How to keep writing when no one reads your novel

[TheNonexistentOne]

Just write for yourself... Like you have been doing till now. I'm pretty much the same. There are readers, but zero feedbacks, lol.

But I still write... Why? Because I love my story. I'm writing what I would love to read, like to see and what I feel.

There are very few novels that I can never forget. And I'm writing just something like that. So that, one day, when I won't be writing anymore as I'll be too much busy with life .. I'll read my own work from my younger and passionate version, who had so much time to think about such complex things and write them down. Hahaha.

Main point is... Ask yourself these questions first —

"Do I LOVE writing?"

"Why did I write... If I would only think about giving up one day?"

"Do I love my own work?"

"Or do I just... Want to write for reader's reviews?"

 

[Lysander_Works]

There are two halves to this kind of battle.
The more involved half is your reason for writing in the first place. For me, I do it for fun (of course), but also platform it here, because I know that I have a very limited time on this rock alive. What I intend to leave behind, what I hope and imagine future readers to enjoy ~ that is what gets me through it, even if my read counter sits at "0" or at a suspicious double-digit bot scraping number.

The other half, is marketing. There's an unspoken trap people's minds sink into (my own too for a while), that we believe marketing is exclusively ~ ads, book-fairs, or something else that cost too much money. The reality is, most people are annoyed by ads if they aren't outright blocked, book-fair require an initial amount of exposure and some level of physical print book coverage, and even any other traditional advertising sense doesn't answer the question of ~ why should the audience of this moment care?

If you ask me, the best way to really market your story, is to market yourself first. Who you YOU? What journey led you to the moment of your latest and greatest project? What INSPIRED you to go this far? That kind of personal connection is going to get people interested far more often, because, we more often trust something we know versus what we don't know.

I give the same advice to myself. Been sitting on the plans to launch myself as a V-tuber for a while. A combination of health issues (plus a coughing fit every time I speak), is the excuse I've been using. But I really do want to launch such a thing. I think, I'm just afraid to start it, afraid to start something I can't keep up with in particular. I have yet to phase in a true schedule for it. But anyway, that's just one example. If it doesn't come in the form of a youtube video, perhaps it can manifest some other way.

 

[SouthernMaiden]

Been writing for a while now, posting my novel across platforms, but yeah... no one seems to be reading it... just some clicks, then leave...

I tried to overlook my feelings, encouraging myself: that the first step is always the hardest, that success doesnt come overnight, that it needs time to grow, etc.

But when I see other novels with the same chapter counts--yet they have massive readers, favs and ratings, it feels like a massive boulder crashing on me... and negative thoughts surface, like... am I just a horrible writer then? why cant i be like them? am I not good enough? should I stop writing?

I dont want to stop writing, I want to tell my story to the world, but the world seems cold :')

Atp, idk what should i do...

Okay I will mentions things that others won't. A dreaded word: Marketing.

-First of all. Get honest well thought out feedback. Act on it.
-Post on social media. Personally I use bluesky
-Also ask for shoutout swaps, especially on RoyalRoad
-Write something in a more popular genre, just to get fans!
-make sure your cover POPS and dosent look like slop
-Rewrite your synopsis so it markets your story better
-find writer discords. Engage.
-Submit to competitions
-Post in forums. The RR forums have threads where you can self promote
-review other people's work
-Did I mention shoutout swaps? THEY ARE FUCKING HUGE.

 

[onehunter]

Look at the sites you're posting on less. I only let myself log in to SH/RR when I'm posting a chapter, and it's helped a lot. Frequently checking for views, especially if you haven't posted since your last check, is mental torture.