Barking up the wrong tree?

[CorSeries]

After a year of posting on SH I am coming up on 100 chapters and 250K words but as I read through the forums and the SH reddit I am thinking I might be barking up the wrong tree. SH is a great tree and I think my barking is relatively decent but I'm a little late to the party. As a 65 year old I am writing a more classic sci fantasy, the sort of books I read back in the 70's when the scholastic book orders would arrive at school. Stories like Daybreak 2250 AD, Have Spacesuit, Will Travel, Stranger from the Depths, etc. I am coming up to the end of book II of my series but wondering if I should move on after I finish that arc. Any advice for next steps?

 

[Little-Moon]

Mhhh, I am not sure if barking up the wrong tree is the right word to express it, you can get a lot of traction these parts even if you are late to the party. You might be barking the wrong way...I think, for lack of better description in English.

But, now come the big Buts.

First, on SH you find a variety of stuff, but Sci-Fi is not the most popular genre these parts, it has its readers and a lot of them too due to the size of the webside, but it's harder here then on other sites with traditional Sci-Fi.

(Personally an avid Sci-Fi reader, but I believe I should be a minority here, in fact I do actively read your story, so I can confirm speaking for me personally I like the story)

Second many here judge by Cover only, they don't read the synopsis if the cover doesn't catch them and sad as it may be...the most popular/common ones here are anime style covers.

 

[LeilaniOtter]

I've felt I was late to the party too, and like you I'm a bit up in years. *^^*
But I still really love writing very much.
I think you should do what's going to make you happy, not your audience. ?

 

[CorSeries]

I've felt I was late to the party too, and like you I'm a bit up in years. *^^*
But I still really love writing very much.
I think you should do what's going to make you happy, not your audience. ?

Good point. If I can entertain a few people and communicate something that brings a measure of joy or connectivity, I cant ask for much more. Looks like you have been busy.

 

[Our_Lady_in_Twilight]

I agree with Leilani. Don't worry too much about chasing the optimal genre. Keep writing to your passion and try to develop your technical skill as much as possible. You might never hit the chart-topping heights of the isekai-harem titans, but there's every chance you can build a couple of hundred loyal readers for whom your niche is exactly what they're looking for.

 

[CorSeries]

Thanks for the encouragement. I guess time will tell if there are any here that might want a book set in the 1950's with old fashioned morals and young teen MC's.

 

[AnEmberOfSundown]

44 and semi-retired here. I feel you. Explaining that you were influenced by Foundation, Caves of Steel, HHGTTG, MASH, and Black Cauldron feels a bit like speaking a different language.

But I'll echo what others have said, write what makes you happy. That's what's keeping me sane, anyway.

 

[LeilaniOtter]

Good point. If I can entertain a few people and communicate something that brings a measure of joy or connectivity, I cant ask for much more. Looks like you have been busy.

I've dabbled here on Scribble Hub. I already have a pretty good following. *^^* Even if the audience is limited in scope and niche for me. Not many "furry" fans here. ?

 

[Cipiteca396]

I am coming up to the end of book II of my series but wondering if I should move on after I finish that arc.

There's no downside to keeping your stories on SH. Theoretically, it makes the most sense to post on several sites at once. Anything you can do to get more eyes on the project will help; advertisement is important. Only reason to remove your stories would be if you wanted to sign on with amazon or something and they gave you an exclusivity clause. So outside that, it's really a moot point.

 

[FRWriter]

Thanks for the encouragement. I guess time will tell if there are any here that might want a book set in the 1950's with old fashioned morals and young teen MC's.

More Genres and Tags would certainly help! Also, maybe a different cover? I personally like yours a lot, but as many people have said, this isn't really a site for traditional Sci-Fi, Fantasy books. Most of the audience here prefers more modern works, and you need to catch their interest somehow.
Also, not to be mean, but what does "Cor Series" even mean? It's a random name.

I think even with a great story, great characters, and regular releases, you won't catch people's attention if the name and the cover feel extremely bland.

On Royal Road, you can pay for ads or do constant shoutouts, along with other strategies to easily gain hundreds of followers; however, that does not work on SH.

 

[CorSeries]

44 and semi-retired here. I feel you. Explaining that you were influenced by Foundation, Caves of Steel, HHGTTG, MASH, and Black Cauldron feels a bit like speaking a different language.

But I'll echo what others have said, write what makes you happy. That's what's keeping me sane, anyway.

44 and semi-retired here. I feel you. Explaining that you were influenced by Foundation, Caves of Steel, HHGTTG, MASH, and Black Cauldron feels a bit like speaking a different language.

But I'll echo what others have said, write what makes you happy. That's what's keeping me sane, anyway.

From the quality of your prose, your sanity is not in question. You've got 20 years on me and the partial retirement is a great boon. At 65 Im full time as an exec. Dir of an arts organization (badlandsamp.com) with no end in sight.

More Genres and Tags would certainly help! Also, maybe a different cover? I personally like yours a lot, but as many people have said, this isn't really a site for traditional Sci-Fi, Fantasy books. Most of the audience here prefers more modern works, and you need to catch their interest somehow.
Also, not to be mean, but what does "Cor Series" even mean? It's a random name.

I think even with a great story, great characters, and regular releases, you won't catch people's attention if the name and the cover feel extremely bland.

On Royal Road, you can pay for ads or do constant shoutouts, along with other strategies to easily gain hundreds of followers; however, that does not work on SH.

Thanks. I will look at the tags and think through the cover. Its all I have at present an haven't like the AI generated look. Ill change the name to The Cor or I could release the three books under their individual names, Hammer, Medallion and Scepter.
On RR I never do shoutouts. Too old school and dont like how they clog up the reading experience.

 

[FRWriter]

Thanks. I will look at the tags and think through the cover. Its all I have at present an haven't like the AI generated look. Ill change the name to The Cor or I could release the three books under their individual names, Hammer, Medallion and Scepter.
On RR I never do shoutouts. Too old school and dont like how they clog up the reading experience.

You are not the only one who hates the shout-out game. Everyone does. It's almost a side job. You spend as much time marketing/lining up shoutouts as you do writing, and it's hell... but what is the alternative? Releasing chapters to one or two active readers who my chance have stumbled across your work? Your story won't be found without playing the game, as much as everyone hates it.

Maybe if you can't budge on your story title, try to add an addition? For example, The Cor — A Sci-fi Fantasy Story... or whatever you think would fit. Just a qualifier so people may actually get interested.

AI is not as bad as you might think. Especially for Sci-Fi. There are incredible works of space out there that traditional artists can never even try to replicate. You need to get a little creative with AI, combine different images, maybe, and you need to add your title in a nice custom font. There are countless ways to catch people's interest with AI work. I'm pretty sure that if you put in the effort, you can come up with a really incredible cover that does not look like AI. Of course, you could always commission real art. I imagine if you are already older, you won't lack the 100 bucks you would need to get something decent.

Or if that sounds a little too complicated, you could always write a fanfic and automatically enjoy a huge audience from the get-go... something I, of course, would never do! Even better if it's close in genre to your current story, like Star Wars, Star Trek, Warhammer, Star Gate, Starship Troopers... whatever floats your boat.
Then you could leverage your relatively large audience to garner interest in your original stories...

Anyway, I hope you'll keep up the good work and don't give up.
Good luck with your story.

 

[CorSeries]

You are not the only one who hates the shout-out game. Everyone does. It's almost a side job. You spend as much time marketing/lining up shoutouts as you do writing, and it's hell... but what is the alternative? Releasing chapters to one or two active readers who my chance have stumbled across your work? Your story won't be found without playing the game, as much as everyone hates it.

Maybe if you can't budge on your story title, try to add an addition? For example, The Cor — A Sci-fi Fantasy Story... or whatever you think would fit. Just a qualifier so people may actually get interested.

AI is not as bad as you might think. Especially for Sci-Fi. There are incredible works of space out there that traditional artists can never even try to replicate. You need to get a little creative with AI, combine different images, maybe, and you need to add your title in a nice custom font. There are countless ways to catch people's interest with AI work. I'm pretty sure that if you put in the effort, you can come up with a really incredible cover that does not look like AI. Of course, you could always commission real art. I imagine if you are already older, you won't lack the 100 bucks you would need to get something decent.

Or if that sounds a little too complicated, you could always write a fanfic and automatically enjoy a huge audience from the get-go... something I, of course, would never do! Even better if it's close in genre to your current story, like Star Wars, Star Trek, Warhammer, Star Gate, Starship Troopers... whatever floats your boat.
Then you could leverage your relatively large audience to garner interest in your original stories...

Anyway, I hope you'll keep up the good work and don't give up.
Good luck with your story.

I tried the shoutout side of things but it seemed to backfire. It appears to work in a similar genre but the one I tried was quite different and it appeared those who tried it got annoyed instead of interested.
Thanks for the tip on the title. It now reads - The Cor - A Classic Sci-Fantasy Adventure. Will see if that helps. Correct that I have some hobby writing funds. I tried 10 ads on RR and am at 430 followers there with 100k reads. Ads seemed to help there.
I will finish the third book in the next year. I have another idea I'm working on. Im not enough of a fan of any particular storyline to do a fanfic.
Thanks again for the great advice.

 

[CorSeries]

There's no downside to keeping your stories on SH. Theoretically, it makes the most sense to post on several sites at once. Anything you can do to get more eyes on the project will help; advertisement is important. Only reason to remove your stories would be if you wanted to sign on with amazon or something and they gave you an exclusivity clause. So outside that, it's really a moot point.

Good point. Who knows if more readers might find out they want something a bit more old school. Worth a try.

 

[vexedhexed]

Honestly you described something I would love reading and I just found out this site existed last week from a friend linking me a story here. Never worry about the amount of people reading what you wrote, even if it is only one reader they might really connect with it and grateful your content exists. I am primarily an illustrator so writing in this format is something I haven't done too much of since I was in my literature classes, but it's a lot of fun to try new creative outlets.

I will give your story a read through!

 

[CorSeries]

Mhhh, I am not sure if barking up the wrong tree is the right word to express it, you can get a lot of traction these parts even if you are late to the party. You might be barking the wrong way...I think, for lack of better description in English.

But, now come the big Buts.

First, on SH you find a variety of stuff, but Sci-Fi is not the most popular genre these parts, it has its readers and a lot of them too due to the size of the webside, but it's harder here then on other sites with traditional Sci-Fi.

(Personally an avid Sci-Fi reader, but I believe I should be a minority here, in fact I do actively read your story, so I can confirm speaking for me personally I like the story)

Second many here judge by Cover only, they don't read the synopsis if the cover doesn't catch them and sad as it may be...the most popular/common ones here are anime style covers.

Thanks for the feedback and even more so, for reading the story and liking it. I'm looking forward to getting book III moving along.
Agree on the covers but can't seem to find anything that seems to fit where I'm going. I might have to find an artist to help with that side of things.

Honestly you described something I would love reading and I just found out this site existed last week from a friend linking me a story here. Never worry about the amount of people reading what you wrote, even if it is only one reader they might really connect with it and grateful your content exists. I am primarily an illustrator so writing in this format is something I haven't done too much of since I was in my literature classes, but it's a lot of fun to try new creative outlets.

I will give your story a read through!

Welcome here and I hope you find something you will enjoy reading.