This book began on November 1, 2020, and was completed on February 14, 2023. It ran for over 4.5 million words, and as of this morning, its average subscriptions stood at 2,023.
When I first started writing this book, I was only hoping to scrape together a living. I would have been satisfied if the average subscriptions exceeded 500 and I could live on the bare minimum for the long term.
If the average subscriptions passed 2,000, that was already a pleasant surprise beyond my wildest expectations.
For achieving these results, I have to thank all of you readers for your support.
This book had many problems as well. It was my first time writing a book, and I was completely feeling my way across the river by touching the stones.
Before I began writing, I had no idea how much preparation went into writing a book. The outline I prepared beforehand was extremely rough.
There was only a general storyline, along with simple character and faction settings.
Only after I truly began writing did I realize how underprepared I was. There were especially many settings that needed fleshing out, and a moment of carelessness could lead to contradictions.
The various side plots were also insufficiently prepared. I could only write wherever my thoughts took me.
There were often times when I had finished one plotline but had no idea how to unfold the next one.
At times like that, I would hastily come up with a small plotline to serve as a transition. Such small plotlines inevitably had loopholes.
I also had serious flaws in controlling the pacing. Sometimes it was far too rushed, and sometimes it dragged on terribly.
Many readers said I was padding the word count. It was not that I deliberately wanted to pad it; I truly did not know how to control the pacing.
Before every major plotline, I knew what prerequisite developments were needed, but bringing out those prerequisite developments required further groundwork.
Many times, the main storyline had already advanced to the next major plotline, while the prerequisite developments and groundwork had not yet been completed, so I could only drag things out for a few more chapters.
The main reason was my lack of writing ability. To properly lay out all that groundwork required too much space, making it no different from padding.
As for the main storyline, I failed to strike a balance between the Lineage and the individual. The entire main plot swayed back and forth between the Lineage-fiction route and the lone-wanderer route.
Readers who liked Lineage fiction found it uncomfortable to read, and readers who liked lone-wanderer stories found it uncomfortable as well.
As for character portrayals, they were overly stereotyped.
In terms of language and actions, I failed to bring out each person's distinctive traits.
The female lead was a major failure. Readers criticized her quite a lot, and many of those comments made good points, so I will not belabor them here.
The protagonist's setup also had major problems. I wrote him as too omnipotent, able to handle everything himself, leaving the other supporting characters, including the female lead, with little room to shine.
If I forcibly gave the supporting characters opportunities, the protagonist would only seem too foolish.
The failures of the other characters were also influenced by the flaws in the protagonist's setup.
For this book to have reached this level, I can say that I did my best. It was simply that my ability was insufficient, and it was not written very well.
Some people advised me to abandon the book midway through, but I wanted to make a proper living from this, and I did not want to enter the palace and damage my reputation, so I kept persevering.
Being able to write a book through to completion, even if it was not written very well, still brought me quite a few gains.
I have also absorbed many lessons and experiences, and I will strive to write the next book a little better.
I had originally planned to release the new book during the first lunar month, and the outline was already prepared.
After the editor looked at it, they said it did not quite fit the current market trends and needed revisions.
I write books to scrape together a living too, so I do not dare go against the market.
After this book was completed, I first needed to revise the new book's outline. It would take some time before I could release it, and I hope all of you readers will come support it then.
See you again in the new book, everyone.