Joroboros
patreon
Update: Future of YF and KoJ
🕑 Added 2025-01-20 13:43:35 +0000 UTCAs many of you may know, YF book 1 released on amazon a few weeks back. I went into the launch probably more hopeful than i should, so when it flopped, hard, I was a little crushed.
I hate coming here and saying this, because you guys have all offered so much support here on patreon (especially those that went over to amazon to help me out ♥). I may have been comparing myself to other, similar RR follower count stories as they transitioned to KU, and that's what set me up for disappointment, but to see an estimate of less than ten sales in the first two weeks has been rough. I don't know if I got shafted by Amazon's algorithm or any other excuse I could come up with, but the fact is that the release has demoralised me.
here's the point of the post -- as me simply complaining about my story not doing well to all the people who already support me puts a bad taste in my mouth -- the launch has both demoralised me, and made me actually consider what my goals are in my writing.
Any time I sit down to write YF now, my mind jumps to the B1 launch and I ask myself: 'do people even want to read this?' It's stupid, I know. I mean, i've got so many people here and on RR who read and want more, but there's that small part of my mind that bites at me every time i try to write now. I sat before my pc for like 6 hours after work on friday, simply unable to write a word despite the chapter already being late.
So this gets me to where I started seriously considering what i want to do in the future. my original goal wasn't much of a goal: I figured it would be nice to have a nice influx of kindle users into the community, plus a bit of extra finances from KU and audible, then eventually try to make it full time with another series once i'd finished writing both YF and KoJ. None of it was ever a plan. just 'what-if's and 'wouldn't it be nice'.
Now, I've been forced to face that YF will not be earning anything, and neither will KoJ. (Publisher decided to deny my KoJ submission because of YF's failure, only driving the nail in deeper.) YF will take another year and a half to finish, and KoJ will probably be somewhere around 8 months, if i was to do them seperately. So, do I want to wait two years before i have another shot at a hit, or do I try the project that's been in the back of my mind for the past six months?
From this post, you likely already know where i'm going with this, and I'd just like you to know this wasn't an easy choice. I love YF and KoJ, and I would love to be able to finish them both before jumping onto another project. I feel guilty that i'm letting down everyone's support. But i've grown to enjoy writing a lot more than i ever expected to, and I would love to make it my full time thing, but to do that, I need to focus on something new. Something i can take what i've learnt from YF and KoJ and craft it into something better.
So, regretfully, I'll be putting YF into hiatus and lowering KoJ to only 1 chap per week. (I originally wanted to keep the stories in sync, but it might be better to just finish KoJ even if it will spoil late plot Young Flame.) This might change some time in the future, but I think at least for the next month, this is what i want to do.
I hate doing this and I'm sorry, but I would love if you guys were interested in checking out the story once it comes out. I should be able to upload the first half-dozen chaps by the end of the month.
(also, if you're one of the people who paid for annual and want a refund, please DM me.)
Again, thank you for all your support until now.
TLDR: Got demotivated. YF going on hiatus. KoJ dropping to 1 chap per week. New story coming soon.
Comments
Ruairi Mc Conville
I was disappointed to hear about YF and will definitely look into the new story when it comes out. As someone who uses kindle unlimited and RR I think one of the issues with the Kindle unlimited release is that it’s almost impossible to find specific books you want to read on KU There are simply too many books similar to each other and no way to tell what’s good or bad before reading which leaves a lot of good books to get buried in the algorithm. Not sure if there is a way to get the book reviewed by some bloggers/websites and recommended by other authors that have small followings as once you get even a small increase in readership it will start getting recommended more. I know a lot of my fantasy reading on kindle unlimited comes from looking up things like the self published fantasy blog off which are mostly on KU or looking up reviews as otherwise it’s impossible to navigate as they just recommend the same type of generic mass produced books otherwise.
Andrew Logan
Maybe you could make gravity weird. Like depending on where the station is (or if you are doing like a ring station around the black whole then where they are on the station) gravity changes. It could also be a cool idea to make the group who sacrifices to the blackmore one of many. Maybe have like an angel figure that is worshipped and keeps all the elder gods trapped. There's a LOT of ways you can take this concept
Jethro H
I feel like that might get a bit of hate if it’s just ignored, maybe blaming all the nothing breathing on the weird gods will let you get away with it tho. I can’t wait to read!
Joroboros
Oh yeah, i have to start off the story making sure readers accept a certain level of disparity between our world and this one. For example, i outright state that the people breath in the void of space. That should make people toss aside any assumptions they had about how people survive in space (also helps because the people are pelted with so much radiation from the accretion disk, that they'd be bubbling sacks of blood in no time) It's high fantasy in a sci fi setting, and i don't really want to be running simulations on how a black hole would react to certain events, especially considering the Eldritch gods throw a wrench in the logic of everything
Jethro H
I know anything regarding the inside of a black hole is theory, but I imagine the inside would be ridiculously bright, after all, the event horizon is the distance at which the speed of light is equal to orbital velocity, making the inside a super bright cyclone of light. This is also fantasy and physics doesn't matter, the imagery of absolute darkness is probably better than blinding light orbiting endlessly, instantly giving a fatal sunburn. I can't wait to read more as usual :)
Jethro H
This is quite sad to hear and honestly comes as a surprise, Young Flame has always been one of my favourite books, and is still the only novel I pay to read. I agree that the reason for your slow start in sales is because there hasn't been enough attention, everyone who knows about YF has read it, and likely won't purchase it to read again, and everyone who hasn't has no idea it exists. I expect this to change with time, so please don't loose hope. The book also released early in the year, not long after Christmas, so I doubt there were many people bored enough to be looking for new reads, I know I haven't scrolled through the titles yet this year and it's the 21st
Joroboros
haha, that's very close to what i have at the moment, except the gods live in the black hole and eat anything that falls within (while sometimes stretching out) Excerpt from first draft chap 1: If given a second chance, Nix would make them pay. The forms of the waiting gods grew clearer the deeper she fell within the black hole. Countless tentacles, teeth, sludge, chitinous legs, worms, and eyes closed in around her as she finally sunk beneath the event horizon and light was no more. So many eyes. She couldn’t see, but she could /see/. A jaw opened around her without beginning or end. Teeth as large as worlds expanded beyond comprehension. The eyes were gone now. The horrific Eidolon Gods’ maw welcomed Nix with veneration.
Andrew Logan
That is a cool idea. You could have stuff be eaten by the black hole imagine a giant god being devoured slowly. This seems like a cool story.
Samuel_Almonihah
Oh, interesting.
Zat
I'm sorry to hear that but I get it. I wish you luck in your next book (i will certainly check it out) and am greatful for KoJ continuing. And who knows? If you do hit things off with a new book, that can be all that's needed to get eyes on your other works. It really seems like the algorithm didn't do you justice here.
Joroboros
Redo/regression story about a girl sacrificed to Eldritch gods. Set on a station over a black hole that is corrupt by the influences of monsters and gods. Essentially, it's a PF story about the girl's vengeance, and fixing her regrets.
Samuel_Almonihah
Ooof, I can see how that would be demoralizing. Honestly sometimes it seems like publishing is as much a die roll as anything else. I'm curious to see what your new project is, though!
TheLostGolem
Honestly, I'd say don't feel to down on the whole amazon thing. Fact of the matter is that most of the people that have found young flame are on royal road. Furthermore, I'm of the opinion that most people who have already read the book and did enjoy it probably won't buy it on amazon because most people don't like rereading stuff until quite a bit of time has passed at the very least. Also, they can just come over here to patreon to support you and get new content rather than old content. In the terms of the sales, I'd guess it would have to do with marketing. If people don't know about it, they won't buy it. Also, the market it kind of saturated with books at the moment, so it's probably pretty hard to stand out. I'd say maybe the book needed more advertising so people could find it to be honest. Anyway, I did really enjoy the series. Don't let it get you down that it didn't sell to well. It was definitely a marketing issue and not a "this book is bad" issue.
Grine
Quite sad to hear it. In my opinion both fictions are really good and I love the fact that they happen both at the same time and in the same world. I don't know much about books on amazon but your fictions are my currents favorites at RoyalRoad. That being said I'm sure your new story will be interesting and I hope it will succeed.
Andrew Logan
Hopefully your next project is the best ever! I am going to start following you actively again. Also idk if you remember I like listing off good books I have read. Like (rock falls everyone dies, a short book that is a funny parody. The act of androids, a book that I think you will really like. It takes old stories from Greek and Roman mythology and makes up a new one. In a completely different world. 10/10 Song of the void. A story about the last of a long lost race waking up and experiencing a new galaxy built on the ruins of her old race. Verrrrrry long dont read unless you are down for a long book. The authors other books are good as well but this one is my favorite. It is like a sci-fi mixed with fantasy martial arts. Until death? A r rated book includes serial scenes. Very good books about gods and there peculiarities.
Joroboros
I think that might be more because i started yf with a world i wanted to explore, not really a plot. so after the fight with the general, i really focused on the direction it would take, and that might not be what you liked. But the lack of success imo has more to do with the cover, the blurb, and the incredibly broad categories Amazon has chucked it into. People aren't picking up the book on kindle and deciding it's bad; they're not picking it up at all. Tbh, my first chapter doesn't signal or make genre promises well, nor is it a good hook. There's so much I've learnt since that could make it better if I'd done a complete rewrite
Andrew Logan
From what I recall the war with the terminal was amazing as well
Andrew Logan
If it helps. I feel the first book is by far the best part of the story so far. It just feels like everything after the first and second books is lacking a little
Andrew Logan
Do be aware that these opinions are slightly outdated. I dropped the novel once when they reached the weird giant cube in the middle of the ocean. From my perspective story wise. It didn't feel complete. A lot of stuff was added to fast for my liking before fully exploring previous option and it also felt like at some points the story wasn't progressing as fast as I would have liked. From a meta perspective you released on Amazon at the wrong time. I don't have the stats before me but I believe most of the people currently reading are not new readers. There is little reason to buy a book for the very first chapters. Especially because you can basically just start after that point and be fine. From what I remember when reading on patreon a while ago. When the story is told with a long time in between chapters it didn't feel like you where getting a lot at once. I would recommend and this is going to sick for your readers but leave the story off sometimes on HUGE cliffhangers more. Also something just feels off with the world building. I am not a good writer myself and can't really give specifics but compared to some stories with amazing world building I have read it feels lacking again I don't really know how to explain it. Just compared to books like ( the perfect run, tales from the terran rebublic, mother of learning, elydes) it feels missing. I am not a writer in any sense and this is just the rambling of a reader. Don't take anything to heart. I am going to finish reading YF until the end though and I will try and write down all my thoughts on it.
Joroboros
I mean, I'd love to hear your opinions. I've already been given a bit of a breakdown from another auther why he thinks so, but the more thoughts the better i can do to do better in the future. (though i won't deny I'm not all that happy with the publisher's methods)
Andrew Logan
I honestly hate this. I am doing a reread of YF atm and couldn't read the first couple chapters because of the KU thing. I couldn't buy the book at the time due to money issues. I understand where you are coming from in your head space and what the future needs from you. I just dislike dropping YF the start of it is one of the best I have read and it is not a bad concept at all. I really wanted to follow solvei's story until your desired completion. I do have some things I think might have been the cause of the flop but I will keep opinions to myself. I am just sad to see it go. In the end the only opinion that matters is your own.
