Calling all OO authors

[Hyena]

I'm in the process of writing what I hope to be my first novel. The genre is called LitRPG (some call it GameLit). It's basically Ready Player One on steroids, in that you get to see the main character's stats, watch them engage in skill choice decisions, loot upgrades, etc. If you haven't read one yet, give it a shot. Tao Wong has a series called "The System Apocolypse" and Aleron Kong has a series called "The Land". Both are very well-written, in my opinion, though it might not be for everyone. With this being a community of gamers, I think it would at least be of more than passing interest.

I'm about 55k words in, and I know I'm nowhere near halfway done with the first draft. I'm trying desperately not to look back past anything I wrote in the previous session so I don't fall prey to paralysis by editing.

Anyhow, I know there are several people on here that have published a book or three, so I was looking for some general advice beyond "Follow Heinlein's Rules!" I'm looking at various self-publishing options. Is there a suggested editor you've used, what are some of the marketing methods you've tried out, anything at all an experienced author is willing to share is welcome, no matter how small. Either in-thread or PM.

[Kasey Chang]

Not really helpful, but Craig Martelle and Michael Anderle of MMRNP publishing, both of whom have a lot of books on Amazon and makes a good living that I can see, have quite a few books on Kindle Unlimited about release strategies and stuff dealing with KDP.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07BQ ... ype=ebooks

[Hyena]

Thanks, Kasey! I'll check that out tonight.

[xenocide]

I'm not an author but I am into litrpg.

I would look into the reddit litrpg page. A lot of authors post there. Also I know there are a lot of litrpg authors who post their stories as they are being written on royalroad.com

One thing to note: While "The Land" has its fans at r/litrpg, it and Aleron Kong are very disliked there. Now I enjoy "The Land" but I don't know that I would call it "well written". It definitely needs better editing. Anyway, didn't mean to get off on a tangent, just be aware that praising Kong may not go over great at r/litrpg. Although I still recommend you go there.

[Hyena]

Yeah, I was on there last night and saw that. As for The Land's issues, I actually listened to the audible series read by Nick Podhel so I didn't see much of the issue with editing. I assume most of that is ironed out by the time he gets the script to read. I really enjoyed them for what they were, and it inspired me to try my hand at writing a story and a character that I would enjoy reading about.

I have exchanged emails with both Tao and Aleron (I was going to just put their last names, but it looked weird just writing Wong and Kong), and they are both very fan-friendly with advice. Both were a bit vague, however, regarding editing and such. In fact, Aleron's exact words were (copy and pasted directly from my email):

"Just go to "Kindle Direct Publishing" you can google it. Make an account. upload your book. BOOM! You're and author lol." [sic]

I am just looking around for some other perspectives, especially ones here that I know have published stuff out there. Thanks for the advice, though, and I'll hop back on tonight and see if there's other threads I might have missed.

[Jeff V]

I read a couple of books last year that might be that genre, but it's not something I seek out. My only suggestion is to hire an editor who is not shy about telling you when something sucks. Seems a lot of self-publishers think they are Mark Twain and don't need editing.

[Hyena]

I read a couple of books last year that might be that genre, but it's not something I seek out. My only suggestion is to hire an editor who is not shy about telling you when something sucks. Seems a lot of self-publishers think they are Mark Twain and don't need editing.

Yeah, I definitely don't fall into that category of arrogance. If anything, I'm my own worst critic. I think I tell myself it sucks enough...

[Anonymous Bosch]

Running your text through something like the Hemingway Editor would be a simple and easy method to improve and tighten up your prose:

[Kasey Chang]

I use Grammarly myself, enough that I actually paid for 6 months of it when I was ghostwriting a lot of blog articles.

[Kraken]

AI could handle at least 90% of the copy editing that I'm paid to do, since it's just about all rules-based (and I spend half of my time filling in meta data fields for my main client). The other 10% is knowing when ignoring a grammar rule improves readability or meaning.

Fiction is harder, especially at novel-length, as one must also read for continuity and sense. You're still going to need a human to do that.

[Hyena]

Ok, sorry to pimp my own stuff out, but if anyone is interested, I have uploaded the first 6 chapters of my novel to royalroad.com

It's called Awaiting Integration (A.I.), and involves a guy who's life is so crappy he elects to have his brain jacked into a computer and his consciousness uploaded to a game. As an avid gamer (and all-around miserable a-hole to boot because reasons!!), he feels like he doesn't need to read the manual because he knows how to play games. Now he wishes he would have.

Please, if you have the time, go check it out and leave a review. If you don't like it, lemme know what needs to be fixed, if you do like it, lemme know what is working. I've already gotten a bunch of views, but no actual reviews. I've had an overall anonymous 4 and 5 star, then a random .5 that just about everyone gets from trolls (according to the forums, it's almost a right of passage), but no actual feedback.

Thanks in advance for anyone taking their time to go take a look at it. I'm going to be putting the 7th chapter up some time today.

https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/29874 ... gration-ai

[Kasey Chang]

Okay, like it so far. This is more about the man "fighting the system" than some grand evil. Obviously you can pivot onto that later when he's got the system figured out.

I am not too sure I need a full history from the first moment where he appeared in the matrix to him figuring out how to "game" the system. Somehow, it feels very... mundane?

[Hyena]

Okay, like it so far. This is more about the man "fighting the system" than some grand evil. Obviously you can pivot onto that later when he's got the system figured out.

I am not too sure I need a full history from the first moment where he appeared in the matrix to him figuring out how to "game" the system. Somehow, it feels very... mundane?

The learning process is part of the story, as you'll see later on.

At the risk of too much information, basically the reason they plugged him in (and you'll see this the further along he goes) is that they are using him to actually write the game through his experience. His thoughts and experiences are actually creating the game as he goes, so the first time he interacts with a merchant, the trade screen is created based off what he expects to be there. The two observers are just there to...well, observe, but will be partial antagonists as they throw harder things at him as he progresses. It is man vs. tech, but also a huge portion of it will be man vs. self as he gets more comfortable in the system, as well as interacting with...others.

Thanks for the feedback! Did you actually make it through all 6 chapters? I am uploading 7 right now.

[Kasey Chang]

Yep, read all six.

You may want a teaser prologue that hints at the overall conflict, about how the admins don't actually *have* a game to deliver, and they are going to bet their livelihood on using this gamer dude to write the world for them, but another was a bit more hesitant because previous subjects have all failed (this wasn't their first attempt) and it wasn't "pleasant" for the subject. The beginning I was basically reading for the novelty of it.

So in a certain way, this has some parallels to Ender's Game? That there's a "meta-game" being played that the main character was unaware of?

[Hyena]

Yep, read all six.

You may want a teaser prologue that hints at the overall conflict, about how the admins don't actually *have* a game to deliver, and they are going to bet their livelihood on using this gamer dude to write the world for them, but another was a bit more hesitant because previous subjects have all failed (this wasn't their first attempt) and it wasn't "pleasant" for the subject. The beginning I was basically reading for the novelty of it.

So in a certain way, this has some parallels to Ender's Game? That there's a "meta-game" being played that the main character was unaware of?

I guess in a way, yes, but in reverse. Ender's Game was him thinking it was a game, while in reality it was war, while in this story he feels like it's reality but he's actually creating a game.

As for the other attempts, they *have* been successful, but each "player" has created vastly different games. The #3 they referenced in one of their conversations is hinted at being a major deviant, and therefore a much darker, disturbing game. One of the concepts I'm toying with if I get a decent response to this is to tell the stories of different people that have gone through this process, and the idea that they (the company) were intending to join them all together. They interviewed different personalities in order to create very different zones for an MMO.

Thanks so much for reading, like I said this is my first attempt so I'm fairly nervous at having others read my stuff for the first time.

[coopasonic]

Hearing you talk about it I am intrigued, but I don't get a lot of reading done these days. Let me know when the game comes out.

[Kasey Chang]

Okay, maybe you can couch the multiple attempts this way... The supervisor wanted something a bit more... PG rated, and he doesn't like the previous results. He claims he can't "sell" the game unless it's more PG, and they can release the more... edgier worlds later as DLCs.

I have an idea that you're going to have the poor guy die a couple more times, but only after choosing different avatar each and every time, to gain more bonus attributes that the +1 to all for death can't match.

[Hyena]

Okay, maybe you can couch the multiple attempts this way... The supervisor wanted something a bit more... PG rated, and he doesn't like the previous results. He claims he can't "sell" the game unless it's more PG, and they can release the more... edgier worlds later as DLCs.

I have an idea that you're going to have the poor guy die a couple more times, but only after choosing different avatar each and every time, to gain more bonus attributes that the +1 to all for death can't match.

The class stats don't pass along after each death, just the +1 from his Master perk. The game is giving him a boost every time he dies, as it is checking to see the minimum stats for being able to get started in the early area. Remember, it's learning as he plays. And as for how many more times he dies, let's just say he's a quick learner, because there are consequences he didn't see coming.

[Hyena]

Hearing you talk about it I am intrigued, but I don't get a lot of reading done these days. Let me know when the game comes out.

HA! Yeah, that might be a while. I gotta finish the damn book first.

[Hyena]

Ok guys, shameless self-promotion plug (which makes me feel horribly awkward enough as it is). I have put up the next several chapters (up to 11), working on 12 as we speak. If you could tolerate the first few, please go take a look at the next few and drop a comment here or there. Trying to get as many eyes on it as I can for critiques and such.

[Hipolito]

Congrats on making this much progress, Hyena.

I skimmed the 11 chapters. I loved Ready Player One and even the anime Sword Art Online, but I'm new to LitRPG and I think it goes too far in the gaming direction for me. I like more emotion and character interaction in stories.

I liked the interaction with the little girl and the memories of the protagonist's father. I also liked the Skyrim reference. Not so much the World of Warcraft reference ...

[Hyena]

Congrats on making this much progress, Hyena.

I skimmed the 11 chapters. I loved Ready Player One and even the anime Sword Art Online, but I'm new to LitRPG and I think it goes too far in the gaming direction for me. I like more emotion and character interaction in stories.

I liked the interaction with the little girl and the memories of the protagonist's father. I also liked the Skyrim reference. Not so much the World of Warcraft reference ...

Thanks for the feedback! Which WoW reference?

Also, my story is going to focus much more on the character and less on the stats. That is actually going to be part of the story, where he embraces the fact that he is living this, not playing a game anymore.

[Hipolito]

Thanks for the feedback! Which WoW reference?

Aw, don't make me say it. (deep breath ...)

Spoiler:

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[Hyena]

Thanks for the feedback! Which WoW reference?

Aw, don't make me say it. (deep breath ...)

Spoiler:

LEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOY JENNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNKIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNS

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I forgot that was actually from WoW! Well, at least he didn't have a chance to finish it...

[Hipolito]

Interview with Aleron Kong about LitRPGs.