Not as bad as I thought?

Eldoria

Eldoria

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 14, 2025
Messages
1,584
Points
113
My fiction remains niche on RR. I've only received two ratings after more than half a year on there without a single review. Comments are more along the lines of "TFTC." I haven't received any hate comments yet.

But the good news is that views are growing organically, albeit slowly. The only thing I like about RR is that the recommendation algorithm works effectively.
 
JayMark

JayMark

It's Not Easy Being Nobody, But Somebody Has To.
Joined
Jul 31, 2024
Messages
1,635
Points
128
TinaMigarlo said:
which cabal did you run afoul of. The place I came from? Had nothing good to say about the writing cabals. I know there's politics to RR that are annoying. That's the "big site", and there's sweet Patreon bucks at stake. And, human nature is what it is.
Click to expand...
I have no idea, but somebody decided I needed to be put down.
 
Last edited:
JayMark

JayMark

It's Not Easy Being Nobody, But Somebody Has To.
Joined
Jul 31, 2024
Messages
1,635
Points
128
Anonjohn20 said:
Maybe it wasn't the story; what if they were just hungry?
Click to expand...
Hungry for blood. Then I had someone berate me for having the gall to use my already paid ad buy when my story was rated under 3. They even admitted they never bothered to attempt reading it. The attitude among a certain subset there is that ratings are everything, anything under 4 is garbage, and if you advertise garbage you're wasting their time so they have the right to get offended.

So it's incredibly hard to recover from a malicious rating snipe.
 
L1aei

L1aei

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 19, 2025
Messages
1,049
Points
113
It's not as bad as people think because all the bad stuff isn't going to converge onto your location in a single ambush. Same can be said about here too. Every place has its problems. I'm certain even the most popular writers on RRL have had issues with the community there too. I know I had when several tried to convince me to rewrite my novel to fit their tastes. Fuck that noise.
 
CountVanBadger

CountVanBadger

Pootis Spencer Here
Joined
Nov 5, 2025
Messages
335
Points
93
It's easier to get readers on Royal Road if you're writing anything other than smut here. XNPC has only been up a couple weeks, but it's gotten way more attention on there than here. But the Scribble Hub forums are way better than RR's. On RR, you can get your whole account banned for disagreeing with one of their more popular authors.
 
L1aei

L1aei

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 19, 2025
Messages
1,049
Points
113
CountVanBadger said:
It's easier to get readers on Royal Road if you're writing anything other than smut here. XNPC has only been up a couple weeks, but it's gotten way more attention on there than here. But the Scribble Hub forums are way better than RR's. On RR, you can get your whole account banned for disagreeing with one of their more popular authors.
Click to expand...

Yup. Any form of disrespect is tolerated with zero chill, and of course more popular folks there will have a hill they climbed to the top, and from there they'll lob a mod at those beneath them.

1771467342213.png
 
rileykifer

rileykifer

Member
Joined
Dec 13, 2025
Messages
55
Points
18
Reading about all this drama makes me kinda grateful my stuff goes unnoticed. I do get more views there than here, but only a couple of the works I posted there gained a follower or two, so I don't know why all my chapters have 20+ views. The worst comment I got was on the first chapter of one of my stories, saying "serves [the MC] right." I don't know if that was meant to be a spiteful comment or someone just sharing their opinion, but they didn't leave any other comments or indicate they read any further than that so who knows.

I've never used their forums. The text is too small and I have to zoom to read anything comfortably. Some of what I did read gave me bad vibes, so I never felt like I'm missing out on anything. And it sounds like I'm not.
 
L1aei

L1aei

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 19, 2025
Messages
1,049
Points
113
rileykifer said:
Reading about all this drama makes me kinda grateful my stuff goes unnoticed. I do get more views there than here, but only a couple of the works I posted there gained a follower or two, so I don't know why all my chapters have 20+ views. The worst comment I got was on the first chapter of one of my stories, saying "serves [the MC] right." I don't know if that was meant to be a spiteful comment or someone just sharing their opinion, but they didn't leave any other comments or indicate they read any further than that so who knows.

I've never used their forums. The text is too small and I have to zoom to read anything comfortably. Some of what I did read gave me bad vibes, so I never felt like I'm missing out on anything. And it sounds like I'm not.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't say that. There are good people over there. I know, that is the complete opposite of what we've been saying, but they do exist and are likely very quiet over there.
 
melchi

melchi

What is a custom title?
Joined
May 2, 2021
Messages
2,868
Points
153
Royal Road® is the home of web novels and fan fictions! In our amazing community, you can find various talented individuals who write as a hobby or even professionally, artists who create art for them, and many, many readers who provide valuable feedback and encouragement.
Click to expand...
This footer shows up on every page so I always wonder when it'll be proven to be true? Personally, I think that their monetization efforts are almost to the point of vanity publishing.

Where is that author who didn't do

1.) Shoutout swaps
2.) Review swaps
3.) Paid ads

and still got that promised valuable feedback and encouragement?
 
L1aei

L1aei

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 19, 2025
Messages
1,049
Points
113
melchi said:
This footer shows up on every page so I always wonder when it'll be proven to be true? Personally, I think that their monetization efforts are almost to the point of vanity publishing.

Where is that author who didn't do

1.) Shoutout swaps
2.) Review swaps
3.) Paid ads

and still got that promised valuable feedback and encouragement?
Click to expand...

Are you referring to any author in general or specific ones?
 
JayMark

JayMark

It's Not Easy Being Nobody, But Somebody Has To.
Joined
Jul 31, 2024
Messages
1,635
Points
128
L1aei said:
Yup. Any form of disrespect is tolerated with zero chill, and of course more popular folks there will have a hill they climbed to the top, and from there they'll lob a mod at those beneath them.

View attachment 46458
Click to expand...
Oh, what do you know, a rule designed for selective interpretation and enforcement. We meet again.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top