AFTERWORD
Hey, kentusprg here. Seriously, I went into the volume thinking it would be the weakest, and maybe it is, but man, there was much I could tell, it's actually the longest so far, and it might become a trend to have longer volumes.
Having four characters really make each interaction that much more complex and longer. I think I made a decent job, so I'll just be glad, that it's over for now. Well, with this volume at least, the next one is already in the working.
What can I say about this? Well, I made this volume, since I think, that some aspects of traveling around are just made a bit light of, like the weather and how it's actually really annoying if you have to travel far distances in the rain. Of course, it's not all that interesting to spent a whole volume only on this, so I threw the mercenaries and the oni in.
This is also an aspect, I miss in some works: The fact that sometimes the heroes have so little information about what is going on behind the scenes, that they're more or less wondering the whole time, what is actually going on.
I went this route until the fight with the oni, so that the readers will know how unnerving that is. The way out of the situation seems to be a bit cheap, but as you don't always know the threats, you don't always know your allies. So this is what I was aiming for, you can blame me for this or maybe think: Hey, actually sometimes you just get an opportunity, that wasn't visible before.
There is a lot of Kyou in this one, but I tried to tie in all of the girls to some degree. Still, giving more insight into her just made a lot of sense, especially since she finally have some more time to accept how things turned out. Sometimes stuff just have to sink in and to give a bit of insight of her past with Kenta and how things were at earlier volumes made her more relatable, I hope.
I will dive into her 'very private matters' another time.
The Epilogues are getting longer as well, it's to blame that I want to give out information what specific people do at the time, while I want to build up for the next volume.
Next time we will be in Goldbrunn. Finally an urban setting, which will bring more insight how certain aspects of the society of the fantasy world works. Will be fun to write, I hope!
Like always, there will be a break. I'm keen to see, how much I will get done in that time. Please be patient, and we'll meet again with the next volume!
HOW TO SUPPORT THE STORY
If you like to support the story, there are several ways.
The easy ones (no to little effort put into it and you remain anonymous):
Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.
1.) Vote on TWF. It's easy, just a few clicks, no account needed, and you've got a vote, which will last one week. The higher the story is on the list, the more likely it is that more people will take a look.
2.) Like Button. Under each chapter is a like button. Use it, and the statistics are going to my favor. (If you need FB or something else, please tell me).
3.) Become a Follower/Favorite. If you aren’t following the story via the Follower-option, consider doing so. Just go to the fiction page and choose “Add to your Bookshelf” on the right side. This not only boosts my confidence, but the number of Followers and Favorites is also visible for everyone on RRL.
4.) Rate this story. If you have a RRL-Account, you can rate this story on the fiction page. The higher the rating is, the higher it is ranked, therefore making it easier for the search function to be found. There is also WLN, where you can rate this story, even without an account.
5.) Upvote and downvote reviews. You can do that on the fiction page as well, and yes, you need an RRL account. The more a review is upvoted, the higher it is on the list. The more it's downvoted, the lower it is placed. So if you like to help, upvote the positive reviews, downvote the bad ones, and give visitors to the fiction page a more positive outlook to the story.
With the new version of RRL, up-/downvoting became a bit of a hassle (because the page reloads every time), but I'd appreciate it if you do it nonetheless.
Some effort involved (and you'll lose your anonymity):
1.) Write a comment. I really like to read your comments, I'm easily pleased by praise, I'll think about actual critique which is usable, and I like to converse with my readers in general. Even if you spot a typo, everything is fine. As long as you don't write stuff like "I hate your guts," "your story is full of shit," and "I don't like your MC," this is not really helpful. I can deal with critique, but I need reasons, I need personal outlooks, I need examples why something feels wrong.
2.) Write a review. Another way to increase the rank are reviews, also made on the fiction page. They have more "weight" when determining the rank of the story. Of course, advanced reviews have more weight.
To put it into perspective a half star rating without review made me fall 10 ranks, a 2-star advanced review made me once fall about 80 ranks. So there is a lot of control here, how this story does on RRL.
Go the extra-mile
1.) Advertise the story. Be it on social media (there are also share-buttons at the end of each chapter), on other forums or fiction pages, blogs or by talking to friends, there are several ways to make this story known.
2.) Leave a review on WFG. If you have an account there, you can also make a review there. Of course, a positive one would help there.
3.) Apply as a proofreader. As a non-native, I need my PRs. And as I like to work on Volume 5 to some degree during the break to make releases more regular again, it'd be great if people would help me here.
4.) Donate on PayPal and/or Patreon. I'm still trying to figure out a satisfying resolution for my Patreon, but for mere $2 it's currently possible to read the next chapter before everyone else (still without PR though, as we're still short-handed in that department). I'm still working on an end-solution, when I have one, I'll make another announcement.
The donations will only be used for the improvement of the story.
I hope to have you again in volume 5!