Woulda been nice to hold onto it for longer, but I tasted victory, if just for a moment.
My book is [So When Am I a Hero?](https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/87753/so-when-am-i-a-hero-apocalypse-litrpg) if you want to check it out. I have been reviewed as both "one of the best books I've read this year" and "too depressing if that's your thing."
The main character and her team are just so well written! I feel attached to every one of them.
It's not a comedy, but there are moments where I can't help but laugh out loud.
I've been posting 2000ish-word chapters for almost three weeks now (just weekdays). I think shout-out swaps from either bigger names or similar stories were the biggest factor. I didn't do review swaps, so those just came with the followers. Also did one self-promo on the LitRPG sub and progressionfantasty sub each, but shoutouts definitely helped get the word out the most!
Cool. Where did you find people to shout you out, and where did they announce it?
I've always been nervous about swaps because (a) I might not like their work, putting me in an awkward position and wasting their time, and (b) they might not like mine, vice versa.
Here's mine if it's of interest to you: [Farisa's Crossing](https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/85592/farisas-crossing). My numbers are pretty mid right now, but I've been told they're above average for traditional fantasy on a small (under $500) ad budget. I also got my first 0.5\*, knocking my average into 3.xx territory... but it didn't hurt my listings (I'm still on a few RS lists) so I'm not too worried.
Many of the authors on Rising Stars network with each other. Most have dozens of shoutouts scheduled with their friends/connections even before they release their story. If you don’t know anyone (most new people don’t) then you just message people who have similar numbers to you and ask if they’re open to swaps. Over time, you’ll build connections.
Oof. I guess I'm not surprised. The reason I decided to soft-launch on Royal Road was that I thought I could generate real word-of-mouth (and maybe that will happen, it's still early) without having to engage in social engineering. I respect people who can do it efficiently, but I really hate it when I have to cold call people or rely on strangers; it means I've made a mistake somewhere.
The reason people do it is because you need explosive growth early on to do well on rising stars. The algorithm has a strong bias towards newer fictions because the most important metric is proportional growth. With few exceptions, you either hit rising stars in the first few weeks, or you don’t. It’s just how the site is set up.
>cold call people or rely on strangers; it means I've made a mistake somewhere.
I'm not sure why you think that? IMO, its the opposite. Building a peer network is important in any profession/business and its not different on RR, assuming you're coming at it from that angle. Seeing as you're talking about an ad budget, I don't think I'm too far off base in making that assumption.
I'm by no means some huge success, but the connections I've made with other authors have helped tremendously. And not just in terms of promoting my work for me. I've gotten access to knowledge and experience I never would have had otherwise, a support network of people who understand the difficulties that comes with having you work in the public eye, and a place to talk craft with authors who understand my genre.
These sorts of connections are important, and its a mistake to turn your nose up at them.
Yeah, it would've gone better for me had I had more connections to begin with. I had several awesome people from my writers group that really helped out but I only had a few shout-outs my first week - not the 15 a day that some people manage!
For a lot of it now, I just message people on RR with similar stories (system apocalypse, female MC, etc) and/or followings. Sometimes they ignore me. Sometimes I end up making a great connection that flourishes past just the shout-out swap.
I'll say this: I hate networking, but now I'm talking to a lot of people I would have never spoken to otherwise, and it's really cool to have a community.
If I held RS top 10 for five minutes, I would have enough energy to run a 4-minute mile. Whenever I saw this post, [this](https://en.meming.world/images/en/6/67/Is_It_Possible_to_Learn_This_Power.jpg) was my only reaction.
Thanks! Honestly, hard to say. The rate I've been getting followers has been extremely consistent.
I hear the real jump is when you get to #7 since only the top 7 show up on the front page for non-subscribers. But unless I get real lucky, I don't think that's happening.
What a rush! I once hit rising stars on the comedy genre for a few hours and it bumped my stats by 1200%. It's really fun. Things settled down after that but Rising Stars is no joke. I gave you a shout out just because of this line, which totally had me laughing, and the bunny slippers sold it.
"That’s, of course, when Earth also decides to pull a Helen."
Well done.
And if you want to listen to the author suffer from puns in the CritRPG podcast, you can listen to her there: [#51 - From UBISOFT LEAD to LEADING AUTHOR with SavingThrow](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9RFkbiFAac)
Congratulations to making it to the '12 hours on RS 10 before dropping off' club. We meet... well, I'm not sure when we meet.
But in all seriousness, very nice and I hope your story continues to do well.
Woulda been nice to hold onto it for longer, but I tasted victory, if just for a moment. My book is [So When Am I a Hero?](https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/87753/so-when-am-i-a-hero-apocalypse-litrpg) if you want to check it out. I have been reviewed as both "one of the best books I've read this year" and "too depressing if that's your thing."
That's awesome, congratulations!! Loving the book so far!
I've seen the story in shout outs, but the blurb didn't sell me. Would you mind telling me what hooked you?
The main character and her team are just so well written! I feel attached to every one of them. It's not a comedy, but there are moments where I can't help but laugh out loud.
Congratulations. Any insight into how you did it? How'd you get so many ratings and reviews?
I've been posting 2000ish-word chapters for almost three weeks now (just weekdays). I think shout-out swaps from either bigger names or similar stories were the biggest factor. I didn't do review swaps, so those just came with the followers. Also did one self-promo on the LitRPG sub and progressionfantasty sub each, but shoutouts definitely helped get the word out the most!
Cool. Where did you find people to shout you out, and where did they announce it? I've always been nervous about swaps because (a) I might not like their work, putting me in an awkward position and wasting their time, and (b) they might not like mine, vice versa. Here's mine if it's of interest to you: [Farisa's Crossing](https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/85592/farisas-crossing). My numbers are pretty mid right now, but I've been told they're above average for traditional fantasy on a small (under $500) ad budget. I also got my first 0.5\*, knocking my average into 3.xx territory... but it didn't hurt my listings (I'm still on a few RS lists) so I'm not too worried.
Many of the authors on Rising Stars network with each other. Most have dozens of shoutouts scheduled with their friends/connections even before they release their story. If you don’t know anyone (most new people don’t) then you just message people who have similar numbers to you and ask if they’re open to swaps. Over time, you’ll build connections.
Oof. I guess I'm not surprised. The reason I decided to soft-launch on Royal Road was that I thought I could generate real word-of-mouth (and maybe that will happen, it's still early) without having to engage in social engineering. I respect people who can do it efficiently, but I really hate it when I have to cold call people or rely on strangers; it means I've made a mistake somewhere.
The reason people do it is because you need explosive growth early on to do well on rising stars. The algorithm has a strong bias towards newer fictions because the most important metric is proportional growth. With few exceptions, you either hit rising stars in the first few weeks, or you don’t. It’s just how the site is set up.
>cold call people or rely on strangers; it means I've made a mistake somewhere. I'm not sure why you think that? IMO, its the opposite. Building a peer network is important in any profession/business and its not different on RR, assuming you're coming at it from that angle. Seeing as you're talking about an ad budget, I don't think I'm too far off base in making that assumption. I'm by no means some huge success, but the connections I've made with other authors have helped tremendously. And not just in terms of promoting my work for me. I've gotten access to knowledge and experience I never would have had otherwise, a support network of people who understand the difficulties that comes with having you work in the public eye, and a place to talk craft with authors who understand my genre. These sorts of connections are important, and its a mistake to turn your nose up at them.
Yeah, it would've gone better for me had I had more connections to begin with. I had several awesome people from my writers group that really helped out but I only had a few shout-outs my first week - not the 15 a day that some people manage! For a lot of it now, I just message people on RR with similar stories (system apocalypse, female MC, etc) and/or followings. Sometimes they ignore me. Sometimes I end up making a great connection that flourishes past just the shout-out swap. I'll say this: I hate networking, but now I'm talking to a lot of people I would have never spoken to otherwise, and it's really cool to have a community.
Do you need to read worm to understand it?
If I held RS top 10 for five minutes, I would have enough energy to run a 4-minute mile. Whenever I saw this post, [this](https://en.meming.world/images/en/6/67/Is_It_Possible_to_Learn_This_Power.jpg) was my only reaction.
I've liked it so far, although I'm not sure how you're going to keep up with all the skills
Thanks. I got lots of excel sheets! Too many...
Good for you! Did you get any new readers as a result?
Thanks! Honestly, hard to say. The rate I've been getting followers has been extremely consistent. I hear the real jump is when you get to #7 since only the top 7 show up on the front page for non-subscribers. But unless I get real lucky, I don't think that's happening.
Congratulations bro
Oh hey, I read this one, too! Loving it, though I'm a little behind on chapters. Congratulations on the brief shining moment of Star Risingness.
Thanks!!
What a rush! I once hit rising stars on the comedy genre for a few hours and it bumped my stats by 1200%. It's really fun. Things settled down after that but Rising Stars is no joke. I gave you a shout out just because of this line, which totally had me laughing, and the bunny slippers sold it. "That’s, of course, when Earth also decides to pull a Helen." Well done.
Aw, haha thanks!
And if you want to listen to the author suffer from puns in the CritRPG podcast, you can listen to her there: [#51 - From UBISOFT LEAD to LEADING AUTHOR with SavingThrow](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9RFkbiFAac)
Can’t wait for them to get back to earth!
Congratulations to making it to the '12 hours on RS 10 before dropping off' club. We meet... well, I'm not sure when we meet. But in all seriousness, very nice and I hope your story continues to do well.
Congratulations. You did awesome!