Financially, is LitRPG worth it? I'm writing a LitRPG right now and it's going well but it wouldn't take much to alter it and make it a fantasy novel. LitRPG seems kinda niche... which means less buyers but also easier to get noticed as an author... so I'm curious. Financially, is it worth it? (I joined just to ask this question, but this place seems cool, so I'll probably hang about).
I'd say it depends more on the book/story than what category you lump it into? Also, Amazon doesn't technically have a LitRPG category. Why not call it LitRPG and market toward a general fantasy audience? Look forward to hearing more thoughts...
I'll say this. This fall I published both LitRPG and a Portal Fantasy. The LitRPG sold better, despite being the first one I'd ever written so had problems. But, as the months pass, the fantasy is maintaining rank better. Furthermore, if the story is better told as LitRPG, write it thus. If better as a fantasy, do it. You want to write the story to be the best it can be and you'll get your readers like that.
I’d think that LitRPG is smaller and that might have something to do with it. As a smaller genre, books don’t have the same risk of falling into obscurity. Also, there are diehard fans that are eager to read more books like the ones they like. It would definitely explain how some of the more successful authors have been successful, even though their books are fairly mediocre, at best. I’d also suggest writing the book as it should be written. If it turns out to be a portal fantasy, make it the best portal fantasy you can write. If it turns out to be LitRPG, then make it the best LitRPG you can write.
^^^ This. There's no point sticking in pages of stat tables just because you think that it'll sell better... You'll just end up with a book that feels as if stuff's been added to it at the last minute... Do what's right for the book you're writing... I'm sure the one I'm writing would be more popular if I added reams and reams of blue screens, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's better...
