What is it like to post on AO3 and/or RR?

[ReadLight]

So, I recently heard that it's beneficial to post on multiple platforms, and that the good choices seem to be either Royal Road or AO3.

RR seems nice, but apparently not every contents/fandom are welcomed there.

AO3 seems to be a website with a lot more traffic, but seeing no images whatsoever gives me an unfamiliar vibe.

To authors who have done it or are doing it, what's it like to post your work on AO3 and/or RR?

 

[RepresentingEnvy]

Royal Road is full of elitists. Your writing must be as if it was made by God himself. If you make a minor spelling mistake, prepare to have your lunch money stolen. I'm sure many people there are nice, but I see this a lot. Also, LitRPG are popular over there.

I don't know shit about AO3

 

[Corty]

My experience with RR was 70% negative and 30% positive regarding the community. Their UI is meh, a bit too cluttered for my taste. I feel more at home and pleased with SH's UI and editing interface. Out of all the sites I ever tried publishing, SH is the most simple yet capable site when it comes to editing options and available functions for writers.

 

[APieceOfRock]

RR is fine, I guess. I never had a bad experience except for cases where the answer to all criticisms is "READ MORE CHAPTERS!"
then again, same problem applies with this site so idk. But people on RR are more willing to leave reviews so I view it as a plus.

Also RR is just slow for some reason.

 

[TheKillingAlice]

SH is the most simple yet capable site when it comes to editing options and available functions for writers

I know, right? That baffled me when I got here. I can literally insert tables and stuff.

except for cases where the answer to all criticisms is "READ MORE CHAPTERS!"

That's a bit hilarious, ngl. But sometimes it's true, some stories explain things later on and actually subvert your expectations. It's not often though.

Anyway, I wondered about Royal Road myself. On the other hand, Ao3 I have used a lot. What I can tell you that, if at all, you will find a more or less active community there, the editor is decent, you can include Images into your chapters and all. The community ist pretty mixed, because the FF part of the site is so huge, it depends on which fandom you frequent.
On that note, I wouldn't exactly recommend uploading non-FanFiction content to the Archive, because people generally don't look for that there. Doesn't mean you won't find readers at all, I just don't know how big that section is, I have never used it for prose. Just take it as a warning, but with a grain of salt.

 

[Syringe]

I'd always recommend posting your novel on multiple platforms, even if the platform in question isn't too friendly. I'd say RR is more strict than here since readers over there are meticulous about what they read and tbh that's not a bad thing either. Their feedback is just as valuable because they'll either tell you what wrong straight to your face with no punches pulled, or at worse make a small scene.

People that hated my story told me straight up what they didn't like about it, and I absolutely respect them for it. Usually they'll add what they did like too. Not everything is for everyone, and people will be vocal mostly about what they hate even if it's something out of your control. Accepting this makes alot of things easier.

RR is overall friendly and I think it gets its 'bad' reputation from people that can't handle some criticism, although, just like here, expect those rouge 1 star reviews and random 1 stars depending on your genre. Something like GB has gotten me quite a bit there, but it's easily out shadowed by its lovely members.

Ultimately, no harm in posting on RR. Just expect a hard to navigate UI and quirks that make it a bit annoying to handle, but by nowhere near as bad as other sites. For reference, it's similar to SH but lacking in some areas. Something like Honey Feed lacks almost everything from both sites. And don't get me started on Tapas.

Hitting trending or similar over there is extraordinarily hard from what I know too, but if you're just looking to spread your story then what are you waiting for?

Truth be told however, nothing's better than Scribble Hub. Scribble Hub is by far the best place.

 

[TheKillingAlice]

I'd always recommend posting your novel on multiple platforms, even if the platform in question isn't too friendly.

Oh yeah, I totally agree. Forgot to say that. I'm looking for a third platform myself. Since I don't earn money with those Stories, chapters can be everywhere and having one site go first with the chapters is also possible for those who care, which is fair.
Like, the more options, the more diverse the responses. I mean, I love comments for what they are, but I love hearing what's especially good or bad about a story. You grow from that kind of feedback.
But please avoid Webnovel. Just, I don't know, maybe I'm just paranoid. But nah, walk the other way. That's the one bad platform to hold at a safe distance in my opinion.

 

[OwlrageousJones]

AO3 is p. good in my experience - readers are polite, and the culture is more about showing gratitude to authors than being critical. The tagging system is very robust, although there are some limitations. And the audience is pretty large as well.

This is mostly because AO3 does not allow any kind of monetization and it's purely for fanworks - original works will get reported and removed. So if you write fanfiction, then it's great!

 

[J_Chemist]

I haven't had any issues on RR aside from the larger number of 0.5 bombers. You do get the random passerby every so often that heavily critiques your work but you'll get that anywhere. It's just more gritty on RR because people tend to care more and be more capable of actually providing feedback. I wouldn't call it elitist but it's a higher tier in terms of expected quality than most places and if you fail to produce said quality, you'll get shit on because they don't care about your feelings.

Never heard of AO3.

 

[Iamnotabot]

I feel like i just commited a fellony, but no one know i am the criminal. It was both satisfying and shamefull expirience to say the least.

 

[J_Chemist]

I feel like i just commited a fellony, but no one know i am the criminal. It was both satisfying and shamefull expirience to say the least.

Excuse me.

what.

 

[Iamnotabot]

Excuse me.

what.

I write things in there, things that i do not wish to speak of. But yeah, i write [redacted]

 

[J_Chemist]

I write things in there, things that i do not wish to speak of. But yeah, i write [redacted]

 

[Premier]

AO3 is p. good in my experience - readers are polite, and the culture is more about showing gratitude to authors than being critical. The tagging system is very robust, although there are some limitations. And the audience is pretty large as well.

This is mostly because AO3 does not allow any kind of monetization and it's purely for fanworks - original works will get reported and removed. So if you write fanfiction, then it's great!

This isnt true there's plenty of original works on there, fanworks are just much more popular.

 

[TotallyHuman]

I feel like i just commited a fellony, but no one know i am the criminal. It was both satisfying and shamefull expirience to say the least.

so you write on webnovel?

 

[SailusGebel]

What's it like to post your work on RR depends on your luck.

 

[Premier]

RR has an issue with people gaming the recommend lists by downvoting any work that isn't in a group. You will get downvoted no matter how good your work is as people don't want you to take their spot on trending.

Scribblehub doesn't care about user votes so it thankfully avoids this.

 

[Sola-sama]

Royal Road is full of elitists. Your writing must be as if it was made by God himself. If you make a minor spelling mistake, prepare to have your lunch money stolen. I'm sure many people there are nice, but I see this a lot. Also, LitRPG are popular over there.

I don't know shit about AO3

I post my story in RR. Can confirm, my lunch money is always being stolen by someone every week.
Can also confirm that it is filled with elitist, but they are more open to commenting about spelling mistake (depends on how you see them, it could be both positive and negative). Since I have dyslexia, seeing that bell icon red is a nightmare in RR, in contrast to SH where I can happily respond to my reader's comment without the pressure of having to do better.

 

[Corty]

RR has an issue with people gaming the recommend lists by downvoting any work that isn't in a group. You will get downvoted no matter how good your work is as people don't want you to take their spot on trending.

Lol. That sounds just as rigged as real life.

 

[RepresentingEnvy]

I post my story in RR. Can confirm, my lunch money is always being stolen by someone every week.
Can also confirm that it is filled with elitist, but they are more open to commenting about spelling mistake (depends on how you see them, it could be both positive and negative). Since I have dyslexia, seeing that bell icon red is a nightmare in RR, in contrast to SH where I can happily respond to my reader's comment without the pressure of having to do better.

Gib me your lunch money.