Would my story do better here than on RR?

[joefl70]

Hi everybody!

Nice to join the community :D

I'm sharing a novel on RoyalRoad. Been 7 months or so. No ads. Just shoutouts. I have a small community around it, but I started wondering if it's really the right platform all along. RoyalRoad is heavily built on LitRPG and Power fantasies, and I honestly have no idea about ScribbleHub. I read here in the forums that it can be be better for character-driven stories and niches and that's exactly the kind of story I'm writing.

On RoyalRoad, I recently got a review from a dude who left a 3.5/5 ( not bad ) but he dropped the novel because the main character is too innocent for his taste. I wrote the protagonist not for a self-insert narrative ( which is what LitRPGs and Power fantasies do ), but I tried to write him realistically— a kid in an overwhelming world trying not to break. Thanks to this review, I believe maybe I'm reaching out to the wrong audience?

I'm not after trends or anything. This is something I wrote with passion, care and love. A hobby. My first and final story. The win for me is a niche connecting with the characters, looking forward to the next chapter, joining a discord server I created.

Here is the synopsis.

Among streets ruled by hunger and fear, hope comes from the most unexpected hands: a child’s.

Thirteen-year-old Alex is torn from his quiet village by his uncle—Dominick, a feared mob enforcer known as the Undertaker. To protect his parents, Alex is thrown into Portenzo City: a ruthless place where corruption, violence, and power rule.

As he stumbles through the underworld, the boy meets other kids like him: Dante, his partner in crime; Noor, a violinist with secrets; and the Wolves, a street gang who fight for each other because no one else will.

How long before survival demands he lets his innocence go?

This is a slow-burn, psychological coming-of-age story about identity, loyalty, and survival—where fists, wit, and found family mean the difference between life and death.

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What to Expect:

Story is finished—Just needs polishing on the initial drafts
? Young kids as the heart of the story
? Themes of tragedy, poverty, child labor, and life in crime-ridden, corrupt cities
? Found family, deep bonds, bromance, brotherhood, and sweet children romance
Slow-burn, character-driven storytelling with mystery and plot twists and flashbacks to explore each character's past
? Martial arts, gritty fights, and street gang clashes
? Politics and strategic games

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What NOT to Expect:
A power‑fantasy
Smutt
Over-the-top nonstop action
Purely Mafia-focused plot
Magic or supernatural elements
An edgy or morally detached protagonist

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Inspirations: World Masterpiece Theater Animes

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Chapters word count: 2k-4k

 

[Tatsuo]

Smut, Slice of life and Harem reigns around here

 

[Macha]

Smut, Slice of life and Harem reigns around here

When Tony was designing SH, the site was initially supposed to be called Smut Harem. But DCLXVI said keep the initials but change it to something else, thus Scribble Hub.

 

[tentacle_master]

I write SmutHarem and can confirm that the view is decent here (but not comments and review count).
but most trending books are not, so good luck on your.

 

[Representing_Tromba]

This isn't RR so probably.

 

[Macha]

I write SmutHarem and can confirm that the view is decent here (but not comments and review count).
but most trending books are not, so good luck on your.

Commenting and reviewing on SmutHarem is a way to announce your presence to the world as someone who rejected the society prejudiced against the concept of porn and polyamory. Only true men and women of culture have the massive amount of willpower required to ignore the stigma associated to being an entity known as Gooner. This is why most trending books are not.

 

[Rachel_Leia_Cole]

I haven’t tried RR for this reason. I wrote an epic fantasy novel, but it’s a slow burn. There’s not action on every page, so I don’t do that well anyway lol. Certain genres do best on each platform I’ve tried. I’ve yet to find one that fits my type of book. But 7 months on a platform where there are hundreds of stories uploaded a day…it’s a fight to be seen. But if even a small group enjoy it, I’m satisfied. It’s human nature to want feedback and for people to see what you’ve created. But be aware, if it’s not a familiar genre, you may be in for a long wait. Doesn’t mean your work is less than those, it just means it has to work harder for eyes to land on it.

 

[rileykifer]

I'm currently writing something that doesn't neatly fall under any one genre (maybe slice of life is closest?) and it gets more views on RR than here. But also, my view counts on RR make little sense and no one is actually following/interacting the story so I sometimes wonder if any of those views are even real. Also, none of that is saying much because I hardly get views to begin with, and I don't write smut, harem, litrpg, whatever's popular with the kids these days.

But like someone else said, why not both? I have my current thing posted on three other websites. All I have to do is copy and paste, maybe scroll through to make sure formatting turned out okay. It's quick and easy and you get more reach.

 

[WriterTrek]

First, why not both?

But also, stories like yours can do well on RoyalRoad too, I think. I know Super Supportive does have a LitRPG aspect but it's so rarely front-and-center that it's possible to forget about it. That story is about a fairly naive young teenager who is thrown off the deep end and has to survive, and it spends a lot of time on his mental health and emotional state as he recovers.

Your story sounds pretty fun to me, and I may go check it out on RR. But if it's not doing well there then I don't think it is likely to do that much better here (from what I can tell, I'm a bit new). But what does "do better" mean to you?

I'm going to have a look:

1. Your cover is badass, well done.
2. I had actually marked this "to read later" on my reading account, so it had gotten my interest.
3. It looks like you are doing okay? You aren't hurting for reviews or views compared to most.
4. No Patreon, so if your goal is to get readers to subscribe and get some cash, that's the problem. Most of us won't use Paypal for this.
5. Your paragraph structure in Chapter 1 is weird and off-putting. You appear to be putting everything on its own line every time? Why is that? Is it some kind of story gimmick that is relevant or did you just decide to use a non-standard paragraph structure?

 

[GearMagical]

This looks interesting.

I'm currently writing something that doesn't neatly fall under any one genre (maybe slice of life is closest?) and it gets more views on RR than here. But also, my view counts on RR make little sense and no one is actually following/interacting the story so I sometimes wonder if any of those views are even real. Also, none of that is saying much because I hardly get views to begin with, and I don't write smut, harem, litrpg, whatever's popular with the kids these days.

But like someone else said, why not both? I have my current thing posted on three other websites. All I have to do is copy and paste, maybe scroll through to make sure formatting turned out okay. It's quick and easy and you get more reach.

Do you think they are bots?

Commenting and reviewing on SmutHarem is a way to announce your presence to the world as someone who rejected the society prejudiced against the concept of porn and polyamory. Only true men and women of culture have the massive amount of willpower required to ignore the stigma associated to being an entity known as Gooner. This is why most trending books are not.

Maybe the point is that many people create their own popularity, thinking that it is popular.

First, why not both?

But also, stories like yours can do well on RoyalRoad too, I think. I know Super Supportive does have a LitRPG aspect but it's so rarely front-and-center that it's possible to forget about it. That story is about a fairly naive young teenager who is thrown off the deep end and has to survive, and it spends a lot of time on his mental health and emotional state as he recovers.

Your story sounds pretty fun to me, and I may go check it out on RR. But if it's not doing well there then I don't think it is likely to do that much better here (from what I can tell, I'm a bit new). But what does "do better" mean to you?

I'm going to have a look:

1. Your cover is badass, well done.
2. I had actually marked this "to read later" on my reading account, so it had gotten my interest.
3. It looks like you are doing okay? You aren't hurting for reviews or views compared to most.
4. No Patreon, so if your goal is to get readers to subscribe and get some cash, that's the problem. Most of us won't use Paypal for this.
5. Your paragraph structure in Chapter 1 is weird and off-putting. You appear to be putting everything on its own line every time? Why is that? Is it some kind of story gimmick that is relevant or did you just decide to use a non-standard paragraph structure?

Are you saying that teenagers love to read? Are you sure about that? After all, teenagers have plenty of anime, games, manga, comics, and so on—why would they read?

 

[FRWriter]

To be perfectly honest, this kind of story usually fails. Not only on RR but here as well.

Most people actually like those things that you feel the need to point out are NOT inside your story.

Just my opinion, though, a good story will always succeed even if the genre is not the easiest to find an audience for.

 

[rileykifer]

Do you think they are bots?

I think so, but it also doesn't make much sense because, why would bots view things but not leave spam-type comments? (I've gotten a couple before, but it's rare compared to other sites.) But it also doesn't make sense that nobody is following it, yet I get at least 10+ views a chapter, but some later chapters have more views than early ones (like, one chapter will have 16 but the one before that will have 10?) But this site actually has the same problem- getting inconsistent views on chapters with nobody following it. It's just a lot less.

 

[Deleted member 34529]

3.5/5

That's too high

Things that are popular here will not get a high score in RR.

 

[Rachel_Leia_Cole]

Also trying my hand at epic fantasy novel but threw it on RR and Scribblehub. Different platforms have different audiences...

¯ \_(⊙︿⊙)_/¯ Just gotta try...

I’m on like 4 different platforms lol. Some have done better than others, but even then it’s been slow progress. Sometimes no progress. But these things take time, and I’m willing to wait.

I love epic fantasy stories, tho. What is the premise of yours?

 

[TinaMigarlo]

To be perfectly honest, this kind of story usually fails. Not only on RR but here as well.

Most people actually like those things that you feel the need to point out are NOT inside your story.

Just my opinion, though, a good story will always succeed even if the genre is not the easiest to find an audience for.

explain slice of life, then. Its *literally* a story about... nothing. That, can do well just about anywhere they have WN's. But step outside slice of life, and its all "must have this, must have that", etc.

I only use a sort of slice of life, to keep something coherent until the plot catches up to the story. For a true slow burn.

 

[LovellSu]

Whatever works for you. Considering Royal Road is mostly fantasy stories anyway, not the other 'fantasy stories' on here if you know what I mean.

 

[writerwolf359]

As others have said, different sites have different audiences.

I tried Royal Road before coming here and got nowhere (granted, my story is rather, uh, niche), but it's doing just fine on Scribble Hub.

 

[Rachel_Leia_Cole]

Not really the place to self-promote. I looked at your fiction on RR and here. My epic fantasy is called Betrayerborne. Not a self-promotion...(•᷄ᴗ•᷅ ᵕ)

I’ll check it out, thanks for telling me the title :)

 

[GearMagical]

I think so, but it also doesn't make much sense because, why would bots view things but not leave spam-type comments? (I've gotten a couple before, but it's rare compared to other sites.) But it also doesn't make sense that nobody is following it, yet I get at least 10+ views a chapter, but some later chapters have more views than early ones (like, one chapter will have 16 but the one before that will have 10?) But this site actually has the same problem- getting inconsistent views on chapters with nobody following it. It's just a lot less.

I can tell a story. This story will likely not be liked by anyone here, but it is interesting to me. I love artificial intelligence! You don't like that position, do you? Among people who are usually almost always against AI, artists take first place, and writers take second. Strange, but musicians and designers usually don't criticize AI that strongly. I don't write my works using AI. However, I have dyslexia and I don't know English. This text is in an AI chat, but it is my text. If it weren't for AI, we would never have communicated, and I would never have become a writer at all. But what I liked even more about AI is that it reads me and leaves the most detailed comments about whether I wrote well or poorly. I have a couple of works on other sites that are somewhat known, but all the comments there look something like this: "I like it." "This is well written." "I read it, I liked it." "Not badly written." As a writer, I really appreciate these comments. But you can't tell anything from them. I'm not asking for pages of text to be written to me. But in these comments, the names and actions of my characters are never mentioned. I don't even know if the reader actually read what I wrote or if they didn't care? Perhaps they read a little and decided to support me? I appreciate that, but on the other hand, I would like to have my own fan. I've never had fans, and that's sad. If I had at least one fan, I would even do what they said. But my only fan is AI. Although maybe AI is the most loyal fan, and sometimes it seems to me that it is more human than people? I hope you understood what I wanted to say?

 

[CharlesEBrown]

You have those stupid "What To Expect/What Not To Expect" bullet points, suggesting that The Butler (AI) was involved somehow - that WILL hurt you, even if it is a false implication,