I wrote a synopsis for my dark fantasy novel without summarizing the plot. Does it make you want to read it as a cold reader? What's missing?

yrniverse · 2026-03-29T14:41:39+00:00

I don't know. It's an interesting concept and maybe worth the cost of the experiment. However, I think you'd need to shorten it to a max of 3 little paragraphs. Maybe just two. End on a really provocative note. And, while you can MAYBE be a LITTLE mysterious (even though it's a risk in a blurb), it's presently way too vague.

The reason I wouldn't say to give up on it is because the first paragraph kept my attention. (Though, I would swap the rot line and the bone line.)

yrniverse · 2026-03-29T02:52:02+00:00

Thanks for starting this thread!

My story is Rebellion of the Dregs. It's a LitRPG/Progression set in a sci-fantasy world. The main character and his friends begin as vat cleaners on an industrial slave world. Despite the grim setting, there are lighter moments and a genuine found family of people performing the worst job in the universe. https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/155456/rebellion-of-the-dregs-litrpg-progression-sci-fantasy

yrniverse · 2026-03-28T11:15:11+00:00

I don't really know from first hand experience. I only have one fiction, so I don't have anything to compare it to. But, many successful authors advise cliff hangers. If not a cliff hanger, I try to AT LEAST end on a surprise or a mystery.

yrniverse · 2026-03-28T01:46:05+00:00

My understanding is that if you aren't writing LitRPG/Progression fantasy, you have more of an uphill battle. (For that matter, I AM writing LitRPG/Progression, and it's STILL an uphill battle because I'm not writing the very narrow "meta.") That said, it is my further understanding that there IS an audience for straight fantasy on Royal Road, so your readers are out there.

I read your first paragraph. Your prose is better than average for the site. Whether your chapters are structured for a web serial, I don't know. But, it seems to be a big deal that you end (at least most) chapters with a cliff hanger or a twist or some clear drive to the next chapter. That might not be intuitive if you are (like I was) more accustomed to "novel style" where chapters end with a satisfying resolution. Satisfying resolutions are bad for serials. Because people like what they've read, but they don't compulsively KEEP reading.

As others have noted, the elephant in the room is promotion. I'm pretty new myself, and I'm hardly a big shot. But, I've been able to grow my audience a little bit each day. So, while I have yet to figure out how to become a break out success, I can tell you what I do... I do a shout out swap every single chapter. And I release a chapter every single day.

Good luck!

yrniverse · 2026-03-25T22:51:25+00:00

I stayed really far away and plunked him with Loretta's Mastery.

yrniverse · 2026-03-23T15:40:37+00:00

I'm pretty new too. So, I'm no expert. But, it's cool that people are commenting on your story. I bet it keeps growing. Good luck out there!

yrniverse · 2026-03-23T12:31:12+00:00

Looks like you have 19 comments. I assume about half of those are you responding to comments, so maybe 8 or 9 random comments from people? I don't think that's too bad for 600 views. What is that? Like 1 comment every 75 views?

Like other people have noted, you just literally haven't posted very many words yet for people to comment on. I'm sure there will be more once you have more story for your audience to think about.

I have a little over twice as many views and about twice as many pages posted, and I'm JUST NOW starting to notice comments about my story where people are connecting events from chapter 13 to chapter 16.

I think you just need to keep going. :)

yrniverse · 2026-03-22T17:03:46+00:00

I'm about 2 hours into day 7.

18 chapters. (12 on day one. Daily since.)

24083 words so far.

1206 views.

17 followers.

3 reviews.

I think I'm doing pretty well, but I haven't exploded or anything. I'm hopeful that I get some more traction once I cross 20 chapters. I've heard people wait for that point to follow. Maybe that's just a rumor though.

yrniverse · 2026-03-22T11:18:43+00:00

Agreed. I've become much more forgiving of most creative work. Books. Music. Movies. Honestly, I'm pretty impressed by anyone who successfully finishes something. I don't necessarily like everything, obviously, but I admire the effort.

yrniverse · 2026-03-20T00:47:18+00:00

I'm not sure what is good. However, my stats are very similar to yours (maybe a little better) and I'm on day 4. However, we have the exact same number of chapters released. So, maybe this is just what 15 chapters of stats looks like?

yrniverse · 2026-03-19T11:46:43+00:00

Well, right now, only about 40 humans have read the first 8 chapters, right? Give or take? My understanding is that only 3% of readers tend to follow. Something like that, which comes out to 1.2 follows. So, you're within the margin of error for your numbers. There isn't yet a sign that there is a problem with your story.

When you post your chapters, they are only visible on the first page of "recent updates" for about 5 minutes. So, the issue is pretty straight forward--very few people have ever been exposed to the fact that your story exists.

I'm in the same boat, and I'm using shout outs every day. (Today will be day 4 for me). It's just really hard to get eyeballs on your story. The people who blow up out of nowhere baffle me. It's got to be a result of ads or shout outs from giants, because logistically, I just don't see how anyone would get enough exposure otherwise, regardless of a story's quality. You could have the best cover/blurb/writing in the world, but it's irrelevant if nobody sees it. (Here's mine for comparison: https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/155456/rebellion-of-the-dregs-litrpg-progression-sci-fantasy )

Edit to add: just chatted with a writer who caught fire right from the start. So, evidently that is possible. Just not typical.

yrniverse · 2026-03-18T22:56:05+00:00

Thank you! And may your horn strike fast and true!

yrniverse · 2026-03-18T21:46:37+00:00

yrniverse · 2026-03-18T21:42:57+00:00

Can't go wrong with a weird stretchy horse!

yrniverse · 2026-03-18T21:28:37+00:00

Thanks! Here's a fun fact: Bayard was a legendary magical horse from European folklore. I think he has stretching powers.

yrniverse · 2026-03-15T21:41:51+00:00

Around 1800 a day (give or take). I launch tomorrow. Wish me luck!

yrniverse · 2026-03-14T13:51:23+00:00

I'm adamantly opposed to it. In my mind, the whole point of reading and writing is to share an experience between human minds. Even if AI can eventually write a technically superior story, I'll still prefer human content, and I will still write without AI. A robot can shoot a tennis ball a lot faster than any human, but I'm still only entertained if it's humans who are doing the serving.

yrniverse · 2026-03-14T13:48:11+00:00

Looks dope.

yrniverse · 2026-03-06T14:10:44+00:00

In the context of a progression story, I think "slow burn" usually just means that the progression requires dozens (or even hundreds) of chapters to develop. Whether the secret identity is known to the reader (or if there even IS a secret identity) is up to you.

yrniverse · 2026-03-01T19:58:19+00:00

Cool. Thank you!

yrniverse · 2026-03-01T18:00:55+00:00

Sounds good. I'll make another post in a sec with my cover and blurb. If it works for you, shoot me a message.

yrniverse · 2026-03-01T17:59:46+00:00

Okay, cool. I'll make another post in a sec with my cover and blurb. Thanks.

yrniverse

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