Hello. I'm preparing to launch my foray into LitRPG in the near future, and I wanted to pop in the forums here and introduce myself. Before you think, "Oh no, another writer trying to jump on the LitRPG bandwagon," let me explain. 

I've been a full-time writer a few years now (thanks to Amazon and the KDP program.) When I first heard about the LitRPG genre in a few writing groups I'm in, I was reminded of the Guardians of the Flame series by Joel Rosenberg.

I had LOVED that book growing up. Looking at it now, it seems to be sort-of a LitRPG. The thing is, the gaming elements in it are one of the reasons I loved the (dark) series so much. 

So, I'm going to bring my passion for gaming, fantasy and all things geek to this project. I'm working with my cover designer for the first (of twelve) books in the series I have (loosely) plotted out. 

The core idea for the series is one I've had in my brain for over 30 years now. I've been world building a while and have one heck of an overall story ARC for the series.

I'll be publishing the chapters somewhat regularly here on Royal Road, depending on feedback. A week after the book is finished here, I'll leave 9% of the text here with the full novel being available in print and eBook at Amazon. (I'll need to do this if I want to participate in the KDP Select program, which I do!) 

Thanks for reading my introduction, and I look forward to entertaining thousands of readers here at Royal Road, the place to be for LitRPG! 

+5 Reader Experience Points for getting this far

You loot this post and find [a Refreshing Beverage].

Enjoy!

Hello and welcome to the RRL forums. If you haven't seen them yet, be sure to check out the LitRPG group on RRL. They have a forum branch and can also be found on RRL's discord server (link in signature and under the "Chat" tab.)

Good luck! However, I'd recommend posting more than 9% of your chapters here, because it's hard to gain traction unless you have regular and frequent updates.

Welcome to Royal Road!

'WhoCares' pid='820257' dateline='1484029018' Wrote: Good luck! However, I'd recommend posting more than 9% of your chapters here, because it's hard to gain traction unless you have regular and frequent updates.

Once he publishes it on Amazon he literally can't because of KDP. :/

Yes, the terms of KDP Select don't allow it, but I will be posting the full chapters here until the book is finished. Once the book is finished, I'll leave it up a week (maybe two!) before putting the final version on Amazon.

Thanks for the warm welcome. I'll check out the LitRPG Society more closely soon.

Oh you're uploading all of them until you publish. That should be fine. I just meant that if you want to build an audience, you need to upload more content first. You can take it off for kdp later. Good luck, I'm sure you'll do great!

'WhoCares' pid='820269' dateline='1484043101' Wrote: Oh you're uploading all of them until you publish. That should be fine. I just meant that if you want to build an audience, you need to upload more content first. You can take it off for kdp later. Good luck, I'm sure you'll do great!

Gotcha. I'm hoping to start posting by the weekend. Can't wait to share.

I'm doing something a bit similar, albeit with other end goals in mind (not financial, for instance). Best of luck to you, it's nice to hear that people find success in this trade and make a living from it, even.

'Quill' pid='820290' dateline='1484075493' Wrote: I'm doing something a bit similar, albeit with other end goals in mind (not financial, for instance). Best of luck to you, it's nice to hear that people find success in this trade and make a living from it, even.

I've found that if I concentrate on making readers happy, the financial stuff takes care of itself. ;)

Thsnks for the well wishes.

Any feedback? Thanks!

'Paul Bellow' pid='820300' dateline='1484089875' Wrote:

Any feedback? Thanks!

It doesn't seem to be working for me; once I can see it, I'll be happy to give some feedback.

You don't see the image at all?

How about this...

New version...

 

I see both now, yes. Generally it looks like a professional cover, which is always a good start (and tends to separate the wheat from the chaff in self-publishing). I admit, I feel there is a dissonance between the title and the character on the cover, but that's not necessarily bad; it could make me curious what's going on.

I prefer the second one. The colour tones of the first one made the warrior look somewhat inserted into the background; on the second, having the same colour tone for the warrior and background eliminates that problem.

Thanks for the input. I'm still tinkering with some ideas to make it more game-like at first glance.

Latest version...

 


 
I think I'm going to start releasing chapters with this. I can always tinker with it closer to publishing on Amazon.

Thanks again, everyone. With my +5 Robe of the Writer to protect my from barbs and what-not, the constructive criticism is appreciated!