How to write like a Pirate, Get readers, and other inspirational crap

Know you Audience. Covers, Tags, and Descriptions.

Tags are your best friends. When someone goes into the search bar they can search up tags very easily. And with the new 抖阴社区 Tag ranking system you can gauge how good your story is among the current best. For example: My story 'Foxtails' floats around the top rankings of #harem a lot and has maintained the #1 spot on and off with a lot of frequency. The Pearly Tales series stay in the upper rankings of #videogame. I don't pay as much attention to the rankings, but I do pat myself on the back when I can see my success.

The first point I want to make is that you shouldn't write a book that will be at the top of some ranking, you're setting yourself up for failure emotionally. As mentioned before, have fun and let these things supplement your fun not define it.

Moving on to advice about tags, you want to have a mix of general, specific, and creative tags.

General Tags are vague and fill a large role in the chances of your story being found. These are ones like #fantasy #adventure #mystery and stuff like that. Basically, just restating your main genre with the subgenres.

Specific Tags are where things get more complicated. These give more information about themes inside your book. You can get creative and use this chance to help sell your story to the right readers, but be careful to avoid tagging-taboos and things that can scare away potential readers. Some tags are risker than other and some I feel are absolutely required.

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Tags you absolutely need.

Okay I'm going to say this again because I feel that it should be emphasized, these tags are the ones that declare the Niche subcategories you are filling. #Harem #Yaoi #Yuri #BL #GL #smut #tragedy #fanfiction #Sports #xreader #insert #Sample #dropped #sequel #Book2(or whatever it is) #shortstory #stronglanguage #disturbingthemes #completed #rape #bullying. This is just a small list, but it should help you get the idea. The biggest and most important reason for tagging is, once again, to get book into the right hands. The second if somewhat counterintuitive but just as important reason is to keep your book out of the wrong hands.

The wrong hands are the hands of the innocent, people you can scar, and haters just to name a few. These are the kind of tags you absolutely need. The more tags you have the better chances you have to move up in the rankings and be found. And now for my rant.

Rant Brackets [Make sure before you start a book that you check the tags, this will help you find exactly what you are looking for and avoid things you don't want to read. For the love of all things holy and stupid alike, I am so sick of people reading Foxtails and being surprised and angry that it is a Harem. My god, why are you angry at me that it's a harem when it's clearly in the tags among other ways? If you walk into a book and get a dozen chapters in and are surprised that the main character has multiple girls hanging off their arms, or the two main guys kiss, or you walk right into the throbbing description of someone's undercarriage then that's your fault not the author's. Screw you. Yes, there are a lot of things I think are gross too, but I read the tags. If the Author sets out to write "X" Genre book, and they label it as "X" Genre, the last thing you should do is criticize the author for writing "X" genre book, when you thought it was something else and missed the memo walking into it. Foxtails is a harem story from conception, it is not "a good fantasy book except for the harem", it is a "harem book with good fantasy elements". I set out to write a better Harem story without relying on the tired age-old overplayed tropes. I didn't write a fantasy-adventure novel and then just throw girls at the main character because I'm a perv. I took a chance to put my own spin on something and revolutionize it in my own way. Don't spit in my face because your incompetence prevented you from utilizing the resources in front of you. I know what I'm doing, I have a plan. I won't give up or change things because you don't like it. I'm the Captain, this is my ship, this is my adventure, yes, I take risks, yes, not everything comes off the way I want or is 100% successful, but I'm pursuing my life's adventure. If you have a problem with any of this then walk the plank or I'll push you off with the swift heel of my boot. I'm a pirate, by definition, I'll be hated for standing at the helm. I've taken my fair share of bullets at sea, and I'm not about to let anyone stop me.]

Tags to avoid

You've made it past the rant. So there are things that you should avoid. First is getting too complicated with your tags. But other tags carry a lot of weight so be careful how you use them. Here are a few and why:

Tragedy. Keep in mind that a "tragic background" is fundamentally different from a "tragedy". A tragic background is someone suffered trauma before and/or into the events of the story. A Tragedy is a theme that overtones your story. Look no further than Shakespeare and the Greeks for what a classic tragedy is. Romeo and Juliet is an easy example; romantic story, drama, star crossed lovers, they both die at the end. For the Greeks, look no further than Hercules. Hero, Demi-god, did twelve impossible trials, and in a mad rage induced by the gods he killed his wife and children. So keep in mind that tragedy has a lot of meanings but it has a long of weight that basically means "bad ending" or a giant plot dependent tragedy (Like a the burning of Joan of Arc, Cancer victim, overcoming grief, succumbing to grief, terrorism). If your character only has a tragic background, but the rest of the book isn't steeped in it then don't falsely advertise yourself. You may scare away people who would have really enjoyed your book. And vice versa, someone looking for a dark tragedy may not enjoy a tragic-background protagonist but only good things happen in the story.

Taboo. Here is a tag you should use but not misuse. Know what the taboos are, I don't want to give a comprehensive list but keep in mind that they are ideas that aren't generally accepted by the common sense of our society: Incest, pedophilia, bestiality, Cannibalism, torture. You know what you are writing. But be careful as you should label your story if you have these themes. But if you create a religion in the text and they do something 'taboo' like dance(Footloose idea), then labeling it as taboo may not be the right move since 'Taboo' implies something stronger than that.

Smut/Lemon. We all know these are out there so listen up. You must understand what these are. Having sex in a book does not constitute smut, although Lemon implies there is description of sex to a detailed degree beyond a "fade to black". Smut is a story where sexual intercourse is the primary theme of the book. Smuts are usually One-shots, and most smuts oversaturating 抖阴社区 aren't quality since they are written by melodramatic pubescent teenagers, but whatever floats you boat, I guess. Most Smuts aren't quality by definition, since they obviously declare they are trading quality of story for sex. Don't expect to win any awards with smut unless you get a good publicist (the only real reason Fifty Shades of Grey made it passed the fanfiction stage of its development, in my opinion anyway).

Crossdressing. Here is another warning for being careful. There are Crossdressers, traps, reverse traps, drag queens, and disguises. Just make sure that you quantify what you mean. There are many forms of dressing in the opposite gender's clothing. Make sure you understand because there are different mentalities and they play a bigger role in attracting and putting off your audience.

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Creative tags

Here is your chance to sell yourself in your own way. these are tags like the ship names of fanfiction characters, teasers, and just whatever you want. Be sparing with these kinds of tags since you should focus on selling your story and being found by potential readers. But a cheap laugh or witty tag after the main ones may lure a reader or two in.