Original Style

I 100% wish what you said would happen.

But I don't agree that an original style is more important than original plot, or that authors should follow your instructions.

People publish on KDP to make money. Some people publish on RR to make money, but more publish just to share their writing. I think if you spend more time on RR and don't just follow the top generic ones that everyone else does, you'll find more diverse styles there.

Telling people on KDP to publish original styles is telling them to make less money in most cases. There is a big author, one of the biggest authors in litrpg and selfpub fantasy, who is AFRAID of publishing scifi stories (maybe I should say reluctant, I don't mean it in a bad way, he is being smart) just because more readers probably like fantasy versus scifi. He has stated this multiple times on this sub.

If a big author can't even veer into scifi litrpg versus fantasy litrpg out of a fear of low sales, even with the benefit of name brand recognition, tons of fans, mailing list, social capital and so on, telling your run-of-the-mill authors to be original...I don't know. I sorely wish people would write more original styles, like you say, but I can't really tell them to do that in good conscious any more. If you are a writer yourself, I hope you think about that. It's doing a disservice to people dreaming about writing to pay the bills. It sucks as a reader, but at least writers get paid, so then you do get some unique stories if more writers can write for a living? Ugh. Maybe.

I, too, had an epiphany today while listening to some cover music videos on Youtube. Whenever there is a busking street artist or a DJ at a wedding and so on, do they play original songs? No, they make the most money and tips, draw the loudest cheers and crowds by playing known crowd pleasers. There are songs like Eminem's Lose Yourself, Gloria's I Will Survive, etc. that always draw interest, even if it's the damn same old song. Little kids. Old people. Everyone loves it. I mean, some performers do add a slight twist, but usually, people prefer the same thing. Just having someone else sing it is difference enough.

So pop (pulp) publishing is going to have the same tendencies. Everyone is writing a "cover story" based on the same popular stories. Of course, there are geniuses out there writing unique, fresh stuff, but they are either making millions or getting skipped over. I mean, how many original youtube songwriters do you know? But there are quite a few with millions of views/subscribers bringing it the money. Another Coldplay, Radioactive Dragons, whatever cover. They are killing it, becoming famous, getting their careers going versus working at Starbucks. I guess that's better than the alternative.

/r/litrpg Thread