I just finished my first novella (effectively what the Japanese call a Light Novel, but using public domain art since I'm broke) and it is a tie-in to the RPG game setting I'm working on. Given the recent Ravenloft novel by WotC, which looks like hot garbage based on the cover, I have to wonder if there is a demand for this kind of stuff (Dear God, I hope so...but I'm willing to be told otherwise)? People keep throwing money at these garbage companies like WotC and Paizo, but complain endlessly on Twitter and elsewhere about DEI-infested drek. Do people REALLY want new stuff or do you think they would rather ceaselessly complain about it while simultaneously still buying it and/or not supporting up-and-coming independent creators?

You're not alone. You just need to find your audience.

Quote from: Insane Nerd Ramblings on January 15, 2025, 10:50:39 AMI just finished my first novella (effectively what the Japanese call a Light Novel, but using public domain art since I'm broke) and it is a tie-in to the RPG game setting I'm working on. Given the recent Ravenloft novel by WotC, which looks like hot garbage based on the cover, I have to wonder if there is a demand for this kind of stuff (Dear God, I hope so...but I'm willing to be told otherwise)? People keep throwing money at these garbage companies like WotC and Paizo, but complain endlessly on Twitter and elsewhere about DEI-infested drek. Do people REALLY want new stuff or do you think they would rather ceaselessly complain about it while simultaneously still buying it and/or not supporting up-and-coming independent creators?

We live in a world of over 8 billion people, most of whom are not Woke. If you're producing quality work, your market exists, somewhere. That's your quest.

Quote from: Insane Nerd Ramblings on January 15, 2025, 10:50:39 AMI just finished my first novella (effectively what the Japanese call a Light Novel, but using public domain art since I'm broke) and it is a tie-in to the RPG game setting I'm working on. Given the recent Ravenloft novel by WotC, which looks like hot garbage based on the cover, I have to wonder if there is a demand for this kind of stuff (Dear God, I hope so...but I'm willing to be told otherwise)? People keep throwing money at these garbage companies like WotC and Paizo, but complain endlessly on Twitter and elsewhere about DEI-infested drek. Do people REALLY want new stuff or do you think they would rather ceaselessly complain about it while simultaneously still buying it and/or not supporting up-and-coming independent creators?

Absolutely, it can be challenging to find new series to invest in, and people want quality content. They also want to support their fellow contemporaries. That said, appreciate who you're trying to sell to: most Western adults aren't interested in Japanese style "light novels." They want proper works of prose, regardless of the length.

I've read many BattleTech novels, and while some of them are pretty terrible, most are at least somewhat entertaining. My issues with the worst of them have nothing to do with DEI, but with dumb plots and weak (and yet often over-powered with battleship-levels of plot armor) characters.

Honestly, I never really grokked "game-related fiction" as such. I like good games, and I like good fiction ... but not for the same reasons or experience. So the notion of a fiction piece being spun off a game I enjoy only suggests to me that the fiction probably won't be what I'm looking for.

Likewise the notion of a game being spun off my favorite fiction. I'm personally really unlikely to check it out.

For an RPG world, I'd rather read lore. Something that makes me feel like I'm the one in the world discovering things, rather than reading about other people in the world doing so.

That's just me. Whether there's a "market" hellaphino.

I'd say yes.  I've heard Raymond Feist's work stemmed from his gaming experience and he's been spectacularly successful. 

Edit - just took a look to confirm.  It started as d&d game then became a home brew game, then he started to write about it.  Ref crydee.com

Quote from: Zalman on January 15, 2025, 12:06:26 PMHonestly, I never really grokked "game-related fiction" as such. I like good games, and I like good fiction ... but not for the same reasons or experience. So the notion of a fiction piece being spun off a game I enjoy only suggests to me that the fiction probably won't be what I'm looking for.

I'm the opposite.  My interest in rpgs came from reading fantasy and sf and wanting to experience what it would like to be in one of those worlds.

Quote from: Mishihari on January 15, 2025, 12:25:10 PMI'd say yes.  I've heard Raymond Feist's work stemmed from his gaming experience and he's been spectacularly successful. 

Thanks for the recommendation. I just started R.A. Salvatore's DemonWars Saga, but I'll keep this fellow's work in mind.

Quote from: Insane Nerd Ramblings on January 15, 2025, 10:50:39 AMI just finished my first novella (effectively what the Japanese call a Light Novel, but using public domain art since I'm broke) and it is a tie-in to the RPG game setting I'm working on. Given the recent Ravenloft novel by WotC, which looks like hot garbage based on the cover, I have to wonder if there is a demand for this kind of stuff (Dear God, I hope so...but I'm willing to be told otherwise)? People keep throwing money at these garbage companies like WotC and Paizo, but complain endlessly on Twitter and elsewhere about DEI-infested drek. Do people REALLY want new stuff or do you think they would rather ceaselessly complain about it while simultaneously still buying it and/or not supporting up-and-coming independent creators?

If your work is good, there's always a market for it. It's just reaching the market that's an issue. I don't think people care much about fiction based on game franchises these days, but that kind of doesn't matter for you. Since your book is based on an unpublished game world, anyone approaching it is going to do so as just another fantasy novel. Based on the Amazon best-sellers in fantasy, it looks like the trend right now is for series fiction with an emphasis on dark fantasy and/or romance elements. The light-novel format fits right in with that, so it's a question of your prose and subject matter. If that matches the style people are into these days, then you just need to work out a way of getting it in front of the buying public's eyes.

If your question is "do tabletop RPG gamers want it?", I don't think it's the right question. RPG gamers don't necessarily read RPG fiction, and game-based fiction readers aren't necessarily players. I read Dragonlance years before I ever played D&D, and I didn't even know it was a D&D series at the time. I don't think that's actually rare. Meanwhile, most anti-woke gamers probably don't even read new fiction. Just by temperament, they're going to be the kind of people who prefer to read stuff from decades ago. I'm just saying the market for your book isn't necessarily the same as the market for your game products.

Quote from: ForgottenF on January 15, 2025, 12:47:47 PMI don't think people care much about fiction based on game franchises these days

I'd like to point out this is probably because of corporate entities choosing to use their games as platforms to preach their contemporary socio-political stances. A franchise faithful to itself, free of crude allegory or signaling, would likely be embraced in multiple formats.

I think there's plenty of audience, the problem is there's a massive oversupply. With writing and distributing through the internet both digitally and print on demand being so easy, there's tons of people putting out their own flavor of writing. This is going to be be, if it hasn't already been, compounded by the fact that an effectively infinite amount of fiction writing can be created for basically free by LLM generative ai. This makes it hard to stand out against the everpresent background cacophony of content.

All that said, if your work is of quality, it can get past all that, and there are plenty of people looking to read it.