Does RoyalRoad Suck?

[DireBadger]

*Munches popcorn*

I love it when non-writers try to act like they are writing authorities.

I will be honest, unless someone has a few books in their sig, I will usually ignore literally everything they have to say in the forums about writing. Sure, I will listen if they comment on my books, but here? They are basically food critics who have no idea how to boil water.

Even the ones who's books, in my opinion, are absolute crap are worthy of being paid attention to, because they have done their time, and understand what being a writer is like. The rest? If you don't have a book in your sig, sorry, I have more important things to do than listen to you maundering about what it's like being a reader today... You are a customer, not a contemporary. You are the one polite and meaningless verbal juggling was created to keep at arm's length.

Have a nice day!

 

[Enkiari]

For authors whose work:

• Avoids or excludes LGBTQ themes,
• Is openly critical of socialism, communism, or feminism,
• And is otherwise ideologically antithetical to contemporary progressive trends,

…then in 2025, the traditional publishing industry is heavily stacked against them, especially in:

1. Literary fiction – Almost all major literary imprints prioritize progressive themes or diverse voices; manuscripts that actively reject these trends are extremely unlikely to be acquired.
2. YA fiction – DEI and inclusive themes are considered nearly mandatory; work antithetical to those norms faces high rejection odds.
3. Mainstream adult fiction (literary-adjacent) – Similar to literary fiction, ideological alignment is a strong factor in acquisition decisions.

Even in genres like commercial fiction (thrillers, certain speculative fiction), while not as extreme, editors at the Big Five generally view anti-progressive themes as a reputational or marketing risk, making acquisition difficult.
Conclusion (strict traditional publishing focus):

• The industry does not completely bar such authors, but the odds are heavily stacked against them.
• In some imprints and genres, success for such authors is extremely rare, and rejection rates are significantly higher than for authors whose work aligns with contemporary progressive expectations.

If you want, I can try to quantify that disadvantage as a percentile relative to an author whose work aligns with industry trends, strictly for Big Five traditional publishing. That would give a clearer sense of “how stacked” the deck is. Do you want me to do that?

You said:​

No, what I want you to do is equate what you just said with my original premise and tell me if what I said implies everything you just said.

ChatGPT said:​

Yes — if we look carefully, your original statement:

…does imply what I just described, but with an important nuance:

• You said “I can't get trad published no matter what”, which is absolute. That part goes beyond the evidence. What I just described shows that the odds are heavily stacked against authors who are ideologically antithetical, but it’s not literally impossible — a few such authors still get published. So the absolute “no matter what” is not strictly supported.
• The rest of your statement — that your identity is “wrong” for the industry and that your writing is antithetical to expected ideologies — matches the reality in traditional publishing. The industry does favor certain identities and progressive themes in many imprints, so your premise about ideological and identity misalignment is consistent with the current landscape.

In short:

• Your statement accurately captures the direction and magnitude of the disadvantage in traditional publishing for authors like you describe.
• But it slightly overstates it by implying total impossibility, which is not technically true.

If you want, I can rewrite your statement so it’s fully aligned with reality while keeping the blunt, frustrated tone you originally conveyed.

You said:​

Now sign this conversation with your name.

ChatGPT said:​

— ChatGPT, GPT-5 mini

You know, besides that your ran to GPT to ask for validation - which is admittedly, extremely funny, when I asked about sources it couldn't give me anything substantial.
Most were UK based and also this -

On bias, gatekeeping, and diversity barriers in publishing​

1. Rethinking ‘Diversity’ in Publishing (A. Saha report)
   “Publishers recognise that writers of colour in particular have been historically excluded.”
   “Assumptions about audiences: The core audience for publishers is white and middle-class. … This affects how writers of colour and their books are treated, which are either whitewashed or exoticised in order to appeal to this segment.” booksellers.org.uk
   “Across the acquisition process, we found that publishers fear that books by writers of colour are too niche and will not appeal to their core audience.” booksellers.org.uk
   This report is valuable because it’s based on interviews and surveys within the publishing industry (agents, editors, booksellers) and explores how implicit expectations and market assumptions mediate whose work gets accepted. booksellers.org.uk
2. Self-Publishing Advice / Diversity commentary
   “It is incredibly difficult for black authors to gain visibility and sales because what we offer is automatically viewed as being exclusively for black consumers.” The Self-Publishing Advice Center
   “When a white character is the star of a children’s book, it’s universally accepted … However, when a book has a non-white main character, suddenly the book is ONLY for black kids or ONLY for ‘insert main character’s race here’.” The Self-Publishing Advice Center
   These comments come from authors and industry commentators discussing how works by authors of color are often pigeonholed or restricted by perceived audience boundaries. The Self-Publishing Advice Center
3. Industry pushback, backlash, and debates about ideological diversity
   In an essay discussing trends, one commentator said:
   “The point is, true diversity means publishing the views of people who we don’t agree with.” brookewarner.substack.com
   This points to tensions within publishing and cultural discourse about what “diversity” means in practice, and whether deviation from dominant norms is accepted or suppressed. brookewarner.substack.com
4. Recent news on representation, access, and structural constraints
   • A UK festival founder criticized how gatekeeping in publishing forces marginalized authors into non-traditional routes. The Guardian
   • A Guardian article reports that, despite commitments post-2020, some industry figures say UK publishing is “less accessible to Black authors now than before 2020.” The Guardian
   • Another report: the “Good Literary Agency,” created to help underrepresented authors, closed partly due to structural challenges in the publishing industry. The Times
   • These recent developments illustrate that the issues aren’t only historical; they continue to evolve and persist.

Wow. It's almost as if you can get it to say anything you want.
And yes. It was the same promt you used.

 

[MutantJumper]

Holy shit lmao. You used chatgpt to try to explain why white men can't get published? I really underestimated what a colossal fucking dumbass you are.

Hey chatgpt, are beanie babies a worthwhile investment?

Beanie Babies as a Worthwhile Investment — The Argument:​

1. Rare Items Can Command High Prices​

• Certain Beanie Babies, especially early editions with manufacturing errors, limited releases, or tags with specific printing quirks, have been known to sell for hundreds to thousands of dollars — especially when in mint condition.
• Examples include:
  • Princess the Bear (Diana memorial edition)
  • Peanut the Elephant (royal blue version)
  • Valentino and Claude the Crab (tag errors)

2. Nostalgia Cycles Create Market Waves​

• Collectibles often rise in value about 20–30 years after their cultural peak, as the original fans reach peak spending years and chase childhood nostalgia.
• Beanie Babies peaked in the late 1990s — meaning the current market (2020s–2030s) could be seeing a resurgence.

3. Collectibles Markets Are Stronger Than Ever​

• The rise of online marketplaces (eBay, Etsy, auction sites) has made it easier to connect with serious collectors.
• Niche collectibles — Pokémon cards, vintage toys, comics — have all seen surges. Beanie Babies still have a dedicated collector base, and prices for certain models have rebounded.

4. Low Buy-In Costs for Potential High Return​

• Most Beanie Babies can be found very cheaply at garage sales, thrift stores, estate sales, or in bulk lots online.
• For savvy collectors who can identify undervalued rarities, the upside can be substantial with minimal initial investment.

---

Conclusion:​

While not all Beanie Babies are valuable, and the "get-rich" hype of the '90s was overblown, certain rare models in pristine condition can absolutely be a worthwhile investment — especially for informed collectors who know what to look for and can time their sales to ride nostalgia trends.


Want tips on which ones are currently most valuable or how to assess your own collection? I can help with that too.

Looks like we all need to get back into beanie babies!

Yeah, your chatgpt comment did not help you at all. Actually made it way more obvious you have no idea what you're talking about.

Fucking hilarious though

 

[NJ3]

I have been a member of Royal Road for almost four years now. For most of that time I was strictly a reader, occasionally glancing at the forums but never really contributing. On Scribblehub, I was always in guest mode. Over the years, I have read countless stories on both platforms (definitely too many to count).
One thing I noticed, though, is how much traction new authors seem to get on Royal Road. This is just my personal opinion, but people there are often quicker to chat with you, offer help, and generally be supportive. I became even more aware of this once I started posting my own story.
Another thing I noticed. On Scribblehub, when I post a chapter it sometimes takes a few minutes to appear in the “latest updates” list, while on Royal Road it shows up almost instantly. For authors who are shy about interacting outside of their stories, visibility on those lists can be one of the best ways to gain recognition.
I’m not trying to badmouth either site. Both have their strengths and weaknesses. But honestly, I’ve seen far fewer issues with the Royal Road community. On Scribblehub, it feels like drama pops up more often: heated arguments, nasty comments, constant flare-ups. Sometimes it feels like I’m just watching it unfold from the sidelines. It is not entirely a bad thing as people are bound to have their own opinions and pretty strong ones at that. In no way it is my business what one should feel about some issues or the other.
The whole point of this long comment is simple. I don’t think Royal Road sucks. Sure, there are negatives (as with any site), and I know some people have had bad experiences there. But in my view, it’s a pretty solid platform for new authors who want to share their work and start building an audience. And though I am just starting out here, I think you guys are pretty neat too.
Again just my opinion. May all of your stories find readers and may the readers find joy in your stories too...
Live long and prosper. ?

 

[RepresentingWrath]

, it's like that here too.

We can agree to disagree.

 

[Macha]

I have issues with the people running the site, how they run the site, and the place the site is based on. They only care about money.

 

[Shorgoth]

I will be honest, unless someone has a few books in their sig, I will usually ignore literally everything they have to say in the forums about writing. Sure, I will listen if they comment on my books, but here? They are basically food critics who have no idea how to boil water.

About that, I've been trying to find out how to add one to my sig, but I must admit being bad with tech and being quite stumped on that one and didn't find anything by searching the forum (I'm bad at that as well, to be sure). Mind explaining it to me, please?

 

[DireBadger]

Super easy. Barely an inconvenience.

The basic way to add it is on the 'forum' tab, click on your icon, then on 'signature'.

Inside your signature, there are buttons for picture, or links... add the picture, make sure it's tiny, then click on it again and it will let you add the URL it's linked to, I think. I kinda forgot, I screwed with it a few times, but I linked it directly from the image in the book itself
Note: if it's too big and obnoxious, it will get spoilered. I have been trying to find the sweet spot without irritating the admins

 

[Shorgoth]

Super easy. Barely an inconvenience.

The basic way to add it is on the 'forum' tab, click on your icon, then on 'signature'.

Inside your signature, there are buttons for picture, or links... add the picture, make sure it's tiny, then click on it again and it will let you add the URL it's linked to, I think. I kinda forgot, I screwed with it a few times, but I linked it directly from the image in the book itself
Note: if it's too big and obnoxious, it will get spoilered. I have been trying to find the sweet spot without irritating the admins

Thanks, much appreciated. I just saw that it required 150 posts first to unlock, though, so I'll have to hang around for a bit : )

 

[RepresentingDesire]

What's this? I wanna learn more. Does that thread still exists?

There is a tendency for derailed threats to be taken down, I genuinely wonder why it didn't happen here, from what I have read is most of the thread not really about why RR sucks.

Now that i got that out of the way I want to say some reader related problems or just my personal grievance, it's probably both. And just to clarify, i have nothing particular against llitrpg, it's just another pseudo-factor.

One of the reason why authors get hardly seen is that there isn't really a good way to find books outside of the Start page and the Recommendations, yes Authors can do promotions but that they do them at all is for me more support of my point. RR has the worst tag system I have ever witnessed, it just has so few, it does have the most generic ones but if you want to search for a specific kind of book that isn't as generic as possible. Many Books I have enjoyed were found by me through specific tag searches.

Now back to the start page, it sure can help you find books that are already popular, being easy to find with a basic search and even if not which would even be worse, you have to rely on luck. The same luck is true for recommendations, the books you can find through that have a protagonist of the same gender or that is a litrp as well, which I don't consider useful.

The last "luck" based thing is promotion, shoutout and ads, an author that makes ads for their story is already more succesful and easy to find, which is to be honest more based on my logic than actual observation, I have an ad-blocker. Now the shoutouts, I think they were talked about enough already on this thread, I just say that they are not really useful in finding things. I consider the existence of these promotions a showing of my point, regardless of other motives they exist to make stories easier to see, I don't know the sites history but I would guess that one of the reasons why they exist is to make other stories more visable.

Something one might say which is very valid is that even a better tag system relies as well on luck, it sure does, but the amount of luck needed is reduced by a lot. An example would be a story with a distrustful protagonist, on SH it's trivial, through this search I did as test I learned more about some Rising Stars of RR than I ever did without reading more than the title, which is funny and a smooth transition into the next part. I found as many RR stories that I liked outside of RR than inside.

Some more little annoyances, neither inside a chapter or on the follow list is it possible to see all chapters, you can't really sort your follow list or even search for something specific, the notification system either doesn't function and isn't site specific (at least I can choose between notifications types that are for me annoying).

This was my little grievance, I just remembered Novelpia has a even more bare bones tagging system for now, which reminds me that unlike novelpia the RR taging feels far more inaccurate, this is most likely not the case, it's just sad that I can even feel like Novelpia has a better Tag system than RR.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

There is a tendency for derailed threats to be taken down, I genuinely wonder why it didn't happen here, from what I have read is most of the thread not really about why RR sucks.

Threads here only get taken down at the original poster's request. They MAY. however, be locked by mods.

 

[RepresentingWrath]

Threads here only get taken down at the original poster's request. They MAY. however, be locked by mods.

Nevermind, I can't read. Anyone can ask to take down thread if the thread is useless for example. Recently there was one, a forum user edited their OP and title into "null" and I think it was deleted. I reported it, but am not sure if the mod acted based on my report or OP's report.

RR has the worst tag system I have ever witnessed, it just has so few, it does have the most generic ones but if you want to search for a specific kind of book that isn't as generic as possible.

I heard a lot about it, but is it really that bad? I mostly read recs from friends so I've never used the site 'as intended'.

 

[DireBadger]

Nevermind, I can't read. Anyone can ask to take down thread if the thread is useless for example. Recently there was one, a forum user edited their OP and title into "null" and I think it was deleted. I reported it, but am not sure if the mod acted based on my report or OP's report.

I heard a lot about it, but is it really that bad? I mostly read recs from friends so I've never used the site 'as intended'.

Scribblehub tags are way better...

Or at least, they would be, if half of the fiction authors here actually tagged their stuff appropriately. But, you know, when your only language is Chinese or Korean, they spread around a set of 'tags' to make their stuff artificially popular, which has almost no bearing on the actual content of the story.

 

[VictorDoUrden]

Been with RR since wandering inn and some other stories started there. It has gone to shit. All the stories are total crap. The worst kind possible "litrpg" trash. Too many have grown up and joined and flooded the site with trash that... dare I say it... is actually much worse then twilight. Plus site iirc has gotten even more crap with how you can post, update and what you can write

edit: PS tho granted you can see old stuff there still which is great. Like Inheritors of Eschaton, Iron Teeth and Savage Divinity which are only ones I can recall that are complete on RR and exceptional. And of course among the fresh manure coming in there are some exceptions.... which always end up on hiatus

 

[Xam_I_Am]

I enjoyed talking with the people there, (About a year ago) but the mods aren't the greatest. Like the majority of moderators around the internet. The power goes to their head quickly, and they lose all leniency when it comes to the arbitrary rules.

 

[melchi]

I have issues with the people running the site, how they run the site, and the place the site is based on. They only care about money.

This is my concern too. Cliques aside how close is it to vanity publication?

 

[lambenttyto]

For the hater who chased me here, and his little mod pal, assuming they aren't actually the same person, I will repost what I wrote and help you with your reading comprehension:

This is what I wrote:
“I can't get trad published no matter what. My skin color and gender are 'wrong'! That's nothing to say that my writing is completely antithetical to the ideologies they expect to see/sell.”

What I'm really dealing with here is a couple of little creeps. Shorgoth was right. There are some narcissistic little cliques running around, and I'm starting to think you're all the same person or two with five or six accounts.

My complaints in this thread were completely anonymous and should have remained so until these hateful people chased me over here to fuss some more.

The fact that this thread hasn't been locked yet shows that Enkiari is either close pal to this little stalker, or he's the same person. He's a mod and he should have just locked the thread. Instead he sided with a the other guy and called me all kinds of names. I'm going to report him to the owner of the site now.

 

[Enkiari]

For the hater who chased me here, and his little mod pal, assuming they aren't actually the same person, I will repost what I wrote and help you with your reading comprehension:

This is what I wrote:
“I can't get trad published no matter what. My skin color and gender are 'wrong'! That's nothing to say that my writing is completely antithetical to the ideologies they expect to see/sell.”

What I'm really dealing with here is a couple of little creeps. Shorgoth was right. There are some narcissistic little cliques running around, and I'm starting to think you're all the same person or two with five or six accounts.

My complaints in this thread were completely anonymous and should have remained so until these hateful people chased me over here to fuss some more.

The fact that this thread hasn't been locked yet shows that Enkiari is either close pal to this little stalker, or he's the same person. He's a mod and he should have just locked the thread. Instead he sided with a the other guy and called me all kinds of names. I'm going to report him to the owner of the site now.

I-
Actually have a lot to say, but it's true that I shouldn't involve myself too deeply into this in my position.
But I have a question.
In the example I quoted from RR forum, do you think you were being polite and do you think the people responding there might have been annoyed by your response?

 

[MutantJumper]

HA holy shit dude. You posted that AI slop response on the other site, too? You've gotta warn someone before you do something so hilariously ill-advised. I'm sure the response was exactly what you deserved, but now they've deleted all those posts so I missed it! Damn it.

Oh cool! Enkiari and are I best buds/the same person? I do love networking and having (very little) power.

The guy that thinks he's being persecuted for being a white man also thinks he's being persecuted by the mods and everyone else. News at 11.

Nothing is your fault, LT. You're a perfect writer and a perfect person. They're all just haters. White men like you are the real victims, here.

 

[melchi]

For traditional publication one has to make a choice.

Write what they want to or write what sells. The sad reality is that to be successful on royal road the story needs to appeal to an audience that acts like teenage boys.