Do I have a chance?

[Deleted member 68927]

I know that there are plenty of authors who have made it big, but my only hope is to get more readers after the Grim Reaper pats me on the back, and takes me away.

Or maybe not even that?

Personally, I would like to live until I get to 120 years of age, and I do try to live well and healthily.

But...

I don't know. Do I even have getting readers after death to look forward to, or is BL too much of a niche?

(No, I do not want to die, my Muse is back, and my life is looking brighter with each passing day. Who knew that moving my writing sessions to the living room will have such a good effect on me? XD)

 

[melchi]

I wouldn't know, BL is not something I'm interested in.

I thought annie in the rice quest was fun though, was just sad it ended so soon.

 

[ParticleOfSand]

Don't raise any flags.

 

[ElijahRyne]

I know that there are plenty of authors who have made it big, but my only hope is to get more readers after the Grim Reaper pats me on the back, and takes me away.

Or maybe not even that?

Personally, I would like to live until I get to 120 years of age, and I do try to live well and healthily.

But...

I don't know. Do I even have getting readers after death to look forward to, or is BL too much of a niche?

(No, I do not want to die, my Muse is back, and my life is looking brighter with each passing day. Who knew that moving my writing sessions to the living room will have such a good effect on me? XD)

Who knows what the future has in store? No one. So perhaps and perhaps not. The most you can do is hone every aspect of your craft and hope to create a masterpiece, or the harder task of making something infamous. Nonetheless the more you and others spread the word of your work, and the more memorable the work, the more likely it will echo through time.

 

[Deleted member 166076]

I sometimes lay awake at night feeling inferior because you said you wrote 100 books in 2 years. I still don't understand how you did it when I'd have to write as a full time job to put out 6 books in 1 year and would still end up burnt out. I don't really see how you can have so much content that gets as many or more views than my work and still be complaining like this OP.

IDK maybe consider working on marketing? You'll have to translate some of your stories to English probably. However, there are tons of sites out there you can post to for free including: Wattpad, RoyalRoad, here, WebNovel, Honeyfeed, Penana, Inkitt, Sufficient Velocity, SpaceBattles, Booksie, Reddit Serials, and I already know you're on AO3 from your previous post. You could also go the self-publish route with Draft2Digital and start building an audience that way, but you'll have to remove your free listings if you want to include Amazon.

 

[Deleted member 68927]

I sometimes lay awake at night feeling inferior because you said you wrote 100 books in 2 years. I still don't understand how you did it when I'd have to write as a full time job to put out 6 books in 1 year and would still end up burnt out. I don't really see how you can have so much content that gets as many or more views than my work and still be complaining like this OP.

IDK maybe consider working on marketing? You'll have to translate some of your stories to English probably. However, there are tons of sites out there you can post to for free including: Wattpad, RoyalRoad, here, WebNovel, Honeyfeed, Penana, Inkitt, Sufficient Velocity, SpaceBattles, Booksie, Reddit Serials, and I already know you're on AO3 from your previous post. You could also go the self-publish route with Draft2Digital and start building an audience that way, but you'll have to remove your free listings if you want to include Amazon.

Daydreaming is easy. Maybe because it is so easy, people expect for me to share it for free. I have a patreon right now, and people are checking it out, so I don't know. But, hey, maybe if I do write those 4001 stories by the end of my life, I can get assigned as someone's Muse after I die!

That poor unfortunate soul...

But, hey, a bit of crack in the world is not something bad, eh?

 

[Deleted member 166076]

Daydreaming is easy. Maybe because it is so easy, people expect for me to share it for free. I have a patreon right now, and people are checking it out, so I don't know. But, hey, maybe if I do write those 4001 stories by the end of my life, I can get assigned as someone's Muse after I die!

That poor unfortunate soul...

But, hey, a bit of crack in the world is not something bad, eh?

I think you're underestimating your chances. We have similar levels of reads on here, but you have more completed works than me. Building a platform always takes time, but the abundance of work you have makes you stand out as an established author. You could easily monetize your work if you wanted to. I don't know that it would be enough money to live off of, but any amount of money is still more than you're making by offering it for free.

When it comes to Patreon, you have to bring readers from other platforms and offer enough content to make it worthwhile. I advertise my Patreon in an author's note on every single chapter I post, always keeping it front and center. I also have a minimum of 50 early access chapters for all of my books with PDF copies of completed volumes and post a minimum of 2 chapters a week per series. It used to be 5 chapters a week, but my mental health has been struggling lately and I have so much other nonsense to catch up on so it's been difficult to write as much as before. Anyhow, the rate of loyal readers to subscribers on Patreon is less than 10% across the lifetime of your platform, usually, and even less than that will remain subscribed long-term. It's definitely best to just give it a year or so before calling it a success or failure.

You don't have to monetize if you don't want to, but putting yourself down all of the time is off-putting and unnecessary.

 

[HungrySheep]

Everyone's path in life is different. Some people write their first novel and it's an instant hit. Other people write for years and years but don't get shit. If you love writing, keep writing. If shit like "reader retention" or reader gain is starting to enter your thought process and consideration, maybe it's time to take a step back and re-evaluate what you're here for.

I used to be pushing daily chapters and side stories. I tried to keep a minimum standard of quality while preserving quantity, especially with side stories to tide over the gaps between major arcs. That year during the lockdown was quite honestly the hardest I've ever pushed when it came to writing. Am I a full-time writer yet?

Nah.

If your goal is to become a full-time writer, I'm sorry, but it's probably not going to happen. It's not a matter of skill or dedication. Just luck. I've seen people write the most generic isekai for just four months and they're already full-time writers off massive Patreon payouts. That's merely a fraction of time compared to what you, me, and most people on this site have spent writing.

I saw that shit and I wondered to myself: What the fuck am I even doing?

I have work. I have law school. Why the hell am I busting my ass instead of enjoying the process? The answer was simple. I was under the illusion that if I worked hard, I'd "make it big." This is not the industry in which hard work is rewarded. Trust me. Sure, there are a ton of anecdotal examples where someone worked hard and managed to make it, but that's really just survivor bias. There are a lot more writers who've worked their asses off and haven't gotten anywhere.

The mere fact that more people know about/enjoy the stupid vending machine isekai over Hakomari is already proof of that, and it drives me insane. I doubt most people have heard of the Kamisu Reina series either, and that shit is lit. But I digress.

You write because you want to write, not because you're trying to make it big. If you love writing and you love what you're writing, take your time. Focus on telling your stories. The only readers that matter are the ones you have.

 

[Deleted member 68927]

Everyone's path in life is different. Some people write their first novel and it's an instant hit. Other people write for years and years but don't get shit. If you love writing, keep writing. If shit like "reader retention" or reader gain is starting to enter your thought process and consideration, maybe it's time to take a step back and re-evaluate what you're here for.

I used to be pushing daily chapters and side stories. I tried to keep a minimum standard of quality while preserving quantity, especially with side stories to tide over the gaps between major arcs. That year during the lockdown was quite honestly the hardest I've ever pushed when it came to writing. Am I a full-time writer yet?

Nah.

If your goal is to become a full-time writer, I'm sorry, but it's probably not going to happen. It's not a matter of skill or dedication. Just luck. I've seen people write the most generic isekai for just four months and they're already full-time writers off massive Patreon payouts. That's merely a fraction of time compared to what you, me, and most people on this site have spent writing.

I saw that shit and I wondered to myself: What the fuck am I even doing?

I have work. I have law school. Why the hell am I busting my ass instead of enjoying the process? The answer was simple. I was under the illusion that if I worked hard, I'd "make it big." This is not the industry in which hard work is rewarded. Trust me. Sure, there are a ton of anecdotal examples where someone worked hard and managed to make it, but that's really just survivor bias. There are a lot more writers who've worked their asses off and haven't gotten anywhere.

The mere fact that more people know about/enjoy the stupid vending machine isekai over Hakomari is already proof of that, and it drives me insane. I doubt most people have heard of the Kamisu Reina series either, and that shit is lit. But I digress.

You write because you want to write, not because you're trying to make it big. If you love writing and you love what you're writing, take your time. Focus on telling your stories. The only readers that matter are the ones you have.

Thank you. I needed the tough love.

 

[HungrySheep]

Thank you. I needed the tough love.

If you ever write any GL or stuff without any romance at all, lemme know and I'll give 'em a read. Always remember that you're here to do something you love and enjoy. If numbers are cutting into that, best take a break before hitting the anvil once more!