Short and Sweet

If you just came for the link, here it is. Go on; I won’t keep you. Have fun, and please don’t forget to give it a follow, favorite, and review when you’re finished. 😉

Longer Version

If you’re still reading, I’ll assume you either don’t know what Royal Road is or you’re curious why I would syndicate there. Simply put, Royal Road is the go-to website where aspiring litRPG authors as well as seasoned pros post their work for free. It’s a good place to test the waters and build an audience, and it’s where I got my start. The feedback I received there was what gave me the confidence to take the leap into self-publishing.

Why would I post my book there? The obvious answer is free exposure and hype with my target audience, and I’m hardly against those things, but the real reason is more complicated.

Part of it is gratitude. I like to think there are a few people who hang out there who helped me out on Original Enchantment and may be interested in the sequel. I’d hate to leave them hanging.

Another part of it is this crazy belief I have in giving things away. I find, if I give people my book for free, they tend to do nice things back. Maybe they buy it anyway just to show their support. Maybe they read the book and recommend it to their friends. Maybe they just leave a nice rating or a kind comment. All of these things have value, potentially a lot more value than insisting everyone pay for the thing. Maybe it’s naive, but I think if you focus on your audience first, the money will take care of itself.

It’s also part of my editing process. Royal Road serves as a sort of advance audience to vet any major issues in the book. I got a lot of good advice from commenters the first time around that helped me refine the version I put up on Audible and Kindle.

That Whole Exclusivity Thing

As I did with Original Enchantment, I plan to enroll Relic Tamer in KDP Select when it launches on Kindle this Spring. When that happens, I have to take down all but 10% of the Royal Road version. I’d love to keep them both going at the same time, but KDP Select requires exclusivity.

Which is to say, if you plan to read Relic Tamer for free, I suggest you stay on top of each release. Because, when the book releases on Amazon, most of it will come off of Royal Road for good. Consider this fair warning. 😉