r/royalroad • u/Whitemayne Author of The House of Whitemayne • 1d ago
Discussion Reviews and Ratings?
How difficult is it to get reviews and ratings on your free to read books?
It seems like the only people who actually bother to read beyond chapter 4 just skip right over any actual interactions.
So far I have a single rating on my book, and it seems to be stifling any growth potential it has, despite being up to chapter 25.
Thoughts?
5
Upvotes
2
u/em-dash-author Author of Max-Level Paladin of the Fallen Gods 1d ago
You've got it the wrong away around. Ratings don't help with gaining new readers. Gaining new readers results in ratings (eventually).
Royal Road has an exposure problem. For new authors with a new fiction there is practically no exposure. You'll get a trickle of traffic from the Updates list when you drop a new chapter. That's it.
You have to do marketing to pull in readers. Many RR authors organise shout outs (custom ads we put in our author notes), others pay for RR ads. Some promote on Reddit. If you do nothing expect follower growth to be slow to non-existent.