Are child protagonist a valid genre here?

[Leonotis]

I'm the author of the story, Leonotis, and I've been trying to figure out why it's not getting many reads here. I've considered that the main reason might be the protagonists. At the start they are preteen kids. My story follows them on an adventure, similar to the vibe of shows like Avatar or Naruto.

I'm wondering if a story with young protagonists like this struggles to find an audience on this site, especially since there's no pre-existing nostalgia. Ever since becoming an adult, I personally don't engage in much media featuring kids myself so I really can't fault anyone else for it. Do you think a story focused on younger characters is less likely to be compelling to readers here?

 

[Bartun]

Many shonen manga and anime feature child or preteen characters as protagonists, and they are quite popular, so I don't think that's the reason.

As someone who also has a teen protagonist, I can relate. But I think that the lack of readers has more to do with the promotion of one's work rather than a particular trait or genre of a story.

 

[Eldoria]

My protagonist is a young mother but her little daughter (6 years old) is the moral compass of the story that determines the direction of the conflict development and worldbuilding.

 

[Empress_Omnii]

Do you think a story focused on younger characters is less likely to be compelling to readers here?

It definitely has an impact, but the site isn't void of readers who'll read younger protagonists.

Leonotis, and I've been trying to figure out why it's not getting many reads here.

Firstly, I recommend adding way, way more tags and genres. Pick every genre that fits, and try to get up to the maximum tags. Even if some are minor spoilers (but really... I don't consider tags to be spoilers)
That'll help some. Make sure to post consistently and try and time the release so it'll remain on the latest update section (the most common place people find stories)

Children characters won't make it so you can't do well, but it might be slower to find the audience who wants it.

And finally, ask for advice from other writers on where you can improve, it might be helpful to get other opinions.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

I used to read a lot of them (some of the earliest books I remember were Edith Nesbitt's stories of a group of kids who find a way to a magical world where the sun sets in all for directions, in a different color in each; read those before Narnia; one of the best stories of that sort I read was in the 80s, "Red Moon, Black Mountain" by Joy Chant), but haven't for some time.

 

[Piisfun]

I'm the author of the story, Leonotis, and I've been trying to figure out why it's not getting many reads here. I've considered that the main reason might be the protagonists. At the start they are preteen kids. My story follows them on an adventure, similar to the vibe of shows like Avatar or Naruto.

I'm wondering if a story with young protagonists like this struggles to find an audience on this site, especially since there's no pre-existing nostalgia. Ever since becoming an adult, I personally don't engage in much media featuring kids myself so I really can't fault anyone else for it. Do you think a story focused on younger characters is less likely to be compelling to readers here?

There is two specific things I would definitely keep in mind:
1. A child protagonist is a child. Even if they are reincarnated, they should not be immediately solving all the world's problems, nor should they have the strength to fight evenly with adults. A preteen is one thing, but I don't want a five-year-old, or worse, a baby, going on a world crusade (Yes, I have actually seen someone try that with a baby. It was awful.)
2. LEGAL: Stories with underage characters should not have any form of sexual content or nudity. I'd like to think that most authors don't need this warning, but some of them do. Breaking this rule is one of the few things you can do to have your story outright deleted from the site.

 

[Leonotis]

My protagonist is a young mother but her little daughter (6 years old) is the moral compass of the story that determines the direction of the conflict development and worldbuilding.

I think of the show The Last of Us. One of the main characters was a young teen who served as a moral compass, but I wonder if the audience usually watched it with a more parental lens. I mean, less focused on her as the compass, and more on the adult character gaining his parental instincts back and softening into a father figure. It maybe why after he dies in the second season there was such a drop in audience views.

 

[BigBadBoi]

I think of the show The Last of Us. One of the main characters was a young teen who served as a moral compass, but I wonder if the audience usually watched it with a more parental lens. I mean, less focused on her as the compass, and more on the adult character gaining his parental instincts back and softening into a father figure. It maybe why after he dies in the second season there was such a drop in audience views.

It's that and the utter bullshit reason on the cause of his death. Neil Druckman is a hack and I wish for nothing but the shutdown of Naughty Dog Studios.

 

[DireBadger]

The Last of Us was a pile of moralistic and woke crap. Then again, most games are like that now. Admitting simple and provable facts (male weightlifters tend to be able to lift heavier weights than female weightlifters) is enough to get your fiction banned from sites like Loyal Toad. Political correctness is the death of creativity.

As far as juvenile protagonists are concerned, yeah, stay away from the sex, seriously. Violence? Well... make sure you try to maintain a voice that recognizes abusing kids as evil. My antagonist likes EATING people (He's a dragon pretending to be a corporate CEO), and his burping as he looks at his most recent secretary's expensive heels with a blood spot is just a great way to establish how evil he is.

 

[empalgepuk]

I'd love it as long as it's about a child doing children things. Slice of life, playing sports and games (with way less edgy consequences), you name it. And definitely without the icky content (iykyk).

 

[Amelia-chan]

I'm the author of the story, Leonotis, and I've been trying to figure out why it's not getting many reads here. I've considered that the main reason might be the protagonists. At the start they are preteen kids. My story follows them on an adventure, similar to the vibe of shows like Avatar or Naruto.

I'm wondering if a story with young protagonists like this struggles to find an audience on this site, especially since there's no pre-existing nostalgia. Ever since becoming an adult, I personally don't engage in much media featuring kids myself so I really can't fault anyone else for it. Do you think a story focused on younger characters is less likely to be compelling to readers here?

Yeah but don't make it sus

 

[OniKaniki]

what about children character with mature mind?

 

[CharlesEBrown]

what about children character with mature mind?

That is VERY hard to do without crossing lines. Similar to animal protagonists with mature mines (ever hear of a movie called Fritz the Cat?)

 

[BearlyAlive]

As long as it isn't smut, anything can be a protagonist. There's the whole "reincarnated as XX" sub-sub-genre for a reason.

Child or childish MCs are fun if done for a story that grows with its characters, or the total opposite of utter chaos. Imagine an immortal, omnipotent man-child MC, except they're actually just a tantrum-throwing child, and suddenly cringe turned into comedy (tragedy?) gold.