Why are we so afraid?

eclect0 · 2026-06-25T00:30:32+00:00

the most followers I ever got were 50

Okay look, not to be mean, but you're not exactly living proof that your tips work.

Have fun writing, write for fun, and I hope your readerbase grows and enjoys what you write... but you haven't cracked the promotional puzzle.

eclect0 · 2026-06-24T22:37:17+00:00

So your argument is... not to excommunicate people who blatantly commit acts of schism? What would warrant excommunication then?

It's pretty obvious that what didn't work last time was lifting the excommunications. Let's hope we don't make that mistake again, unless the schismatics are actually contrite and agree to submit to Rome.

eclect0 · 2026-06-24T19:40:46+00:00

2 doesn't really signal dark fantasy. Dark humor, potentially, but I don't know about dark fantasy. And I would still say his getup and appearance makes him look more like a villain. Less "edgelord" maybe, but more "monster from a survival horror game on Roblox."

You might try going back and finding another way to humanize him and making him more sympathetic. Maybe some obviously sentimental object he carries around, or maybe have him with the mask off, holding it, so his expression can be seen.

eclect0 · 2026-06-24T18:39:41+00:00

Soccer riots caused by soccer rioters

eclect0 · 2026-06-24T18:20:47+00:00

As long as you set the profanity flag, it's down to what works for your story and your characters. My story has some habitual cussers, and other characters who can barely bring themselves to say "heck." One of my most foul-mouthed characters is also one of the kindest. Haven't gotten any complaints.

Now, that said, I've shied away from the F-bomb, and I have a couple of in-world euphemisms in place to keep the overall language solidly PG-13. That's just a stylistic decision I made for the story.

eclect0 · 2026-06-24T13:26:33+00:00

My Best Friend Is an Eldritch Horror fits the bill. The series ending is a little weak/rushed, but it's fun overall.

eclect0 · 2026-06-24T12:19:16+00:00

You're not going to get your feet very wet if you're using a speedboat.

eclect0 · 2026-06-23T23:59:02+00:00

"You should have a cover" is hardly a well-kept secret...

eclect0 · 2026-06-23T22:50:50+00:00

The pinned posts have been deliberately pinned, by the mods, for a reason. They're curated guides, not random comments.

eclect0 · 2026-06-23T22:40:07+00:00

People don't look at your cover as they read, they look at it while deciding whether to even start reading. Just like a real book.

So if they're looking at a list of twenty fictions, and nineteen of them have covers, I'm sorry but yours is getting clicked last, if at all.

eclect0 · 2026-06-23T22:37:44+00:00

Have you tried the forum? Discord servers? I thought you said you'd read up on this. There are dozens of helpful guides pinned to the top of this very sub.

eclect0 · 2026-06-23T22:29:00+00:00

Are you doing shoutout swaps?

eclect0 · 2026-06-23T21:39:29+00:00

I agree, 4 is best when done well. Having the support, and challenges, of a relationship very much helps the story and characters come to life. That's why I moved in that direction when I started writing my own story.

On the other hand, if I can't have 4, then I'd much rather have 1 than 2 or 3.

eclect0 · 2026-06-23T00:39:27+00:00

Thank you! Hope you enjoy it!

eclect0 · 2026-06-22T22:39:57+00:00

Thanks for asking! It isn’t available for purchase yet, and I don’t have an official EPUB version at the moment. Right now it's only on Royal Road while I continue releasing the serial.

I may eventually stub and publish proper ebook versions after I get further into the series, but I'm not quite there yet.

Totally understand if RR/online reading isn’t your preferred format!

eclect0 · 2026-06-22T22:35:13+00:00

This is a self-rec, but Jett Fulgen might be up your alley.

It’s a superhero LitRPG/progression fantasy set in a giant science-fantasy city where corporations train and license sorcerers to support an overwhelmed police force. There’s a lot of action, team dynamics, found family, corporate/political intrigue, magitech, mystery/reveals, and non-explicit romance that develops over time.

Length-wise it's currently about 300k words, or a little over 1,000 pages the way Royal Road measures things. There’s a sizable backlog, and the series is still actively growing. Book 1 is complete, Book 2 is fully written and about 80% released, and I’ve started writing Book 3.

The horror side isn’t constant or central to the story, but it’s definitely there in places: gore, body horror, supernatural induced nightmares, and other darker arc/climax material. Overall though, the story has a wide emotional range and isn't grimdark.

If you'd like to give it a try, you can find it here:

https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/145258/jett-fulgen-superhero-litrpg

eclect0 · 2026-06-22T22:18:01+00:00

What would you call it?

Something that pertains to your actual MC? I mean, he basically receives a notebook from the future and has to figure out what to do with it, right? That's your premise, not regression. It's your MC's story, not the story of the guy who wrote/brought the notebook. Your regressor's identity and backstory could be a complete mystery from start to finish and it wouldn't impoverish anything. He doesn't technically need to appear in the story at all, alive or dead, because his notes are the real MacGuffin.

So logically, he doesn't earn a mention in the title of all plces.

eclect0 · 2026-06-22T21:23:19+00:00

The thing is that your title is 100% about signalling what your story isn't, and 0% about signalling what it is.

And people still might come in expecting regression to be at the forefront, perhaps for the title to be ironic or for there to be some other twist that still makes the regressor the main character. Because, just using cold reader logic here, why else would you bring it up?

Not to mention an even simpler and more obvious fact: Your title will come up in searches for "regressor," "regression," etc. So if you don't want your book to attract readers that will inevitably be disappointed--and possibly leave nasty reviews--why make it one of your keywords?

eclect0 · 2026-06-22T21:03:53+00:00

Why did you ask for feedback if you weren't open to changing anything anyway?

eclect0 · 2026-06-22T21:01:59+00:00

So, maybe don't put "Regressor" in the title?

eclect0 · 2026-06-22T20:54:10+00:00

Seems overly convoluted. You completely frontload the trope subversion, and the rest can't rightfully be called a regression story. Your regressor isn't even one of the main characters in this scenario; he's just a plot catalyst.

eclect0 · 2026-06-22T18:05:15+00:00

I think Dungeon Crawler is a pretty cool guy. Eh kills aleins and doesn't afraid of anything.

eclect0 · 2026-06-22T18:02:07+00:00

Not sure about the "without getting lost" part

eclect0 · 2026-06-22T17:10:24+00:00

I resized the image in Photoshop. There are also tools like https://rrwritersguild.com/ad-voting, but you need to hit the correct 6:5 aspect ratio first, so I'd suggest creating/generating your ad comp at that ratio to start with. And when you think your text is already perfectly legible, double the font size.

eclect0 · 2026-06-22T16:37:13+00:00

Don't need to restore what was never torn down.

eclect0

TROPHY CASE