Like many creatives out there, I dream of thousands of people reading my works of fiction or blogs like this one. But it’s hard being an author. How does one even find that first reader (and no, moms don’t count)? I’ll be writing a series of blogs chronicling my journey from 0 readers to 10,000 and beyond. If you’re another aspiring author—or even a seasoned veteran of the industry—hopefully these blogs can help you on your own writing journey.
I will be providing detailed guides, built from a combination of community consensus and my own experiences, to help others write, market, and publish their stories.
I’ve been writing intermittently for a few years, with only a small portion of my stories made public, so I’m not here to give you writing advice, but I am an avid reader (as I am sure you are as well), who has built several companies from the ground up—some successful and others not—and has written too-many-to-count technical reports and documentations as both a mechanical and software engineer. While I cannot claim to be an authority as an author, my aim isn’t to be an authority and tell you what path to walk. I am doing this simply to provide yet another, albeit extremely detailed, data point for those who want to be an author but aren’t sure if they’re doing the right things.
There are always questions posted to Reddit and the like, asking “are x views and y followers good after posting for a month?”, “what is a good conversion rate for RoyalRoad ads?”, or “how do I build an audience of readers?” I’m here to show you what works and what to avoid in order to be as successful as possible using myself as the guinea pig.
Will I crash and burn or will I succeed? I have no idea—let’s find out together!
Part I: The Foundations
These posts are all about getting started. I will be focussing on LitRPG serial web novels, since that is currently what I’m writing, but there will be many topics applicable across mediums and genres.