A project I started two years ago on Reddit is now a 500 page fantasy novel!
*500-page
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Congrats bruh! Last year--after years of talking about doing it--I took the plunge and finally put my idea down on paper. I don't think a lot of people realize the amount of time you need to commit to complete a book until they start one. Sometimes it feels like the end is never in sight. Getting it done is a huge accomplishment.
It can be a wildly personal, self-reflective, and sometimes lonely experience. Glad to see you saw it through.
You are so right and I feel like I could have written these words!
I am not trying to be poetic when I say I TRULY grew with my characters.
All that doubt and rewriting and mulling over every single detail can be torturous but once I got through, there was no feeling like it.
I also have started giving back to the community so if you need a beta reader or a sound board for your thoughts please feel free to write me!
Also, it really has given me an understanding of what Patrick Rothfuss is going through.
I'll keep you in mind. I'm about 20k words away from finishing the sequel, so I just might need a few soon. Hit me up when have a promotion coming up. I'd be happy to promote it to my mailing list.
Best of luck to you!
Gladly! Thank you so much :)
This post cheered me up after yet another extremist attack and a new lockdown. Keep up the good work my friend.
Greetings from France
I just heard about that. So awful. What did poor Nice do to be so cursed? Rhetorical question, this is not the place for that discussion, but my heart goes to those affected.
Love to France from across the ocean.
I am so sorry for what is happening in France right now but I am really glad that my post cheered you up!
Stay strong and I hope there will be better days
Stay safe my dude. We're thinking of all of you from across the channel. ✌️
Stay safe my thoughts are with you <3
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I just got the kindle version!! I love epic stories!!!
Well, this one is an underwhelming one.
I truly hope you enjoy the read!
11k upvotes. 200 comments. 4 hours old. Front page material.
Respect. I'm at 280 pages in my current draft for my covid project, and could not agree more. 😁
It is so much bloody work! And it’s not easy! 280 pages by itself is commendable and I implore you to continue!
I’ve been trying to give back to the community so if you need a beta reader or someone to bounce ideas off of feel free to get in touch!
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That means the world to me! Thank you!
When is the Door of Stone coming out. Jk congratulations. I hope to one day find myself reading your book and commenting about how I can't wait for the next part to come out.
Oh that makes two of us! Thank you so much for the kind words
It’s taken me 4 days to write a 750 word article. I used to think I could write a novel. I respect the hell out of anyone that can do it.
The struggle is real. You hear about full-time writers throwing down 5k, 10k words in a day and that's great. But I work full time and I have two young kids at home. Most of my writing gets done after they go to bed. I'm lucky to get 1k most nights, but I'm happy with it. Any progress is good progress. Don't judge yourself by what others do. You know what works for you.
1k words per day is really really good.
Yeah my process is write 200-500 words, re write it, and again then getting to 2k over a couple of days and deciding its bad so I scrap it and restart from scratch.
I went to an arts high school and majored in writing. Back then I was always writing. When I was like 19 or so, I counted through the documents I had on my laptop.
I had >30 first chapters, like a dozen second, like 4 third and maybe 1 4th.
I get so mad at myself sometimes because the amount I’ve written could actually easily be a novel, but I keep deciding the next story idea is better.
So serious props to you guys, honestly. I respect the drive a lot
I've had a lot of ideas, too. But I wanted to see if I could actually finish a story for once. So I went with the one I thought I would have the most fun with and set myself a word count goal for the week. I'm not gonna lie, it was really, really hard to get past those first few chapters. I had to really push myself. But once I got a third of the way through? Well, it was like skiing on butter.
And on the flip side, Stephen King doesn't even remember writing Cujo.
Yeah, but there's a different reason for that...
The joy of writing? The uncut, pure, powdered joy of writing?
For sure. Gets cold up there in Maine, too. A guy can find a lot of time to write in the winter, especially after dashing through the snow. Days tend to bump together.
You should see about joining a small writing community with other amateur writers who can read your work and give you feedback. It makes it a lot less lonely.
I wouldn't even know where to start.
DANIEL RICCIARDO!!!
You know... you’re not the first to say that 😂😂
I used to be compared to Criss Angel when I was younger and going through an emo phase.
You look like the illegitimate child of Danny Ric and Carlos Sainz Jr
Damn, I’ve been made!
That was my exact thought when I saw this picture.
SLAP BASS
You look like my buddy Gary but he’s an above average bard and I’m still not dead yet.
Came in here for this!! I legit thought OP was the Honey Badger!
Side note: that is an awesome nickname
Backup plan should the Mclaren move not work out
Looks like a new hide the pain Harold! 😀
I can’t even mess around with you, I am too elated to be hiding any pain.
I saw there was another post made to celebrate published work and I decided to actually take the chance and share my work with all of you as just a proud moment in my life!
Whatever it is that you may wish to pursue, if I could dedicate the past two years to finishing this project I implore everyone else to also pursue their dreams.
If anyone is interested, the work itself is available on Amazon currently. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08L6LTZ3B
Some information about the book:
The Fantastically Underwhelming Epic of a dead wizard and an average bard
Blurb:
George is a legendary hero... wait, no.
George is an incredibly powerful sorcerer... also no?
Okay, fine.
George is an unremarkable human bard who made a promise a long time ago.
A promise that set him on a path to find the remains of Simantiar, the greatest wizard who ever lived.
Though all that was left were bones, Simantiar was still very much alive and quite... Underwhelming.
This is their story: The Fantastically Underwhelming Epic of a dead wizard and an average bard.
Just a heads up, since no one seems to have mentioned it. There are some missing spaces in first third of the Amazon description and, I assume, missing line breaks.
That said, I'm curious and I'll put it on my wish list!
Thank you! Yeah I noticed and I am trying to get it fixed asap!
The issue is that Amazon ruined the formatting
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You are most definitely not the first to ask!
I had decided a while ago that it really depended on how well my book does, but seeing all these supportive and uplifting comments and the reviews that had come in I most definitely will be looking to do an audiobook as well!
I will let you know the moment it becomes a reality.
I would love this as an audiobook too! Sounds like the stlye I listen to in the car already so it would be the perfect next choice!
I’m most definitely going to be looking into that ASAP!
There is some good news!
I got signed with Podium, the same house that took on The Martian so you can expect an audiobook in a couple of weeks!
Great! I will keep an eye on this book.
Thank you so much for taking the time to consider my work!
Ooh. Ooh. Can I narrate it? lol.
Why not! I have a friend who also asked for chance but if you are serious, we can stay in touch
Hey it's been 6 hours, is it an audiobook yet?
Thank you! Added to my amazon basket to get on payday, excited for it turning up now! Needed a new fantasy novel.
I am most certainly the one who needs to be thanking you! Thank you so much for taking the time to support me and I genuinely hope you enjoy it.
Oh nonsense, no need to thank me, I love a good bit of fantasy and I'm sold on the description already. I never usually leave reviews because I'm really not very good at them but I'll make sure and leave you one once I'm finished reading it. Keep an eye out for the poorly worded amazon review and you'll know who it is haha. All the best to you and maybe one day see you at the book signing, I'll bring cupcakes haha
Oh I promise I will put in the effort to meet with anyone who would like! Most definitely would I offer to sign your copy :)
Just wanted to say that I've just finished your book and bravo! I loved every second of it! Last night I was actually bawling my eyes out at one point because of it and now I'm so gutted its over, I need more now! Definitely looking forward to your next work! Thank you for the amazing, hilarious and sometimes heartbreaking journey
I would love to buy it, I use a kobo ereader, is there a way I can buy the book to read on it?
Congrats!
I will be trying my best to get it on other ereading platforms in the next few days and I will jump right back on here the moment it is available! Thank you so much for taking an interest
Thanks! Would love to have it on the Google play book store. That's where I currently buy all my ebooks!
I will see what I can do and get back to you!
I just finished putting it on Kobo and will be doing Google play book store next!
If you have a computer get Calibre. Then use Calibre to change the file format from mobi/whatever to epub/whatever that will work with Kobo.
I have good news for you u/palitu The book is now available on Kobo!
https://www.kobo.com/at/en/ebook/the-fantastically-underwhelming-epic
That description is amazing. I'm curious, is the overall tone humorous, or more serious fantasy epic?
I would like to think it is a balance between the two!
I wanted something more whimsical with a very unremarkable protagonist simply trying to fulfill a promise.
I also was inspired by the idea of it representing both sides of a fairytale, that being the comical whimsical side of it as well as the dark and grim kind from the old days.
But I’ve heard from plenty of people that they’ve had their laughs reading this but there will also be nail-biting moments of action.
Sounds interesting! Would you describe this at all as an under dog story? I definitely get a Mood for an underdog story and it would be good to know if I could put this in my Underdog Mental Queue vs general Fantasy Mental Queue.
It reminds me of a mix between Orconomics and The Tales of Pell, both of which I enjoyed. Added it to my list and followed you on goodreads. Congratulations and good luck.
Thank you so much for the consideration! Wish you all the best
I just bought and will read this book! I have no clue from where this came and only have the info from this comment, but it was enough to press my inner fantasy impulse buy buttons.
What would be a good beverage pairing when I crack it open?
Mead! If not mead is at hand a warm tea will also suffice.
The mead is now also in transit too!
Is there any other way to purchase your book? I've recently decided to no longer use Amazon. I'm really interested and would love to read it. I would even buy it from you personally if you're willing to ship it to me!
Hey there Biskies, absolutely! You can buy it directly from me and I truly understand your sentiment.
It is such a plight that Amazon's self pub services are so good!
Just bought a copy! Great title!
Congratulations!
Is there anywhere else I could buy the book from? I really want to support you but I refuse to use Amazon.
I really get that and its such a plight that amazon's self pub service is so good!
You could order a copy directly from me in which case you circumvent the issue entirely!
Drop me a message and we can sort something out
Dude this is awesome. I had to buy this based purely on the title alone!
Congrats on your advertising, bro. Way to play the game.
Thank you! I used to feel incredibly self conscious about all this which states “look at me! Look at what I did!” But if I really want to get out there and do my thing I feel like I need to move past that.
This may be a complete flop but I really think it’s a step in the right direction.
I appreciate that you're not lying about this being an ad. Reddit has this weird aversion to it, but writing a full length novel - I'd want to get people to notice it too!
Congrats, its clear you put a lot of effort into your book!
Thank you so much! I truly appreciate it
To me, an ad for a big company on Reddit that is pretending to just be a post would be annoying. I don't see why some guy trying to get the word out on his first book is something we should try to suppress, though!
2nd book
lock him up
Hey, it worked on me! I didn't know you existed, saw this post, and ordered the book. So, it worked out for both of us!
I'm glad you see it that way but I feel extremely humbled and blessed after today
The above post is now sponsored by Reddit
Congrats! Finishing is a huge step! Now you just have to promote, promote, promote. Don't give up, though. You can do it! :D
Just reading the prologue and in the first sentence, there's already a word used incorrectly: 'there strung a bard upon his lute' 'the bard strung his lute once more'. You keep using that word, 'strung' and I don't think you know what it means. The word I believe you are looking for is 'strummed.'
Spoilers
Man holding book.
man advertising to reddit
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Well, luckily it's a man. Instead of just your comment whining, all the top comments would be enraged incels shouting about how this would never be upvoted if it was a man.
It wouldn't! These are just fake news women voting for it to make it look like men get attention too! Fake news man! Nobody will touch me!
Where's my fedora mom!?
There would be that fucking cartoon too.
Nope, the book is actually holding me. Send help.
r/pics is turning out to be a self advertisement sub
Always has been
🔫
Good. Better than 90% of what gets posted here anyway. I was getting bored of "person holds sign" posts.
All we need is the r/mildlyinteresting rules for post titles.
So now you get "person holds book" lol.
every morning a different sub?
Thought this was a @r/roastme post lol
Compound adjectives should be hyphenated if omitting the hyphen would cause ambiguity. It this case, there is no ambiguity in the words '500 page fantasy novel' and some commonly used style guides would recommend not using a hyphen.
The flair 'correcting' this mistake is wrong in addition to being pretentious and rude.
The flair is the only reason I clicked on the post, which in no way belongs on r/pics by the way. I was like, could the purpose of the flair really only be to add a hyphen to the title? Imagine if all titles of submissions to r/pics were flair-corrected by the mods. This sub is hot garbage.
I'm a bot, bleep, bloop. Someone has linked to this thread from another place on reddit:
[r/machinethatmakesmoney] A project I started two years ago on Reddit is now a 500 page fantasy novel!
If you follow any of the above links, please respect the rules of reddit and don't vote in the other threads. (Info / ^Contact)
These posting my self-published book and pretending it's not advertising posts are starting to get out of control.
I mean he straight up admits it's an ad hours before you made this comment.
Yeah, and it's getting out of control.
Read over the description, if I was buying this book The first few sentences are missing capitals for the start, just a pet peeve of mine, look over everything so you’re first review is a positive one
I’m sorry you feel that way!
Could you clarify what you mean with “missing capital letters”?
Which part?
My biggest gripe thus far is with the formatting of the description as it won’t let me form it into paragraphs! But I’ll be trying to fix that today.
I do have some splendid reviews over at goodreads and one on the Canadian store but amazon is really difficult with displaying reviews for some reason.
George is a legendary hero... wait, no.George is an incredibly powerful sorcerer... also no?Okay, fine.George is an unremarkable human bard who made a promise a long time ago.A promise that set him on a path to find the remains of Simantiar, the greatest wizard who ever lived.Thou
Aside from that it seems like awesome work. (Wait) (Also) -Lack of spacing after periods.
So the formatting was ruined by amazon and I am trying to get it fixed, here is what it should look like:
George is a legendary hero... wait, no.
George is an incredibly powerful sorcerer... also no?
Okay, fine.
George is an unremarkable human bard who made a promise a long time ago.
A promise that set him on a path to find the remains of Simantiar, the greatest wizard who ever lived.
Though all that was left were bones, Simantiar was still very much alive and quite... underwhelming.
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There technically aren't any missing capital letters there, but the ellipses are being used incorrectly.
Ellipses should be used when there's an implicit caveat or elaboration after a conceptual (not verbal) pause... like this. The ellipsis is a useful punctuation mark... but only when used correctly. In either case, the word following an ellipsis should not be capitalized... unless it's a proper noun, of course.
The lack of proper spacing is problematic, though.
Here's how that should have been written:
u/kinpsychosis, did you have this professionally edited?
As for if it it was professionally edited, definitely not.
I got a fiverr editor for a low price and self edited using prowritingaid.
This entire project was self funded with mere 600 euros.
However, my plan was always to self publish and see how the work does on its own two feet before I go after an agent, after the positive reviews and feedback I most certainly feel as if I can start sending out letters to agents and see if I can get representation.
You need to have it professionally edited before you start sending out queries. Most agents won't even glance at something that isn't much of the way toward being ready for marketing to publishers, regardless of how well a given book has done via an independent route. (In fact, that independent route can sometimes work against you, given that the argument can be made that you've already tapped your audience.)
It's also bad idea to use any kind of service (like Grammarly or ProWritingAid) for real editing. They are – with no exaggeration – utter garbage, and they cause more problems than they solve. I'd recommend contracting someone who knows what they're doing and will give your work the attention (and expertise) that it deserves.
So the issue is again the formatting on amazon for some reason.
Here is how it should actually look:
George is a legendary hero... wait, no.
George is an incredibly powerful sorcerer... also no?
Okay, fine.
George is an unremarkable human bard who made a promise a long time ago.
A promise that set him on a path to find the remains of Simantiar, the greatest wizard who ever lived.
Though all that was left were bones, Simantiar was still very much alive and quite... Underwhelming.
If you are going to offer editing suggestions, I’d start with what you’ve written. It’s “your first review” not “you’re.”
One is trying to sell a book, the other's a reddit comment...
Excuse me sir yuou're ellipses is rong.
This made me wonder what ever happened to Rome, Sweet Rome?
Nothing underwhelming about that cover art! What a beautiful package for your tale, you should be so proud of the result!
I love how it's about a wizard and a bard, but the cover looks like a barbarian and a fighter, haha. And this book sounds 1000% up my alley. I love a good fantasy novel with some humor sprinkled in, and this cover has sold me! I usually prefer audio books, but this is definitely going on my Amazon wishlist!
Nice congrats man! Looks super dope! I remember you from the Vienna Stand Up scene, I am wondering if there will be some jokes in the book ;)
Milkiman! What are the odds haha. Hope you are doing well
As someone who has no experience or skills in creative writing/artwork but dreams of going into the area, what is some advice you could give and maybe share with me what some of the hardest obstacles you faced as well as things along the way that maybe went smoother than you anticipated.
Congratulations brother and much love and best wishes to you on this work and future work.
You can't edit a blank page but you can edit (personally) unsatisfying writing. As in, write! Always write! Your state of consciousness changes throughout the days and weeks so you might write something one day and have a specific perspective about it as "it sucks" but if you give yourself some distance (of a few days) what you realize you have is something generally yours and something you can build off of. Perfectionistic and all-or-nothing/black-and-white are the barriers to progress.
Thank you so much.
Download. Upvote.
Looking forward to it!
r/nextfuckinglevel
Bruh I was honestly thinking for a while now to start writing a book in my free time (of which I unfortunately don't have a lot off, hence why I haven't started haha). Super cool u actually did it. I hope u will sell a million so you can start on a next one :)
You get to page 500 and there it is, at the very bottom ...in nineteen ninety eight....
gratz
And yet you don't seem very happy
Because he had to publish it himself. Bittersweet experience.
I just bought one on Amazon! Now I need a picture of your signature so I can tape it on the inside and say it was autographed. Lol!! Congrats!
Congrats!
Amazon author here with a tip: In order for your book description to format correctly for the paperback landing page, you need to use HTML markup in the text box as it won't recognize carriage returns. So you need the <br> tag between paragraphs.
Followed your advice! Thanks
Congrats! I’ve been on and off about writing a novel of my own for the past few years, and this past September I actually took the jump and started writing after Harper Collins opened their mailbox to unmanaged manuscripts for a month. I unfortunately didn’t finish the manuscript in time to submit, but being able to prove to myself that I actually CAN sit down and write a project helped me put to rest so much of the self doubt and imposter syndrome that has stopped me from writing in the past. I know how difficult and gruelling it can be to actually start a novel, let alone finish one, so the fact that you were able to do it AND get it published is quite the feat!
Sup mate. First of all, congrats, finishing a book is a big deal. Secondly, your cover is gorgeous. Lastly, well done with the advertising, obviously. I don't like to see it but I understand we all gotta do it.
Unfortunately, if you want to get an agent, you're going at it the wrong way. The odds of you selling enough to get the attention of an agent are dismal. Querying is a grueling process and the vast majority of agents will simply reject you without even reading your book as soon as they know you're self-published. Unless you achieve massive success, you might want to forget about getting representation for this book.
If you want to go the trad route, I recommend you write another novel and query it the normal way. In the meanwhile, it certainly doesn't hurt to build a platform and market your self-pub book. Just keep your expectations in check, it's really unlikely you'll sell enough to overcome the querying-self-pub conundrum.
(And do fix the formatting of your Amazon description ASAP. You did a great job sending thousands of potential readers to your page but I guarantee many were thrown off by that messy description.)
I want to write but I lack the skill in wordcraft to make my ideas real. so I have to stick with just using my ideas for tabletop gaming.
Wow gratz, that is awesome!
I have been off and on writing a book for the past ten years now and can never finish. I start nitpicking small details and go back and proofread before finished then get frustrated and stop writing.
To have the resolve and drive to complete it, I think that is amazing. You look so happy :)
Loving that "Library of Congress control number" on Amazon's sample!
I used to see you on writing prompts a lot, I am very happy for you, congratulations!!
Thank you so much! Wow, I think I even remember your name! I still write stories at WritingPrompts but now that I have started investing time into actual novels I guess I don't appear as much as I used to
Sold by reading the comments here! Just based on how nice you are and from the sound of your passion for the book, I had to get it. =) I look forward to reading it. Good luck on this and future endeavors!
If that book is 500 pages that is more than a novel. The size of that book at 500 is a tome. Mercy that's a lot of story
That's cool and all, but can we talk about the picture of Boba/Mando finding both Waldo and Carmen Sandiego that's right above your head?
I hate to say this, but the typography on that cover is weak and does nothing to draw you in. Next time you do a print run, you should get a designer to really increase the visibility and size of the title.
lol I honestly saw the title, and thought that "Fantastically underwhelming" was a blurb from a review, and I was like oof.
Whichever mod made that snarky remark in the flair, your mom's a ho
As someone who lives on Reddit and is currently trying to write a fantasy novel I’m so heartened to see this. Congratulations dude!!!
I just started a nonfiction project and am amazed at how mammoth the project looks once words start hitting the page. Just sustaining faith in the concept (let alone one's writing ability) is hurculean. My sincere congratulations on having reached the top of the mountain.
Looks great. I just bought it. Simply because you are a sympathetic guy. I Wish you all the best.
Thank you, really.
The best thing I can hope for is to give back to this wondrous community in the future and show my thanks for how amazing you’ve all been.
Where can I purchase? I love reading fantasy books and would love to help support!
I'm not a fan of you advertising your book here. Also I bought it, read it and liked it. I'm hope you're happy you bastard!
I bought it and it's really good so far!
I greatly appreciate you reaching out and commenting!
Thank you greatly and I truly hope your experience continues to be enjoyable.
Also, there is some good news!
I have been signed with Podium Audio, and the book will be available as an audiobook soon!
This is an ad. A free one at that. OP should check out redditinc.com/advertising next time.
That is awesome! Congrats and I love the artwork on the cover!
Oh so do I! The artist really was amazing to work with and she captured exactly what I was going for
Congrats! I like your drawing style
Thank you! But the drawing is most definitely not my work but that of the talented artist Rumyana Zarkova, she really was such a pleasure to work with.
Yo is that daithi de nogla?
I judge books by their covers. I'll give it a shot!
Thank you so much! I really hope you enjoy it and hope to hear your thoughts
This is nice and all....but what im worried about, is this "sell yourself" vibe, that's been going around......because the title could read "Go Me!", as it would amount to the same thing. Seems a little narcissistic to run around extolling your own virtues. If its worth being said about yourself, someone else will do it. Our culture is picking up some bad habits. Wouldn't you agree?
I wouldn't, no. Arrogance is a problem, but having pride in your work is a good thing. You're allowed to celebrate an accomplishment, it certainly isn't narcissistic to do so.
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That's awesome, congrats! Nice looking cover art you got as well. Makes me wish I had the attention span to do the same
Oh I get you! I was diagnosed with ADHD as an adult and this entire project was such a trial and I am just happy I pulled through!
Woooah so cool! Congrats!!
Well done!
Love that Waldo/Carmen Sandiego print behind you!
Right!!! That made me zoom in to make sure it was what I thought it was.
Yoooo I went to school in Dubai with you!
Heeey! Give me a name!
The amount of people in this thread saying "He's advertising, what the fuck" have no issue with movie trailers or game trailers being posted on the front page.
Its social media. Downvote and move on like the rest of society.
I literally just read all five parts that you posted on Reddit yesterday and bought the book on Kindle about 30 minutes ago! I can't wait to get started on it when my first break hits.
Wow! That means the world to me, I genuinely hope you enjoy the rest of the story!
To be honest, I haven't purchased a book for many years and those five parts were enough to get me hooked. I really enjoy your style and the fantasy/magic world has always fascinated me.
I hope this book is very successful for you and encourages you to keep writing!
Congratulations bro ❤🌹
Thank you so much! It really means a lot
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God this sub fucking sucks.
Excellent work man! I love how happy you are!
Thank you! I am ecstatic, the love from everyone has been amazing
Congrats mate! Living the dream