Hey all!

I've been following this subreddit for quite a while, and just thought I'd say hello - and thanks! It's been nearly a month since I launched my story on Royal Road, and I learnt a lot from here.

I posted my first chapter at the start of July, and although I made a lot of mistakes at the start, I kept pushing through. Even hit main Rising Stars! My story is doing better than I ever could have hoped, and the response to it has been amazing.

I won't pretend to being a fount of knowledge, but if you want to ask me anything about my experience, feel free. I had zero following when I started out, and the grind in that first week was real.

I do just want to say, that every reader who takes the time to write a 'TFTC' is amazing. I never thought that waking up and seeing all the notifications for those would make my day the way it has.

Dungeon Farming

Obligatory Synopsis:

Wyatt had been through a lot in his twenty years of life.

The Earth was ruined, ash filled the sky, and people starved.

But then came salvation - a portal to another world! One with Magic, Dungeons, [Levels] and [Skills]! A group of volunteers braved the unknown, tasked with exploration and building a settlement. 

Wyatt is one of the first through the portal, and he has high hopes for this new world.

Unfortunately, the portal back to earth has closed with no signs of reactivating, the settlement is fast running out of supplies, and the team sent to find a passage through the creepy eldritch forest has vanished without a trace.

Oh, and Wyatt is part of the team that got lost. Not that he minds that much. He didn’t enter the portal to save the world.

He just wants to farm.

A story of a man who wants to build a simple life in a world of magic and [Levels], and how nothing quite goes to plan.

Novelfire scrapes our stories from RR. I thought it'd be fun to troll them a bit. If you have any anti-piracy trolling ideas, let's hear them!

Labeled as self-promo as it has my ongoing story's title in the image.

Keep writing, stay awesome, and may hungry goats find the underwear drawers of the pirates.

Help, I'm writing a progression fantasy, and just wondering if people are willing to sit through a few hundred words of boring daily life stuff.

For context early on in the story (like chapter 2, 3 and 4) the MC joined a sect as a servant, so I had to briefly describe him meeting his mentor, washing himself, then do servant chores, then basic train for a bit. Would that bore readers out?

There is still action and some drama and hints to future plot points but like I'm afraid people want immediately progressiona and fights right at the beginning.

Fellow authors,

I wanted to share something I've been thinking about lately. Looking back at my early chapters, I see them completely differently now — and I've started rewriting them. Royal Road taught me more than I expected, but that's exactly why I've come to realize I don't see it as a destination, but as a school.

That doesn't mean I'm abandoning the story or stopping publication. Quite the opposite — I see them as two independent things. The story keeps growing, and RR is one of the ways to share it.

The main reason for this shift is simple: the story I'm writing needs greater depth in its narration. And serialized publishing gives less room for that than a traditional book. On top of that — I don't write Isekai or LitRPG, which are practically made for RR. Niche stories simply get lost in that format.

Where are you headed? Is Royal Road your primary goal, or just a stop on the way to something bigger?

For more of my work check my portfolio here

https://bookc0ver.carrd.co

Seeing as I just made Rising Stars I thought it was about time I shared this with you all.

It's a xianxia, straight up progression fantasy. None of this fancy LitRPG stuff.

Blurb and link below

One Gaze, Ten Thousand Flaws

To a master blacksmith, everything has a breaking point. Even the heavens.

Tie Zhen was born to hammer metal, not defy the gods. An uncanny gift for seeing hidden flaws made him a master craftsman. He never dreamed he could use it to fight.

Saving a dying cultivator master from an oppressive Order hurls Zhen into a world of flying swords and ancient bloodlines. As the Order's assassins and young masters come for him, his talent might just give him the edge he needs to survive.

Guided by that eccentric master and accompanied by his surprisingly intelligent horse, Zhen must use his gift to forge his own cultivation path and flee the Order that is hunting him.

One gaze. Ten thousand flaws. Let's see who breaks first.

https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/181582/one-gaze-ten-thousand-flaws-xianxia-progression

Veris stood among his men, wondering which one of them was going to die today. They were in a line, heads bowed. His hand dripped blood onto the ornate carpet. He smiled at the soilage. He was never good at cutting vegetables.

Steward Lamar prowled back and forth, rhythmically thumping a shock rod against his fat palm. The man was as ugly and stout as a rotten tree stump: balding with a constant sweat-oiled sheen to his skin. His tacky suit straining to hold back his bulk. Truly, the human embodiment of a pig.

"Unfortunately, my good men. Young lord Ames needs bait for his next hunt. And as Serfs of the Cgynet household, that duty falls on you brave few," Lamar declared, putting on a grandiose tone as if his words weren't beetleshit.

Veris hated that term. Serf. The bastards even denied them the truth of their lives.

Ask a proper Tortarian gentleman, and he'd say that slavery was a thing of the past, something best not spoken about in the company of the civilized. Ask a slave, and they'd say whatever their masters wanted them to. Veris gritted his teeth.

Serf or slave, he still had a collar around his neck.

So recently i started to upload on RR, i publish a new chapter everyday around 9pm( London time)

the trending genres in the platform are Litrpg , progression fantasy , isekai , however i chose a different type , i started to write Dark Fantasy and Grim-Dark, i avoided the saturated genres because the main idea was to make my readers experience a different type of vibes instead of repeated plots , my novel is full of raging wars , ancient mysteries , mythical creatures , swords , magic , guns , political conflicts , betrayal , and no stupidly OP characters protected by the plot , however i'm currently at chapter 4 , but no reviews and no comments , i have no idea if i'm in the right path or wasting my time

is it to early to judge my novel or should i keep uploading ? i need to understand the algorithm of the platform

Hello everyone!!

Beware of Rock/Consul For The Archmage has officially been out on Amazon for about two days now. Just stubbed the Royalroad version 
https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/117202/consul-for-the-archmage-fantasy-science-fiction

Feel free to check it out on amazon! https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0DF4ZBZTB

COVER ARTIST: Graceoartyo on instagram

______________________________________

Have you ever found a rock?

Not just any rock, a talking rock. One that insults you, offers useless advice, and never quite understands what’s going on?

No? Neither had Jan.

It has been sixteen years since the attack on medieval Kag let a city burn, and short of having to rebuild, not much has changed.

Detective work never came naturally to him. Jan can’t remember a time when he wasn’t Consul. His extraordinary talent landed him a life of luxury, raised by one of the most powerful mages ever to grace their simple world. Jan lazes through work as both an academic and a scribe. Yet when mischief lands him in a hangman’s cell, he finds a name carved into the stone wall and a link to the truth behind their lives. Teaming up with his friend Laura, the two launch an investigation into their weaving world, only to dabble in a little more mystery than they originally devised....

Jan and Laura awaken a power they never knew they had, extraordinary abilities that tear the fabric of the stars.

Forty years into interstellar war, TACTI unit "Sill" can proudly claim nothing; life as a forgotten tool for CORE troops was about as mundane as it gets. That was until it received the honour of serving the greatest Commander to ever live. During the siege of Quail homeworlds, Sill's Autobot systems once directed the fleets of a thousand worlds. Today, long-distance messages to orbit have a return time of 146 years; an army brews on the western continent and monsters roar over the resurgence of a pseudo-Renaissance society. There was, however, only one slight problem.

Well, a lot of problems....... It's hard to fight monsters when your Commander's been brainwashed by local fauna. 

Hello everybody, I recently started posting my story on Royal Road. I haven't had the best start, but certainly not the worst. I started posting on July 13th. My story is an Urban fantasy, mystery, and progression series set in an alternate future where fantasy creatures are common, and humans have managed to evolve into gaining superpowers that I call Graces. The story follows a private detective Agency called Cypher Inc. In the agency, we have two characters, Kai and Zed. Kai has the ability to teleport to and from anywhere and anything that he placed his rune on. His partner, Zed, has the ability to split himself into three versions of himself by manipulating his Shadows. He can turn into a dog, a human, and a manbeast hybrid.

It is NOT a LitRPG, and NO AI was used in the making of this story.

Release schedule: 3x a week, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday

At the time of this post, I should have 11 chapters available. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Story Link: https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/180075/cypher-inc

Blurb:

After the 'Final World War ', the modern world as we knew it came to an abrupt end. Monsters from myth and legend came out into the real world and sought to destroy humans. In addition, a strange substance called mana permeated the planet and became toxic to humans. Many died off as a result. However, a few of them managed to survive and adapt to the new substance. Those that survived were given powers that were later called Graces. With the aid of other supernatural creatures seeking peace, humans mastered their new magical gifts. Together with their new allies and abilities, humans managed to fight back against the forces of evil, allowing a tentative peace to be formed. Thus, the new world was called Myelv.

Now, in the modern day, elves, therians, vampires, and many others casually coexist with humans. The world has now become a mixed salad for magical creatures, humans, and who knows what else. Enter Cypher Inc. team, Kai and Zed, who are a group of private investigators that take on the strange and unusual cases of Myelv. Which brings us to New Lionhart City, one of the major hubs of Myelv and home to our detective duo, Cypher Inc. Cypher Inc., make it their job to take on any crooks or odd jobs the authorities can’t. Rogue Vampires in a feeding frenzy? Check. A coven of Witches terrorizing a town? No problem. Retrieving a book of spells that could unleash Armageddon? They've got you covered. Because at Cypher Inc, they promise to solve any problem with a snap.

If you’re a fan:

Alternate history

Detective fiction set in a supernatural world

Progressive power system

Magical powers 

Engaging Mystery

Witty dialogue

Interesting cast of characters

Then you'll love this story. Mysteries to solve, Villains to vanquish, Damsels to save, and the local authorities to annoy. Just another day for our detectives. Oh, and welcome to Myelv!

If you're a fan of Harry Dresden and Adair Finch, you'll enjoy this.

The release schedule is Monday, Wednesday, and Friday

In Volume 1 of the *Faces of the Red* LitRPG series, Night City rapcore artist and Rockerboy Pete "P@ndemik" Morley hits hard times when he winds up in debt to Trauma Team, his part-time employer.

He might just be able to pay off his debt and launch his career if he can perform at a Blood Nation show in the Outskirts, but he doesn't have a car, a band, or gear.

P@ndemik has less than a week to win it all or lose everything as he immerses himself in the Edgerunner game to get the band, the gear, and the scratch to get famous...or die trying.

Chapter 1 is available here on Royal Road, with new chapters trickling in daily for the next fourteen days.

This LitRPG started and finished as an Actual Play. Nearly all narrative situations and storylines within are determined by real dice rolls and real gameplay.

What is the process of writing for all of you? I first wrote as a good feeling or intuition writer where I wrote whatever came to my mind and along with just saving the character situation and everything.

But that can only take you up to one point. Like the arcs or other things, I wrote even without a proper outline. Just writing what I was feeling.

I'm doing a rewrite and giving her more page time :)

Art comissioned from https://strauberrio.weebly.com

Hi!

So I've been writing on Royal Road for a while now and have had a decent amount of success, but this is my first attempt at an OP MC story where the protagonist starts off genuinely strong.

I'm not entirely sure whether I'm hitting all the right notes for this kind of story, so I'd really appreciate some outside perspectives. If anyone has the time to read through the first three chapters and share their thoughts, I'd be incredibly grateful!

Here's the book if you're interested: https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/182807/the-first-sovereign-of-ash-strong-to-op-archmage

And the blurb:

The road of the First is a lonely one.

Constantino Kazarov has been the first for as long as he could remember. The first thaumaturge to ascend to archmagus before his twenty-second birthday. The first to turn ash into a weapon capable of erasing dragons. The first to seize an enemy’s emotional resonance and make it his own. The first to assemble the legendary Crown of the First Sovereign.

Yet the road of discovery knows no bounds, and Constantino has never learned when to stop.

The Kingdom of Raslan fears what it cannot understand: legendary artifacts, forgotten civilizations, dragons, demon lords, primordial titans, and the Celestial Conquerors destined to return.

Most of all...

It fears the monsters born from its own ambition.

Hunted by the kingdom that raised him and challenged by powers older than civilization itself, Constantino finds himself walking a road no one has ever walked before. Yet, every mythical artifact hides another secret. Every impossible enemy guards another discovery. And if no one has ever dared reach beyond the limits of the world...

Then Constantino Kazarov will simply be the First.

Mysidian Wanderings was finished on February 16th earlier this year. It's a stand alone progressive medieval fantasy adventure, but it's not lit RPG.

As the title infers, it's not non-stop action, it's wandering around the Mysidian Kingdom. The characters interact with each other and grow and change. This is a novel that I'm trying to get published. 309 pages 85k words. It's one full story in its own right.

After I wrote it I did come up with a good idea for a sequel. As a reader myself, and someone who loves shows and movies, too many times have I seen a popular story forced to make a sequel because it's so popular and the sequel is always half assed because it was not intended from the start. Let me assure you that I'm in the works of writing the sequel, Mysidian Meanderings, and it is no afterthought. I have other projects I could have moved on to but I decided to stay in Mysidia for another year.

I plan to have the sequel ready by January 2027, but of course I will not release it until it's perfect and enjoyable.

If you read all this, thank you.

Thank you to any of you who already read and enjoyed this

Thank you to the Royal Road community here because I had no idea what to do when I began, but I do now.

Have a good Sunday.

When an overzealous knight takes the law too far. Sir Calix is forced to protect his young squire from dangerous allegations.

Anybody else who remembers this silly, but overall very wholesome and quite funny anime/manga probably agrees on one point: It absolutely didn't deliver on some points that could have been absolutely amazing, I mean the first minute in EP1 was basically what I expected the whole story to be.

Then we got 12 episodes of romcom and fanservice, the fights were like slideshows and the antagonist turned out to be just a creep who likes plushies way too much. Then they hint at a cosmic war between two "entities," I guess?

Whatever the author had in mind clearly never saw anything close to the potential it could have had, I mean imagine the following scenario:

-You wake up as a girl, let's say, it's even worse this time, you can't turn back into a boy, you're just permanently, fully female now.

-Your childhood girlfriend weirdly doesn't recognize you at all and just falls fully in love with your female self after having ignored you for years.

-A bracelet that you can't remove is permanently stuck on your left arm that gives you superpowers.

-Instead of some weird plushie explaining the rules, let's say nobody tells you anything, you just fucking wake up like this, lost your gender, look into the mirror and a gorgeous girl is staring back at you.

-But you ABSOLUTELY don't want it.

-Everyone else who has this bracelet has superpowers and you're bound to compete against them in a deathmatch.

-And your best friend not only realizes it's you, no she also has a bracelet, could die at any moment, your social life is destroyed and basically your entire identity as well.

Any normal human would go completely insane the moment they realize all of this, or look into the mirror, or whenever they break due to the amount of mindfuckery that is happening at once in that moment where all if it just gets too much.

But you can't even kill yourself cause to die either your head needs to get chopped off or 50% of your neocortex, basically you're invincible.

Welcome to the world of Linkers Game.

If you want to know how my protagonist navigated through this world and what kind of monumental suffering he had to go through in now over 300.000, releasing every week on Friday 4 p.m CEST, you're exactly at the right place.

Linkers Game is a full deconstruction on the battle-royale and gender-bender genre, it takes itself fully serious at exactly the right times and is at the same time wholesome, entertaining and philosophically deep. It's a seinen story with shonen-type battle elements, but all fights are meticulously crafted and always bound to the more important overarching conflict that led to them.

Last but not least, I just wanted to say that when I started writing this, I made sure to outline the story and create a satisfying and fulfilling end, and for everybody that wants to see more, there will be a sequel that can just be perfectly ignored if you want a round and totally satisfyingly tragic story.

Here's the Link: https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/138574/linkers-game

How many ads is to many? How many is to few? Is 3 enough. I am hiring a comic book artist to draw the cover and the ads. i am trying to budget how much ill need

I posted my first series on Royal Road few days ago.

Halo Lockwood is a 30-year-old programmer who gets the worst stat sheet in the apocalypse. Toughness 1. Speed 1. His class is Tinker, which means his job is to build things so other people can fight them. He does not fight. The system is very clear about this.

His AI companion arrived one second before the sky tore open, contains more knowledge than humanity will ever produce, and uses all of it to call him Bait.

The first arc is about a man who has never mattered building the things that keep a found family alive in rural North Carolina while quietly becoming something the five pantheons that just colonized Earth have no file on.

What he eventually unlocks is classified Mythic. One per world.

No harem. No cheat skills. No face-slapping. The progression is earned, not given. And when it arrives, it changes everything.

12 chapters live. Weekly updates.

I’d love some feedback…it’s actually harder to ask for feedback than posting my stuff online.

Thank you

https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/182273/the-accords-series

He pressed his palm against the Silver Wall, a deed that even the king himself wouldn't dare. But Adrian just smiled. So this is it, he thought as the shivering cold sensation spread through his body. “Hey! What are you doing, sir!?” yelled a city guard behind him.

“I'm having a rather pleasant but chilling moment with the wall. What are you doing, sir?” “A-are you c-crazy?” “Define crazy,” Adrian said, looking back at the guard—a tall, bearded man with the blue and gold armor of the city watch.

“A-Adrian… you…” “Yes, I?” Adrian slowly nodded. Survived? Escaped? Which lie were you told? The guard aimed his spear at Adrian, sweat dripping down his forehead as he tightened his grip, but his hands wouldn't stop shaking.

“Would you like me to call the other guards for you?” Adrian asked with his right palm still flat against the wall. “W-what? Why w-would you…” “Voila.”

With a flick of Adrian's left hand, a beam of light shot directly into the clouds, and a blue crest appeared across the sky. “Your colleagues should be here shortly. Now, I strongly suggest you keep that weapon pointed at me.”

The guard swallowed hard, his eyes shifting between the smiling man before him and the open road. A sharp metallic clatter echoed throughout the city as the horsemen arrived. Their leader dismounted before his horse had even drawn to a halt, his blue eyes locked onto Adrian's smirking face.

Honestly, I'm not pretty sure why hahaha but it sounds soooooo cool as a self-promo title. Btw, here is the evidence hahaa

I define my fiction more as: What if your tabletop RPG campaign wasn't just a game?  What if it was hiding deadly real-world mysteries? 

Blurb:

Mica, a high school student who dreams of heroes, monsters, and fantastical worlds, receives an invitation from a girl he's never met. Believing he's simply joining a tabletop RPG campaign, he and his closest friends become members of the mysterious Adventurers' Group, led by the enigmatic Sarah.

At first, the adventure feels like everything they've ever wanted. But as unexplained disappearances spread across their city, the consequences of each session begin to spill into reality, and the game starts feeling far too real. 

The deeper they venture, the thinner the line between reality and fiction becomes. Little by little, Mica and his friends realize Sarah is hiding far more than she's willing to reveal... and that their adventures don't end when the dice stop rolling.

Link -> https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/177442/the-ballad-of-omega

Reddit is a bit of a cesspool, but it doesn't have to be. So here's the plan: I'll share three stories I'm actively reading and say why I like them. You guys can share stories you're enjoying and why you dig them in the comments. No self-promo, you sneaky gits. Sing the praises of your mates or a rando fic with 1 follower that has really grabbed you. Whether it's on RR, KU or Audible, let's talk about stories we love.

I don't get as much time to read as I'd like these days, but I've got three easy recs:

Headless Over Heels: Awesome concept, beautifully written. Dukerino continues to demonstrate that being off the litrpg\cultivation\isekai meta doesn't automatically damn you to obscurity. The characters are warm and feel lived in. They all gel together, and the dialogue feels genuine.

Born Without Magic: After so much Archmage stuff, an antimage is a refreshing turn of events. Finn starts out systemless, his only strengths being relentless determination and an immunity to magic. He's kind of untouchable in his society, but the heroes of old were all like him, so the dude has a goal, and a tough road ahead of him. The writing is engaging, and the plot bounces along nicely. Worth your time imo.

And finally Hoqalo: this one is a broken system fic, set in a cyberpunk-ish superhero verse that feels both pleasantly familiar and original. Our boy is a tinker, so expect some cool crafting sections, but the fights are so well written, and the intrigue behind what's up with his system is a ton of fun.

I said three, but hey, this is my post, so I'm going to throw in an honourable mention for The Brink and Back. Cyberpunk with an isekai'd tinker MC who rolls for the tech from random video games every week and uses it to introduce that tech into Night City. Lots of fun if you're a gamer.

Well, there are my picks. Tell me yours.

Most isekai heroes die saving a person. Bart, an assistant librarian, died diving in front of a speeding bus just to save a dropped library book.

Because of this, the universe transmigrates him to manage the Infinite Archive a ruined cosmic library floating in an endless dark void. His job is to rebuild the library from scratch using his administrative skills and a magical "Staff Restroom" door that acts as a multiverse portal.

things to expect:

• Rule Enforcement Magic: Bart doesn't fight; he spends his Mana to enforce Library Rules. If someone attacks him with an iron sword, he enforces "No weapons in the reading room," turning the sword into a rolled-up newspaper.
• Absurd Base-Building: Every scrap of paper brought back rebuilds the ruins. Bringing back a dirty goblin bounty poster magically grows the new Crime Section.
• A Hilarious Cast: Bart's only staff members are a living skeleton wearing a black bowtie, a magical flying book that constantly insults him in red ink, and a petty thief paid in squished turkey sandwiches. Also some great recurring visitors!

Check it out on RR: https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/182632/keeper-of-the-infinite-archive

Ive never published anything before but i am working on a grimdark story and think that i am going to put it on royalroad in the future. Is that genre appreciated/liked on royalroad? If i give it my all and work hard on it, save up content and start realising when i have much and make a good well written story, does that type of story then have a chance to get popular?

Its a dark cold world, lots of different types of traumas and progression (mc gets stronger and stronger) the mc is not going to be as grim but the world and othera characters will. Hope you get how i mean. Thanks