As the title suggests, the first volume of Netherworld Manor is now exclusively on Amazon Kindle and Audible. All chapters posted beyond this point are from Netherworld Manor: Volume Two, and they will contain spoilers for the first volume!
"Why should I read (or listen to) this version if I already read it on Royal Road?"
I'm glad you asked, hypothetical interlocutor!
The ebook version has gone through a fairly extensive edit, including many corrections suggested by you fine readers. Some of the changes are just boring mechanical fixes, and some material was also cut to streamline the narrative – there were a lot of plot, setting and system details that I felt were necessary to restate when they hadn't been mentioned for months of real-time during serial publication, but probably could be omitted from a collected volume. As well, there's about 15,000 words of new material, roughly three chapters' worth, which has been used to expand certain scenes and to address a variety of questions and considerations brought up by users here. The explicit scenes in particular are each about 50% longer than on the Royal Road version, and I've also tried to move more of the non-explicit material out of the explicit scenes to allow readers skipping them to enjoy those character interactions without issue.
In addition, the maps have been entirely redrawn, and there is now a map for every chapter hosted on the companion site (along with the old author notes, some character art, and other assorted extras) which I'll link in the note at the bottom since I don't seem to be able to include links in the chapter body here.
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Not just that, you can now experience the story in a whole new way by listening to the accompanying audiobook version on Audible, narrated by the highly talented Sierra Taft! She did an excellent job of accommodating all of my system message boxes and silly made-up names and random intercut dialogue in French or Latin – things that were easier for me to write than for somebody else to read out loud. At 24 hours and 37 minutes long, I would humbly suggest that it's a pretty good deal for a single Audible credit. It's Whispersync enabled as well, so if you already own the ebook version, buying it that way instead of using a credit is worth considering. (The list price, which is set by Amazon rather than by me or the publisher, is $54.99, so I would not recommend buying it outright if you don't have an Audible subscription.)
Also, if you care about that sort of thing, reading the story on Kindle or KU and leaving me a rating and/or review is a great way to let me know that you liked the story and would like me to continue writing more of it. I really do value your support!
"Why did you stub the story on Royal Road?"
The long and short of it is that Amazon's KDP Select program (the thing that allows you to offer a book on Kindle Unlimited) has an exclusivity clause, so if you want to publish a book through them, you have to take it down from everywhere else. In a perfect world, I'd happily skip KDP Select and just publish the e-book while keeping my story available here in its complete form, but for newer authors without large established audiences, KDP Select is pretty much a requirement nowdays. Roughly 85% of my total income from Netherworld Manor: Volume One so far has been from KDP Select reads.
If that situation ever changes, I would love to bring the story back here.
"I was reading on Royal Road and you took the story down before I could finish! Also, I don't have a Kindle Unlimited subscription and can't (or won't) buy the regular Kindle version."
No worries! Just send me a message here on the site and I will be happy to provide you with an epub or pdf copy of the old Royal Road version, whichever you prefer.