Why some stories don't get attention compared to others?

#1
You know this is partly a rant thread...sorry*


But I don't get why some stories have to fight for attention and others just get it for like seemingly very little effort. This isn't an attempt to belittle any other authors. i do like and respect a lot of authors on this site. But its very hard when you try really hard to build a story and its so much effort to do it right and sometimes it feels like its hard to build a readership.

*Could use advise on building and reaching more readers.*


Also wish my fellow authors luck and success. Even though I build my own stories I'm not too proud to not appreciate a lot of other wonderful works out there. There are some good stories on this site.

RE: Why some stories don't get attention compared to others?

#3
A few major things go into audience size. I'll put them in a convenient list format for you:

1. Target Audience
2. Release schedule
3. Quality of grammar
4. Quality of story
5. Quality of Blurb/Synopsis

The biggest impact I've seen is release schedule by far. The more releases you put out in a short period of time, the more people tend to check out the fiction. If someone sees the same fiction name over and over and over again on the updates list they'll eventually click on it out of curiosity alone. 

Target Audience is obvious. Shoujo themed stories don't tend to do well on this site. Neither do generic romances. The majority of people on this site are looking for Fantasy/WorldTraveling/VirtualReality/Wuxia. If your story doesn't fall into one of those you probably won't reach a super large viewership on this site, though there are other sites that adhere to other genres you can look for viewership on.

Quality of grammar and story are obvious. I don't think I need to explain them.

Quality of Blurb: This is way more important than people give it credit for. Someone decides whether or not to give your series a try purely off of your synopsis/title/coverpage. At the very least your synopsis should look to inform the reader the general structure of the story so they can know if it's what they're looking for. Obviously tags are basically the same in that regard. Your blurb is the shortest but most important writing you'll do for your story. You want to present a clean, readable, and engaging paragraph that informs people what they're getting into. 

If you cover those 5 subjects I've listed, you will be popular on RRL. I've never found a series that met all 5 and wasn't active top 50 at some point in its life.
"You say that dreams have no power here? Tell me Lucifer, what power would Hell have if those here imprisoned were not able to dream of Heaven?" -Morpheus

RE: Why some stories don't get attention compared to others?

#4
This may be a bit of a rehash of what Zanderkoala has said, but bear with me for a bit. Several factors play a significant role in creating a popular story: blurb & content/target-audience, quality & content quantity, post frequency, and popularity/momentum.

As it has been mentioned, be aware of your audience. If you simply want to hop on the band wagon, pander to the trends or whatever. In any event, make your blurb eye catching, make it stand out, and make sure it's good, quality writing. It is the first taste of what a reader will see in story and I have passed many a story by simply because the quality of grammar within a blurb was so bad despite the potential for greatness. The blurb makes or breaks it for most potential readers.

Content quality speaks for itself. This applies to grammar, plot, characters, style, etc. As for quantity, more chapters means more to read and thus people are more likely to want to read something with more content.

Post frequency and popularity/momentum are what I believe contribute most towards a strong following. Posting chapters regularly places your fic on the latest updates page. More updates means more exposure time. The more people see a specific title, the more likely they are to check it out. The popularity and momentum just build upon eachother. More readers means a higher read count which may entice some people to decide to also check it out. That also invites a higher likelyhood of getting a favorable advanced review and ratings. If it gets upvoted enough, it'll rank on the top reviews furthering your exposure. Also, if you happen to nab enough views with a week, you'll also rank on the move viewed list, creating more exposure. Exposure = views, views=exposure, and it repeats.

In the end, it depends on luck, hard work, dedication, and a bit of patience. Some stories don't really take off until much later.

p.s. active publicity also helps some towards getting traction.
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RE: Why some stories don't get attention compared to others?

#5
Lots of little things go into it.  

The easiest way to get into the active top 50 for example would be to just build up a dumptruck worth of chapters than unload them like five a day for a month.  

There's also name recognition.  Unice has oodles of that.  Same with Viken or Scottf14.  

Then there's gimmicks.  RRL has several popular gimmicks going for it that we all know and love.  Reincarnation, transported to another world, virtual reality.  As much as I have come to hate VR cliches, I find those get more views easier than others.  Dungeon fics are another gimmick that's been growing in popularity lately.  More and more of them are coming out every week.

Finally, there's plain and simple quality.  This is the hardest to work on and the easiest audience to lose.  The Iron Teeth I consider to be a perfect example of what every author should strive for.  No frills or gimmicks, just straight forward quality.  Others I consider to be in this area would be Mother of Learning on Fictionpress and the Pact web serial on Topwebfictions. 

Anyways, you should be glad you are suffering now.  There are a lot of authors who scored big on their first novel, but because they fell ass backwards into a popular gimmick, they ended up quitting their jobs thinking they had it made as an amazon kindle author.  I point to Jon Van Stry of Portals to Infinity as a perfect example.  He's tried making several other series now with little success and the Portals of Infinity books sell less copies every volume.  

Most of those authors who fell ass backwards into a gimmick on their first try have their heads in the clouds.  You can't criticize them at all otherwise they blow up at you.  I gave a certain fiction on the best rated section a 3/5 and the author went on a week long writing strike and actually released a chapter blaming me and asking how I could say such insulting things to him.

RE: Why some stories don't get attention compared to others?

#6
'DarkD' pid='804113' dateline='1474609521' Wrote: There's also name recognition.  Unice has oodles of that.  Same with Viken or Scottf14.

I don't think name recognition alone means much. My secondary projects have very few readers compared to Fantasia. This is due to lack of updates (or maybe I just don't have that much name recognition). Updates are king on this site for initial readers, and quality for reader retention.

RE: Why some stories don't get attention compared to others?

#7
'unice5656' pid='804427' dateline='1474647229' Wrote: I don't think name recognition alone means much. My secondary projects have very few readers compared to Fantasia. This is due to lack of updates (or maybe I just don't have that much name recognition). Updates are king on this site for initial readers, and quality for reader retention.

Says the person with the rank 33 fiction on "active only rank" with a 9 chapter fiction

Heck, most published novels actually spend more time talking about the author's past fictions than their current fiction.  Haven't you ever heard those advertisements, "from the author of Twilight...." and then a billion people jump aboard without the slightest care. 

It's one of the more annoying groups of readers. They make it very difficult for new blood to enter the entertainment industry.  They're the reason that any movie that wants to make money has to include someone with name recognition on their cast. It's that same reason why we have a billion movie rehashes rather than actual new content.  

I personally have sworn an oath to avoid those authors, movies, etc as much as possible.  It's one of the reasons I'm part of the RRL community, I refuse to read major novel brands.

RE: Why some stories don't get attention compared to others?

#8
I think it's more important to get & have a loyal readership. My work, The Dungeon Hive, hover around 130+ in the active section of RR even though  it has a 4.43 score with 17 reviews (one guy gave me a 0 or 0.5). However I'm okay with it as I do think I have a few loyal readers to my story. As long as they're there, I'll keep on writing. I mean we're all doing this for fun right? It's great to have more attention but as long as there are readers who enjoy what we write, and who keep on coming back for more, I don't think it matters too much whether the work gets attention or not. As long as it's still fun naosu, keep on going!

RE: Why some stories don't get attention compared to others?

#9
'DarkD' pid='806871' dateline='1474846646' Wrote:
'unice5656' pid='804427' dateline='1474647229' Wrote: I don't think name recognition alone means much. My secondary projects have very few readers compared to Fantasia. This is due to lack of updates (or maybe I just don't have that much name recognition). Updates are king on this site for initial readers, and quality for reader retention.

Says the person with the rank 33 fiction on "active only rank" with a 9 chapter fiction

It is? O_O Woah. Maybe I should update it more.

The Best Rated and Active-only lists are now so strongly weighted towards high average rating that they really don't reflect popularity much anymore. The most-read fictions on this site often are hit with more lower ratings and aren't ranked highly on those lists.

RE: Why some stories don't get attention compared to others?

#11
Well I get turned off from reading due these reasons:

1. Cryptic synopsis, which is barely understandable and doesn't tell you much of what the story is about.

2. Bad grammar, I have seen good stories with original plot, but was unreadable due to the bad grammar

3. Author doesn't improve or wants to improve(doesn't listen to feedback). I have seen several times where the author makes the same mistakes over several chapters and never fixes it even though it is mentioned.

4. tags, some people simply don't like certain stories and won't even bother reading a single chapter if it has a tag they don't like. For me personally it is the gender bender tags, if it has that tag I won't bother giving it a second glance.

5. Boring titles, if the title doesn't wake up interest to the reader they will just skip ahead, there are so many stories on this site and it is easy to be overlooked, so an attention gripping title is important.

6. Bad fighting scenes(action novels), obviously this is important if it is an action novel. I read the worst one just a couple of days ago, where the MC with no special powers, killed 4 wolves with a pen, without the wolves fighting back. In fact let me quote the fighting scene:
"On my keyring, I have six keys, a store club card, a flash drive, and nail clippers. Hm... the pen will have to do for now. 

With my dark blue pen in my hand, I walk over to the wolves. Without putting myself in any danger, I stab into them with my pen. I don't know how much damage I'm doing to them, but I have all day to kill the four of them. 
Three stabs to each ear. I don't know much about ears, but I think they are bad to be stabbed in. Two stabs up each nostril. I think you can hit the brain like that, but it might only be like that for humans. Two stabs under the chin. I just know it's thin skin and easy to break through. Countless stabs over the rest of the body. I basically stab until I'm sure the creature is dead. I do this four more times, and I get another idea. I can stab the underside once for good measure. Once done my attack on the wolves, I retreat to a safe distance.
Look like all my stabs did the job. The four wolves immediately fell down, unable to handle the intense pain surging through their bodies. It didn't take long for the wolves to die, mostly from bleeding"

Suffice to say I didn't read more.


'Ghostman' pid='807148' dateline='1474875033' Wrote: I think it's more important to get & have a loyal readership. My work, The Dungeon Hive, hover around 130+ in the active section of RR even though  it has a 4.43 score with 17 reviews (one guy gave me a 0 or 0.5). However I'm okay with it as I do think I have a few loyal readers to my story. As long as they're there, I'll keep on writing. I mean we're all doing this for fun right? It's great to have more attention but as long as there are readers who enjoy what we write, and who keep on coming back for more, I don't think it matters too much whether the work gets attention or not. As long as it's still fun naosu, keep on going!

Wish more authors were like you, this reminds me of a novel I really liked but the author stopped because he didn't get enough views and replies on each chapter, which is a shame in my opinion. I can understand how you would feel sad if not enough people pay attention to your novel, it might seem like what you write is not good. But isn't it fine as long as the author and readers both enjoy themselves?

RE: Why some stories don't get attention compared to others?

#13
'Zen607' pid='816643' dateline='1476793027' Wrote: 1. Cryptic synopsis, which is barely understandable and doesn't tell you much of what the story is about.

I'd like to touch on this a bit.

What this site uses, and what you see on the backs of published books, is called a "blurb." The point of a blurb is to give a reader an idea of a setting, conflict, and hook them without giving anything about the story away. No spoilers, no hints, nothing. Bad blurbs have spoilers.

A synopsis is literally nothing but spoilers. It's a basic rundown from Point A to B to C which you give to literary agents, editors, and publishers when you're trying to get your work traditionally published.

Writing a blurb is hard as hell. Mine still completely sucks. Part of the problem is that when you're writing a web serial, there's this temptation to write a blurb that encompasses the story as a whole. Especially on a site like this where we don't have chapters divided into individual books, each with it's own blurb.

It's very hard to convey the feel of an entire series in 200-250 words. After 250 words, people usually stop reading the blurb.

This is one of those things that I really wish readers would give more feedback on. Sometimes, as a writer, we need open discussion to get ideas rolling in our head when it comes to fixing something. Often, we need people to tell us "why" something doesn't work.
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RE: Why some stories don't get attention compared to others?

#14
'Luciferia' pid='816712' dateline='1476844548' Wrote:
'Zen607' pid='816643' dateline='1476793027' Wrote: 1. Cryptic synopsis, which is barely understandable and doesn't tell you much of what the story is about.

I'd like to touch on this a bit.

What this site uses, and what you see on the backs of published books, is called a "blurb." The point of a blurb is to give a reader an idea of a setting, conflict, and hook them without giving anything about the story away. No spoilers, no hints, nothing. Bad blurbs have spoilers.

A synopsis is literally nothing but spoilers. It's a basic rundown from Point A to B to C which you give to literary agents, editors, and publishers when you're trying to get your work traditionally published.

Writing a blurb is hard as hell. Mine still completely sucks. Part of the problem is that when you're writing a web serial, there's this temptation to write a blurb that encompasses the story as a whole. Especially on a site like this where we don't have chapters divided into individual books, each with it's own blurb.

It's very hard to convey the feel of an entire series in 200-250 words. After 250 words, people usually stop reading the blurb.

This is one of those things that I really wish readers would give more feedback on. Sometimes, as a writer, we need open discussion to get ideas rolling in our head when it comes to fixing something. Often, we need people to tell us "why" something doesn't work.

I think giving away information is important in a medium like this, even if putting spoilers in your blurb/description may lessen a part of the reading experience(though if its only for the first chapters I don't think its too big of a deal). When you are technically below multiple levels of professional authors(it terms of resources available such as professional highly experienced editors and advertising etc.) readers need some assurance that they won't be filled with regret or otherwise after reading your fiction for multiple hours. Otherwise, they may never click on the first chapter. It's important to ask why someone is reading on an indie fiction site instead of published works. 

I'm not going to lie and pretend my fiction's popularity is solely my writing skill, it's not. My interests coalign with a lot of the readers on here and my grammar is mostly solid, but that's true for a lot of writers here.  At the same time if I didn't give away enough information in my description I don't think I'd have even a quarter of the readers that I do. Some expectations need to be given when you don't have a name or a publishing company as a backing. 

I could be drawing a bit too much from my experience as a reader though.

RE: Why some stories don't get attention compared to others?

#15
'Aternus' pid='816719' dateline='1476847978' Wrote: I think giving away information is important in a medium like this, even if putting spoilers in your blurb/description may lessen a part of the reading experience(though if its only for the first chapters I don't think its too big of a deal).

It's a delicate balance. You can show the setting, world, characters, and what the story is about without spoilers. After all, an overarching plot usually isn't a spoiler in itself. If you're writing a mystery, you set up the mystery without telling potential readers what the answer to that mystery is.

Usually when we start off on a journey, we know where we're going. If I get in the car and decide I want to go get a burger from Sonic, I'm not surprised when I arrive at Sonic.

On the flip-side of what you said, some readers absolutely will not read a story that gives obvious spoilers in the blurb. Generally speaking people hate spoilers with a burning passion.

As I said though, part of the problem is writing a blurb for a single novel vs. a series. It's a lot easier to write a blurb for a single story than it is for a collection of multiple plots.

For anyone that struggles to write blurbs, I recommend studying articles on how to write them, such as this one. Then practice. Write a bunch of them, then post them on the forums for feedback or, if you're in one of the writing groups on this site, nudge them for help.

'Aternus' pid='816719' dateline='1476847978' Wrote: When you are technically below multiple levels of professional authors readers need some assurance that they won't be filled with regret or otherwise after reading your fiction for multiple hours. Otherwise, they may never click on the first chapter.

I think you're giving readers a little too much credit. If they make it past the blurb (if they even read it) people usually decide if they want to keep reading based on the first chapter. Sometimes even the first paragraph of the story is what decides if they keep on reading.


As far as being multiple levels below professional authors, I don't think aspiring authors should dwell on that. If people start looking at it that way, they're highly likely to get lazy. If they get lazy, their work is going to suffer and their rate of improvement will stagnate. If they're hobbyist authors that's fine, but there's also a decent chunk of people on this website that are published or are looking to publish.

Something else to note is that sometimes, with traditionally published novels, it isn't even the author of the book itself that wrote the blurb. It isn't uncommon that someone is hired to write it. Whether this is because of how much trad. publishers edit/rewrite stories or if it's because the authors aren't good at writing blurbs, I have no idea.

Probably a mix of both.

'Aternus' pid='816719' dateline='1476847978' Wrote: It's important to ask why someone is reading on an indie fiction site instead of published works.

Honestly? It's mainly because it's free.

'Aternus' pid='816719' dateline='1476847978' Wrote: I'm not going to lie and pretend my fiction's popularity is solely my writing skill, it's not. My interests coalign with a lot of the readers on here and my grammar is mostly solid, but that's true for a lot of writers here.

Your fiction isn't linked in your signature, so I can't comment about your grammar/popularity/skill/etc. :P

'Aternus' pid='816719' dateline='1476847978' Wrote: At the same time if I didn't give away enough information in my description I don't think I'd have even a quarter of the readers that I do. Some expectations need to be given when you don't have a name or a publishing company as a backing.

I still think that just boils down to knowing how to write a blurb, honestly.

Readers don't need to have their hands held by spoilers in a blurb, but they need enough information to work with.

My blurb—which is awful, I won't even pretend it isn't—is in a point of stasis at the moment because I'm doing a rewrite. Once I finish my rewrite, I'm going to have to write a blurb for the first book for publishing reasons anyway—so that's probably what I'll update my blurb on here to.

The problem (on RRL) comes to book 2+. Unless we're allowed to divide chapters into multiple books with their own unique blurbs, I'm stuck in a weird spot.

Options:

  • Make each book a separate listing and risk people not finding books post-one.

  • Put them all in one listing and update the blurb based on which book I'm on, which results in potential spoilers and confusion for new readers.

  • Attempt to write a blurb that encompasses the serial as a whole (next to impossible.)

A potential solution to the first option is if RRL adds something like what Storiesonline has, where you can make a series category or universe listing for your own stories.
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RE: Why some stories don't get attention compared to others?

#16
'Luciferia' pid='816723' dateline='1476850894' Wrote:
'Aternus' pid='816719' dateline='1476847978' Wrote: I think giving away information is important in a medium like this, even if putting spoilers in your blurb/description may lessen a part of the reading experience(though if its only for the first chapters I don't think its too big of a deal).

It's a delicate balance. You can show the setting, world, characters, and what the story is about without spoilers. After all, an overarching plot usually isn't a spoiler in itself. If you're writing a mystery, you set up the mystery without telling potential readers what the answer to that mystery is.

Usually when we start off on a journey, we know where we're going. If I get in the car and decide I want to go get a burger from Sonic, I'm not surprised when I arrive at Sonic.

On the flip-side of what you said, some readers absolutely will not read a story that gives obvious spoilers in the blurb. Generally speaking people hate spoilers with a burning passion.

As I said though, part of the problem is writing a blurb for a single novel vs. a series. It's a lot easier to write a blurb for a single story than it is for a collection of multiple plots.

For anyone that struggles to write blurbs, I recommend studying articles on how to write them, such as this one. Then practice. Write a bunch of them, then post them on the forums for feedback or, if you're in one of the writing groups on this site, nudge them for help.

I think in this medium it's important to tell what kind of detective to expect rather than giving the answer to the mystery. Like is he a by the book type cop or someone who happily tortures his suspects. If I don't have any information on the detective I might be turned off from reading when I'm quickly looking through hundreds of books. I don't think it's a spoiler to give that kind of information about the main character. Unless it's meant as character progression but that's a different story.

'Luciferia' pid='816723' dateline='1476850894' Wrote:
'Aternus' pid='816719' dateline='1476847978' Wrote: When you are technically below multiple levels of professional authors readers need some assurance that they won't be filled with regret or otherwise after reading your fiction for multiple hours. Otherwise, they may never click on the first chapter.

I think you're giving readers a little too much credit. If they make it past the blurb (if they even read it) people usually decide if they want to keep reading based on the first chapter. Sometimes even the first paragraph of the story is what decides if they keep on reading.


As far as being multiple levels below professional authors, I don't think aspiring authors should dwell on that. If people start looking at it that way, they're highly likely to get lazy. If they get lazy, their work is going to suffer and their rate of improvement will stagnate. If they're hobbyist authors that's fine, but there's also a decent chunk of people on this website that are published or are looking to publish.

Something else to note is that sometimes, with traditionally published novels, it isn't even the author of the book itself that wrote the blurb. It isn't uncommon that someone is hired to write it. Whether this is because of how much trad. publishers edit/rewrite stories or if it's because the authors aren't good at writing blurbs, I have no idea.

Probably a mix of both.

I just meant below as in resources available. Not in necessarily any other category. Not having a professional editor with 20+ years of experience is a pretty huge disadvantage I'd say.  Or advertising and stuff. 

My first chapter is kinda long though. I dunno if I'd read it without the description, especially since my reading time is kinda limited depending on the day. Probably thinking too much of my own reading habits. 

'Luciferia' pid='816723' dateline='1476850894' Wrote:
'Aternus' pid='816719' dateline='1476847978' Wrote: It's important to ask why someone is reading on an indie fiction site instead of published works.

Honestly? It's mainly because it's free.

But with Kindle unlimited and the internet, everything is free(though I have a job so I buy books anyways, support ur authors! XD).

'Luciferia' pid='816723' dateline='1476850894' Wrote:
'Aternus' pid='816719' dateline='1476847978' Wrote: I'm not going to lie and pretend my fiction's popularity is solely my writing skill, it's not. My interests coalign with a lot of the readers on here and my grammar is mostly solid, but that's true for a lot of writers here.

Your fiction isn't linked in your signature, so I can't comment about your grammar/popularity/skill/etc. :P

The Arcane Emperor, its 7th on the active list atm. I say mostly solid cause I write like 3000 words or so a day. Though a kind person currently reading through it is commenting a few errors I need to fix every chapter so maybe I can lower that to partly solid before bringing it back up :P

'Luciferia' pid='816723' dateline='1476850894' Wrote:
'Aternus' pid='816719' dateline='1476847978' Wrote: At the same time if I didn't give away enough information in my description I don't think I'd have even a quarter of the readers that I do. Some expectations need to be given when you don't have a name or a publishing company as a backing.

I still think that just boils down to knowing how to write a blurb, honestly.

Readers don't need to have their hands held by spoilers in a blurb, but they need enough information to work with.

My blurb—which is awful, I won't even pretend it isn't—is in a point of stasis at the moment because I'm doing a rewrite. Once I finish my rewrite, I'm going to have to write a blurb for the first book for publishing reasons anyway—so that's probably what I'll update my blurb on here to.

The problem (on RRL) comes to book 2+. Unless we're allowed to divide chapters into multiple books with their own unique blurbs, I'm stuck in a weird spot.

Options:

  • Make each book a separate listing and risk people not finding books post-one.

  • Put them all in one listing and update the blurb based on which book I'm on, which results in potential spoilers and confusion for new readers.

  • Attempt to write a blurb that encompasses the serial as a whole (next to impossible.)

A potential solution to the first option is if RRL adds something like what Storiesonline has, where you can make a series category or universe listing for your own stories.

I mean if you divide into 2 books does that really matter for the readers when it comes to web novels? Your blurb for your second book could just be a prologue or just not have one at all. It'd be pretty strange if someone started at your second book in a web novel type format.

It may, in fact, be just my personal preference of how I search for books. It never bothered me how well or poorly written the description was. Sometimes I could even overlook grammar if so long as the information given was enough for me to believe I'll enjoy this book in the long term. Though you do have a good point. If it was too long and I liked the tags I read the novel while skipping the description :P

RE: Why some stories don't get attention compared to others?

#17
'Aternus' pid='816727' dateline='1476853728' Wrote: I mean if you divide into 2 books does that really matter for the readers when it comes to web novels? Your blurb for your second book could just be a prologue or just not have one at all. It'd be pretty strange if someone started at your second book in a web novel type format.

I should be publishing book 1 in a few months, that's why I care. :P

I approach everything from the standpoint of my end goal. Formatting, length, style, etc.

Which also means I overthink things, like how to handle blurbs on web serial sites. Especially if I end up having to go Kindle Unlimited, it means only 10% of my first book can be posted online. That's a factor I have to keep in mind as well.

Also, doesn't Kindle Unlimited require a subscription? o:
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RE: Why some stories don't get attention compared to others?

#18
'Luciferia' pid='816728' dateline='1476857084' Wrote:
'Aternus' pid='816727' dateline='1476853728' Wrote: I mean if you divide into 2 books does that really matter for the readers when it comes to web novels? Your blurb for your second book could just be a prologue or just not have one at all. It'd be pretty strange if someone started at your second book in a web novel type format.

I should be publishing book 1 in a few months, that's why I care. :P

I approach everything from the standpoint of my end goal. Formatting, length, style, etc.

Which also means I overthink things, like how to handle blurbs on web serial sites. Especially if I end up having to go Kindle Unlimited, it means only 10% of my first book can be posted online. That's a factor I have to keep in mind as well.

Also, doesn't Kindle Unlimited require a subscription? o:

Good point, I just meant from a RRL perspective 1 blurb is fine. Though i guess if you have a major gap cause of KU thats a factor to think about differently.

I dont remember but its pretty cheap, Like a netflix for books.

RE: Why some stories don't get attention compared to others?

#19
1. Your on the royal road website, meaning your story should have allot of similarities to Legendary Moonlight Sculptor for the target audience. (showing character growth in terms of levels is usually a big part of it)
2. Does your story flow? It should feel like flowing water and be relaxing. If the reader gets frustrated, its going to fail.
3. Does your story make sense? Fiction unlike Non-Fiction has to make sense to the reader. If you lose them by using too many words or by exploring irrelevant story plots, it fails.

Note: This isn't to say that you have to connect every idea to every other idea and make a huge mess... The story might make sense but why you wrote a story like that won't.......

That's about it... Just don't underestimate how hard those three are to apply to an entire piece of writing.

Take a moment to think about what you write and where its going before you start to write. That way your less likely to hit dead ends where you have to strain logic to make the story work.
Listen to your heart and write.

RE: Why some stories don't get attention compared to others?

#20
'Legendary' pid='818358' dateline='1479618530' Wrote: 1. Your on the royal road website, meaning your story should have allot of similarities to Legendary Moonlight Sculptor for the target audience. (showing character growth in terms of levels is usually a big part of it)

This doesn't really apply anymore. RRL is growing and changing.
Looking for stuff to read? Click below to navigate to my stories.

https://i.imgur.com/r6iTizF.jpg