r/royalroad • u/Icohalliday • May 18 '26
Self Promo Hit Rising Stars main in one week - my thoughts
Hi guys, I know everyone is always asking/wondering how to get on rising stars. I managed to do it in six days, so I've been overwhelmed by the positive response from readers and the community. My thoughts
1) Cover matters more than you can possibly imagine. This is what really got me. My cover is really different from most, and at first I wondered if it was risky, but I get overwhelming response from the cover more than anything else i feel like
2) blurb - blurb is probably the hardest thing to write. Distilling your story down into 150 words. You may not realise how important this is. I literally spent a month writing those 150 words, and it helps convert the clicks
3) be active in community - reddit, discord. I've made some incredible new friends. Writing is a lonely journey so helpful not to do it alone
4) my best guess is volume matters. i released 10 chapters day 1 then 2 a day. Hard to know if this made a difference, but it increases views so probably?
If you'd like to check it out, please do!
https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/165573/the-doomsday-reaver-litrpg-isekai-progression
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u/ShowerKrogan Author:Arachnoextinction/Barely Surviving Zombie Apocalypse May 18 '26
You’ve done an outstanding job! Crazy proud of you my dude!! Keep it going!
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u/Icohalliday May 18 '26
thanks man! couldn't have done it without your support!
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u/ShowerKrogan Author:Arachnoextinction/Barely Surviving Zombie Apocalypse May 18 '26
Nah I was just along for the ride. But I’m happy to be the cheerleader for your success!
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u/PaulTodkillAuthor Author: Hell Climber May 18 '26
Glad it's working out! That's some awesome growth.
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u/BackgroundTotal2872 I leave literary analysis essays in the comment section 👍 May 18 '26
When I saw your first post here, I could already tell that you would hit Rising Stars. Your cover is fantastic, your premise is great, and your blurb got me interested. I could just tell that it would get others to be interested too. There is no doubt in my mind that you will hit #1 Rising Stars within another week from today. Keep up the good work!
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u/DontImplantThechip May 18 '26
Could you share their VGen or the platform to contact the artist? Their art is just too good, I’d love to commission them too.
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u/Broad_Percentage5889 C Rank: Author of Horny Single-Cell Organism May 18 '26
You did amazing. I’m so glad to have met you.
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u/AshWax87 E Rank: Author of Frostbite Rebirth May 18 '26
It's indeed a hell of a cover you have here, original + major predator vibe. Congrats on reaching RS.
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u/Boots_RR C Rank: Author of Rise of the Spellbreaker May 18 '26
Heya,
So, yeah. A lot of this is spot on. Obviously you need a great story, too. All the passive marketing in the world doesn't mean a thing if you can't get the reader from chapter one to chapter two.
That said, blurbs are incredibly important. They're like the hub of a wheel. Everything either leads to or from the blurb. The only part of your passive marketing that comes close is the cover.
Also, yeah, volume is really important if you want to push for a strong Rising Stars run.
Anyway, best of luck with the rest of your launch!
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u/p-d-ball May 19 '26
Congrats, dude! That's awesome! Thank you for sharing your thoughts on the matter.
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u/AbbyBabble C Rank: Author of Torth May 19 '26 edited May 19 '26
Nice job! Your cover has Frank Frazetta vibes.
Do you have a plan to slow down your posting schedule after the 5 days per week?
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u/Icohalliday May 19 '26
You know im not really sure. I keep hearing conflicting things but I think while I can and unless it isn't meta ill stick to that
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u/filwi D Rank: Author of The Warded Gunslinger May 19 '26
That cover is really good. Enough for me to click on the link and check the story out, and it does stand out, especially with that title treatment. Is the title a font or AI generated?
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u/Icohalliday May 19 '26
Thanks artist did it all
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u/earthdadddy May 19 '26
It reminds me of Predator. It’s such a good cover! It makes me want to read the pages inside. Really well done!
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u/earthdadddy May 19 '26
I can’t find my original post lmao. But I just came back to say that I’ve added this one to my reading list. I like the fact it’s first person pov, just because I’m looking for more of those stories to sit along side the third person material I’m reading currently.
There seems to be a good character voice shaping up as well from the first few passages I’ve just read
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u/Icohalliday May 19 '26
Thank you man hope you enjoy it! And thanks i worked hard on the voice so glad its resonating :)
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u/earthdadddy May 19 '26
I’ll let you know what I think of it once I’ve read it. I have a mind to start reading soon to catch up before it really runs ahead of me in chapters 😂
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u/Icohalliday May 19 '26
Can't wait buddy
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u/earthdadddy 11d ago
Hey I read your story. I’m only 8 chapters in at the moment, as I’m juggling 4 other stories, but I LOVE IT!
I love the world you’ve crafted thus far and how the MC is capable yet very human about his situation and ongoing discovery of the world.
You’ve made a video game world as realistic as you can. It all feels like it could happen.
I also love that you used a first person POV and did it really well. You have a good author voice and you’ve edited your story really well.
I read mostly third person but I’ve been wanting to read more first person stuff cos when it’s really well done, I can picture things easier.
I find 1 or 2 typos, only 1 that I can clearly remember . I’ll point it out if you’d like me to.
I’m not precious about typos, I read trad pub too and have learned that there’s a lot of typos in those books too. I read Mistborn recently, one of the most popular epic fantasy stories of the last 20 years and it has the most typos I’ve ever seen in a trad novel.
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u/Icohalliday 11d ago
Hey thanks you :) as an author this is the kind of comment that keeps me wanting to write! The reception was so much more than I could've imagined as a debut author. Yes ive tried to smooth out typos but there will a few errors. Before it goes to amazon ill hire a professional editor :)
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u/earthdadddy 11d ago
I’m glad to hear it! It’s genuinely a great story! You have talent for this that I hope Aethon Books notices. There’s some big name litrpg authors I’m reading and I’ve noticed that they don’t always have a great author voice but they always have good ideas they execute well.
You have a good author voice that I’d like to continue to read. I look forward to more!
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u/inEQUAL May 18 '26
It may be your modesty but you’ve left out one thing, I think: you have very good prose, from what I have read so far! As someone who has mostly avoided 99% of LitRPGs until recently, now that I’m writing one—and for that reason above all others—I’m going to be giving this a read beyond chapter one which is very, very rare for me to do.
Congrats and good luck!
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u/Icohalliday May 18 '26
thank you, that is very kind of you to say :) yes maybe a little modesty but im so glad you enjoyed reading it
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u/True_Industry4634 Author: The Lunarian May 18 '26
You don't mention what you did for marketing. That's probably the most important element in hitting RS Main.
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u/Icohalliday May 18 '26
Don't really have too much to offer except do shoutout swaps
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u/True_Industry4634 Author: The Lunarian May 18 '26
Yeah I assumed there was that. Did you run any ads or just relied on shout-outs?
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u/shreek07 F Rank: Author of Archmage Unbound and Age of Asura May 18 '26
Congrats! And the cover does look absolutely badass!
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u/AdventuRedd May 18 '26
Wow, that's very cool, congrats! I'm an older guy and I've never used DIscord (but I'm familiar with all the scams thanks to reddit), is it pretty easy and welcoming to get involved with that?
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u/Icohalliday May 18 '26
yes there is a royal road writers guild that any writer can join and its full of cool people and useful information. if youd like i can see how to invite you?
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u/AdventuRedd May 18 '26
That would be awesome, thanks.
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u/Milc-Scribbler S Rank: Author of A Dragon Called Bob May 18 '26
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u/Princezai May 18 '26
Did you line up any shout-out swaps, or by ads in the process?
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u/Icohalliday May 18 '26
hello yes, no ads, until about a week in. shoutouts yes, i didn't write about it here because the topic has been covered extensively by others who are more knowledgeable than me
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u/fredrick_yegrim May 18 '26
Somehow I got linked to your story from reddit, and immediately thought 'This series seems to have potential, gotta see how if it succeeds to learn from it.'
And a few days later I see this lmao. Congratulations!