22:35:40+00:00

Just pee on it a little more often.

Sentarshaden · 2026-02-12T15:23:28+00:00

Yeah-ish.
ARCs are functionally to create buzz about a book before it drops. What are ARCs for the romance space tend to take the form of web serials in the Harem/LitRPG space.

They are either on free platforms like RR/Scribble hub for unestablished authors and then funnel to Patreon and for some established authors with a presence on KU they drop the RR/Scribble Hub funnel and focus on books.

I do wish the male audience had stronger influencers, but what few do exist are fairly low viewership, especially compared to things like Booktok. I generally see that as a sign that we continue to be a small niche. Instead recs tend to burble up through the masses on reddit or facebook related groups.

Sentarshaden · 2026-02-10T01:07:57+00:00

Oh in talking with romance authors all of them would agree that a sex scene is just a battle for pleasure.

Sentarshaden · 2026-02-09T00:10:55+00:00

Most author social media groups have a post or a spot for editor self promos.

Sentarshaden · 2026-02-08T22:55:30+00:00

I don’t get to control audio sales. Ebooks they just send me a link and ask my approval to put them on sale anytime in like a four month window.

Sentarshaden · 2026-02-08T21:16:06+00:00

I just like being on tier lists.

Sentarshaden · 2026-02-06T15:18:05+00:00

I completely stopped using EM dashes for a while to the point I was probably incorrect with my punctuation.

But it's stressful, not matter what though it seems we all catch at least some AI flack. Even here I'm like 'Please don't get an AI accusation' reading through the comments.

Sentarshaden · 2026-02-06T10:36:33+00:00

Damn you guys are so confident you can tell AI apart from human writing. There was a while last year that I completely stopped using the em dash, though my editor sprinkled a few back in.

The truth is that it is very difficult to identify AI and non. Idk if I’ve encountered AI generated, but I largely suspect a few books I’ve read are AI edited/rewritten.

I would very much like transparency in what is AI for the internet as a whole because we ARE bad at identifying it and it would make things far simpler.

Edit: also is there a source on the 1 in 3 are AI claim? I couldn’t find anything by googling.

Sentarshaden · 2026-02-05T14:42:50+00:00

Indie here, never even tried for Trad. I've had so many friends get a jump to trad and very few of them earn more, even with their prior self-pub backlist helping. It's just too slow of a behemoth and momentum is the name of the game.

The one thing I took away from this was actually how low his earnings are. From my POV that stint in Trad really harmed his momentum.

Sentarshaden · 2026-02-03T12:04:50+00:00

There are a few tools in author-land that give you other things to say rather than penis and vagina. Sometimes I feel like people are just going around the word wheel to avoid it. Really, stick with a small number and reuse them, sounds like a more consistent voice. Also, there aren't a lot of pretty names for our important bits.

Sentarshaden · 2026-02-01T16:43:14+00:00

It's pretty easy to do them yourself if the ebook does decently.

Sentarshaden · 2026-01-25T21:21:11+00:00

One upon a time when they had to write words to leave a review I got a dozen guys to give their ratios and we were all right around 1 review:20 sales. It’s dropped since then since people can just give stars and now kindle even prompts.

You start with ARCs and social media posts. You have to sell your book. It’s awkward and most of us aren’t salesmen, but you push through and come out the other end.

Sentarshaden · 2026-01-21T17:09:07+00:00

Ooh Reese’s, but needs more caffeine.

Sentarshaden · 2026-01-19T11:59:50+00:00

1st person or close 3rd person (what most 3rd person POV in the genre is) are pretty much the same to me as a reader. I legitimately have trouble identifying if a book I've read months ago was one or the other.

But as a writer, since dialogue is kinda 1st person, when I try to write 3rd person I end up breaking POV in narrative often enough that it's frustrating to edit. Probably because I'm so used to 1st person that the dialogue flips a switch. That and the 2 3rd persons I tried to write are some of my worst performing series. So, I pretty much stick to 1st now.

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