If I may suggest, why don't you get a 'beta reader' that you can trust, like close people irl, instead of relying on online feedbacks? In my experience, they can give you more insights on how to improve than those who try to be 'experts' in the web.
That's the hard part. I don't know anyone IRL that can beta-read what I write. I've only been able to rely on those I find online. Mostly discord. And that's only for short snippets.
I felt like thats mainly one of the reason i can't find any good books to read at webnovel and royal road. They are more common with lit rpg that I am just sick of it. Yes, some are good but like holy shit make a original magic system for once!I'm almost finished with the first volume of Villainess, Retry! One more chapter left. Anyway, since this is a rant, please excuse me:
After writing and posting the book on both sites, I can confidently say that RR is not a good fit for Villainess, Retry! I think, since RR is predominantly focused on litRPG / isekai stories where there's OP MCs who have all the agency and badassery in the world to begin with, readers there aren't used to reading a story where the MC actually has to endure a hostile environment that's out to harm said MC, who's not able to deal with it YET! So, of course, my villainess isn't an isekaied girl who knows the events and tricks to foil the two-faced heroine or knows the events and tricks to turn the hostile male love interests to her side in a single confrontation with her haters! She's not that kind of MC, and my story's not a f*cking litRPG story!
To me, suffering builds character, and obstacles need to be difficult for stories to hold my interest, because after reading countless villainess manga and manhwa and manhua and written stories, I've realized I tend to stick with the ones that have me rooting for the underdog villainess, the ones that have real consequences for her outside of wussy exile, the ones where I don't get bored knowing that it'll be an easy win for the villainess if she just gives it a half-assed try! Hence, call me a sadist, but I prefer my villainess with an emotional involvment in the story beyond the superficial 'The prince is an asshole, and the heroine's a bitch, but I don't give a f*ck, b/c I know the f*cking plot and can own your f*cking asses anytime I want!'-attitude, b/c I'm f*cking tired of reading villainess MCs that act like this! After reading countless villainess MCs like this, I've been itching for a villainess that acts like a f*cking human being! You know, cry? Be sad? Be angry? Be bitchy? You know, someone that gives a f*ck? But since there's literally none I could find, I wrote it myself.
So now to the RR reviewers and commenters of my book there, I will address you thus:
F*ck your complaints about my MC having no f*cking agency! It's a f*cking villainess story where she has to deal with f*ckers trying to f*ck with her all the f*cking time, for f*cks sake, you f*cks! It takes time for MCs to build up their agency, b/c it takes time for the story to unfold! It's called a f*cking character arc! Don't like it? Then f*ck off!
End of rant:
Thank you for bearing with me there. Truth be told, they're not total f*ck-bags. I'm just a bit miffed with a good does of villainess hot flashes. But compared to the reception Villainess, Retry!'s had on SH, it's been pretty good here, way better than on RR. So my questions to you are these:
For those who posted their stories in RR and SH, how's the reader reception for them in both sites? Were there any differences? Was that why you also post on this site? I can't be the only one, right? Right?
Yeah, I feel you on that. I remember trying to get into the LitRPG thing a few years ago, reading them on RR. I gave it the best shot I could and even left a review on one of theirs, but then it got deleted months later. Idk why. But even then, I just couldn't get into it. The use of boxes and stats, it's like homework, man! The novelty wore off really quick with me.
Someone actually raised this issue in one of their forum, imploring those who can understand to be 'kinder' on their feedbacks so that new authors won't be disgusted, intimidated or discouraged posting in their site.
Yeah, I'm sure the more critical types and the trolls will find me eventually. I've only been posting since September. But it hasn't happened yet. And I do have way more readers over there (my average chapter views are currently 46 vs. 730). So....
Nah, I'm not saying you should hate on RR, but yeah, be on your guard. You're still relatively new, and the connoisseurs haven't detected you yet. Plus, if ever your case went against our experience, it means that site is for you.Yeah, I'm sure the more critical types and the trolls will find me eventually. I've only been posting since September. But it hasn't happened yet. And I do have way more readers over there (my average chapter views are currently 46 vs. 730). So....
I'm not saying that RR doesn't have problems, and I can understand why some people dislike it. But my experience there has been okay so far.
For those who posted their stories in RR and SH, how's the reader reception for them in both sites? Were there any differences? Was that why you also post on this site? I can't be the only one, right? Right?
Not saying I didn't get useful feedback. I did, which is helpful, but damn they got really short fuses. Very impatient.
Does it really work that way? B/c the 2-start review I got knocked my ranking down a notch, or maybe that's b/c said reviewer unfollowed my story afterwards.
Damn, I think you got really unlucky there, bro. The issue I had is that they don't offer an explanation of their feedback, just that and have me try and figure it out. Like I said, very impatient.
And that's my main gripe with RR. I don't give a shit about readers being offensive, impatient, unfair, or snarky. What I do care about is whether I can improve through what they say. And I understand that my story is unpopular, but I had around nine reviews there. And those nine reviews contained nothing I can use to improve, no new info, in fact, no info at all. You can't even compare them with the ones I have here on SH. And to top it all off, fucking WebNovel had more constructive feedback and criticism than the place where, allegedly, better readers reside.
