Hello everyone,
First of all, I would like to thank you for making it this far. It has undoubtedly been a long and difficult journey, but you have remained steadfast and consistent in reading this story that I have written with so much effort and passion. I truly appreciate your support, whether it's simply reading or writing messages to share your thoughts as you read.It is out of this same appreciation that I have for my story and my constant readers that I would like to share a few things with you and give you some insight into what is going on behind the novel.
I would like to begin by informing you that, as I have stated several times before, I fully intend to continue this story to the end. But I should also mention that I plan to make some big changes and I want to explain the reasons why.
First of all, I don't think I'll be releasing any more Valkyria Squadron chapters. At least not with this title or this section, I think I will stop working exclusively on releasing new content for quite some time.
So, why this drastic measure, you might ask. Well, it's because the actual plan, what I want to do, is a relaunch of my novel. Not to start from scratch (of course I don't want to write 280 chapters again), but I want to redo the beginning of my novel and try to correct those mistakes that have unfortunately haunted me again and again over time.
I want to create a much more understandable and direct beginning, making it simpler if I can. I also wanted to change the title of the novel to something more "modern and catchy", since titles that are not directly a synopsis, like Valkyria Squadron, no longer attract the modern audience as much as titles like ""That Time I Became a Fox Slime Girl", make a new cover, align old chapters more with all the current information (some details that were previously vague, like Lisa's past being a bit ambiguous because I didn't have an exact idea of what to do now have been clarified) or some initial erroneous descriptions (The twins when they first appear have a different description from the current one, for example, being blonde. Or specially Elise, who every time she is described changes size in each chapter, at the same time that in all the images she looks bigger than what is said she is.). Finally, and most importantly, I want to completely eliminate the reviews and comments, erase everything, and make it as if they never happened in the first place.
Not because I hate you or your comments, on the contrary, there are some that I love very much, I am happy every time I post something new to see that someone commented saying something that caught their attention or if they have a theory about where the story might go next.
But I also want to explain my side of the story with everything that happened and especially what is happening now.
The truth is that Valkyria Squadron never took off and readership has consistently declined. The large number of readers the novel has is mostly due to the sheer brute force of writing 280 chapters of a single story. Obviously, I don't expect everyone who starts reading the story to stay until the end, but the decline has been quite significant lately.
And the truth is, a big factor in why I think this is happening is that Valkyria Squadron is caught in a weird loop that I don't think it can get out of unless all the reviews are somehow reset.
Let me try to explain:
The problem I have is with the reviews. My novel has an average rating of 3.6 and dropping, which, based on the comments I've received, is turning off a lot of people, maybe too many. And that has been on Scribble Hub, in other places like Royal Road it is only a 2.5, a death sentence as no one reads anything under 4.5. And while I wouldn't normally pay much attention to that, it's supposed to be a rating from the readers themselves.
The problem is that I've realized that my novel and its rating are currently in a weird loop that I don't think I can get out of unless I somehow reset the rating.
It all started in the first days of writing my novel, the illusion of being written, the initial adrenaline, the joy of knowing that there were people out there reading what was so personal to me. The problem is that English is not my first language, and the tools I was using were not the best, so those first chapters received very strong negative reviews, which I still agree with today, those chapters were a disaster, plus added to the already complicated plot of the novel made the first chapters look like a complete disaster.
Once again, I agreed with the criticism myself, so of course I tried to improve in that particular aspect. Time passed, I improved as a writer, I could organize my ideas and how to present each chapter better, the tools improved, I learned a lot more English and grammar. But I was always bothered by that rough start of my novel, so I worked tirelessly to improve those first chapters over time, during these three years that I have been writing the new chapters, I keep revising the first chapters to improve them a little more.
The real problem?
That the comments complaining about the grammar never stopped, and the negative reviews got even louder, indicating that the first few chapters were worthless garbage.
What happens is that the chapters they complain about no longer exist. New people are now reading what is essentially the 4.0 edition of the early chapters, and they are still complaining. They are still complaining about how horrible the first chapter of the whole story is, even though it is a completely different story now, even with different characters.
The only thing that has not changed over time has been the analysis of the novel and the comments of the chapters because I never deleted them. At the beginning they were more than deserved, but now after so much time and so many arrangements?
And I understood that new readers only saw the comments complaining about the grammar and they also started to complain about the grammar and how poorly written it is, without ever saying exactly what's wrong or how to fix it, they just "feel in the force" that something is wrong.
So I guess I'm stuck in that cycle right now. A new reader comes in, sees the novel with a low rating by Scribble Hub standards, maybe reads the synopsis and plans to read it. They see the reviews about the horrible grammar from people who never got past chapter 13 of 280. They read the revised 4.0 version of those chapters and then complain about the bad grammar too, leaving a negative rating because it's poorly written, not because of the story itself or sometehing else.
At first I was a conspiracy theorist. But recently I have received comments from new readers who have read a bit more and mentioned that they also believe that the comments and analyses they saw before reading it were much harsher than what actually happened, and that it put them off reading the novel in the first place because of the large amount of criticism it received from other people.
So that is a little bit of what is happening. There are also other personal reasons that I do not think it is necessary to mention as I seem to suffer from a special kind of curse to be ignored and that has haunted me all my life and work and my job.
Obviously a decision like this is quite radical and difficult. That's why I'm informing you all, to hear your opinions and see what can be done about it. I just want to be a little bit transparent with you and let you know what's going on.
Well, I guess that's it for now. I would love to hear your comments on this and give you more information later on.
Thank you all.
Patreon
I rarely comment on anything, but when I first found out about this novel some years ago (I forgot when I found this) I didn’t really care about the grammar. When I first read the description and eventually reading chapter 1 my first thought was “Ok this author clearly doesn’t speak English as a first language so I’ll give this a chance. Cause English is also not my first language.” And boy am I glad I did. I had so much fun reading and that I would always anticipate each new chapter, I was drawn to the characters, the world building, the lore. Over the years I did notice the writing improved.
As for reviews, I admit I am one of the people who would read reviews first before determining whether or not it is worth it. However, I am also the type of person wouldn’t let the reviews of another dictate whether a book, game, or movie is good or not, I give them a chance to see for myself if it is as reviews say they are, sometimes I’m surprised, other times I end up agreeing with the reviews. Though in the case of Valkyria Squadron, I never read any reviews prior to reading chapter 1 and again I never cared about the grammar, sure it got confusing at times with me having to reread it again, but in the end it never hampered down on my enjoyment and grammar wise I’ve seen worse (I subjected myself to reading an archive of infamous Harry Potter fanfiction My Immortal I don’t think I need to say anything more)
Anyways just keep doing a good job and I believe that this story will become popular. If all the people who complained about the grammar were to read this now, I bet they would change their minds now if they gave this book a second chance, and yeah I definitely agree the early chapter were a bit rough so to say, but still underneath all the rough edges is a hidden gem waiting to be discovered if they’d just give this book a chance.
Personally this book will forever be known as Valkyria Squadron, the name just stuck to me. I remember scrolling down the scribblehub feed sorting under the Action and Fantasy tags when I eventually landed upon Valkyria Squadron accompanied by the cover image (I forget which one that was) I was like “Huh this looks and sound interesting.” And from then I became invested in Valkyria Squadron. I even recommended this book to a friend of mine who immediately liked the book.
I’ve rambled on for too long, just remember Mabuhay Valkyria Squadron!
Usually, I am far too lazy to comment or even rate or favourite a novel - however I like this one so I'll force myself type something out - my experience and opinions as a reader, I hope it will offer some insight :)
I first discovered this novel roughly two years ago - filtering by highest word count - I read the summary and noted, "relatively interesting premise, decent cover art, but poor grammar and low ratings; probably some low class degenerate writing a trashy self-insert for his own consumption". Bookmarked it for "if I get really bored" and moved on. Rediscovered it half a year ago, read the glossary and was impressed by the depth of the worldbuilding and diversity of the cast but that wasn't what made me read it - I read it because the notion of a Balkan alliance going to war with the entire world was "too interesting to simply write it off".
What I found inside was, indeed, a novel with truly awful grammar, at best it was readable after considerable effort, at worst it was wholly unintelligible. But underneath all that - a truly seminal work. There are so many things I love about this novel: characters that feel real in a world that feels so real that I am convinced that the Balkans could in fact wage a war against the world. Masterfully choreographed action scenes. Clever satire like the Florin arc. The (implicit) philosophical questions posed - on the nature of power and its utility or lack thereof. But above all, the uniqueness, the unconventionality, and the passion - this is what you wanted to write about and you did, and you wrote it in your way, and it wouldn't be half of what it is if you had done things "conventionally".
But, to the meat of the matter. Ratings, a new title, a reboot?
I agree with a minimalistic reboot changing only what needs to be changed, ie. cleaning up older chapters. I agree that doing so will help with ratings - poor grammar seems to be the only disliked thing on this website. So long as you have decent grammar, you are guaranteed a 4 star or above, even if you write the most vapid, lifeless garbage. I *strongly* disagree with "modernising" the title as you call it. For one, it isn't necessary. Novels with "normal" titles are still written and are still read, keeping the title won't hurt its popularity. Two, synopsis titles are for, generally speaking, garbage novels. Valkyria Squadron is far, far above any of them - so why imitate them? Three, "Valkyria Squadron" is far more striking, more memorable - better, it has more mainstream appeal. Four - you say that a reboot would need a new title - why? It's fairly common on this website for novels to be rebooted under the same title. Five - consider, what type of readers are you looking to attract? I do not believe the sorts you will attract with a synopsis title are people who will appreciate the novel for what it is.
To summarise, I think you will see vast improvement in readership by cleaning up the early chapters. The things you need to get people to give your novel a go are a good, memorable title, a good cover, a good blurb and good ratings/reviews. Three of those four you have.
I hope that time sees this novel vindicated, whether it takes ten or twenty years or a hundred. It's really a diamond in the rough. Though, perhaps, it never shall be, simply because it's too personal, too unusual, perhaps it won't appeal to most peoples' taste. Perhaps it will. But I believe it will be appreciated by at least a small crowd once its issues are fixed. Another comment asked about 18+ scenes - my opinion? If done right they will enhance the novel, and will probably bring in more readers. But I have doubts of how they would fit into the novel in its current state. Most importantly though, is doing it right - if you aren't confident writing them, don't.
Best wishes to you and god bless you for taking the time to write this.
-HK
Thank you very much for your comment and your contribution regarding what you thought of my story. It's comments like yours that fascinate me, seeing how my work has pleased someone else and the reasons behind it.
However, as you might also notice, the negative reviews and the initial reception have undoubtedly stained the reception of my novel among new readers, and that is the main issue I aim to correct with the relaunch. I want a fresh start and for people to give my story a fairer chance instead of starting with the idea that the story is already bad before chapter 1.
As for the other changes, they are not entirely clear or fixed yet, which is why I'm announcing roughly what I have in mind to discuss it with you, the readers. I think a better beginning is necessary, at least up to chapter 21 as a minimum. The other aspects are optional, and even I am still doubting and considering options. The title, for instance, has always been the same since I originally created the story. It has always been Valkyra Squadron, and it's one I like. The problem is that the relaunch itself is at stake; I want to make a strong first impression as positive as possible, attract the greatest number of new readers possible, and hopefully get a good amount of much fairer comments and reviews on my novel. And even though it might not seem like it, a "long and silly title like an entire synopsis" really works today, which is why they are used, so I would like to use something like that at least for the first few days to "steal" a bit more new readers to get a good boost to continue the rest of the journey, I was actually thinking of a title like "The Legend of Atlantis and the Mystery of the Dragon of War".
To be honest, I don't think I'll ever be able to truly overcome the language or grammar barrier, but I want the reviews to at least reflect the immense work behind the story or characters and not just be five 2-star reviews pointing out bad grammar from people who only made it to chapter 10 out of 280.
In any case, thank you very much for your comment. I really appreciate the effort, and the simple fact that you shared your personal experience is a treasure trove of information that I will take into account in this small plan I have. Maybe my story will never be popular, maybe it will explode in popularity tomorrow, maybe the day I turn 90 years old—one never knows. But the only thing I want is to get rid of that negative perception that unjust reviews of mistakes from many years ago have on potential readers today.
the people who complain about grammar should be the ones trying to help point it out to the author especially if that author's first language is not the one you speak
so to all the people who complain you are hypocrites who dont understand you are making a great novel bad because of the rating
and I think novels around 3.0-4.0 are the better ones than the 4.5 ones because of people just inflating there own ratings
so Author don't be distraught at this you have done as well as you could
The scoring doesn't interest me personally, as I find it more intriguing to try to write a new chapter and eventually finish the story someday. However, I cannot deny that the analyses have influenced the way new readers expect the story to be. They are conditioned to look for errors or flaws that no longer exist, searching for mistakes that aren't there, or my favorite, complaints about the protagonist being too innocent, naive and childish, like a kid. Yet there are parts like the work in Africa or Elise's past, which show someone who has gone through a horrible trauma long before the dragons, and still tries to be a good person. Trying to be a good person in real life isn't childish; it's just not treating everyone like crap just because you have personal problems.
The only thing I'm trying to do is to avoid that strong bias that readers have from reviews of the beginning of the novel and from people who never got past chapter 13 out of the 280 there are.
Ohh rerelease that’s cool I’ll be impatient to reread the entire story (again) and will rerelease the entire story in one go ? Also question ! ( that has no much to do with the rerelease) will we have 18+ or something like that chapter in the future ?
I still don't have anything prepared, I'm just gathering information and deciding what to do exactly. First, I want to work on the first chapters up to chapter 21 (When Elise and Tamamo arrive in Japan), and maybe do something about the sleep problem in Aria (where the twins appear). Most likely, I'll release the chapters in sections of about 20 chapters each, I think, or maybe release one or two per day to be on the new chapters page for as long as possible.
As for the chapters +18, honestly, I have no idea either. Personally, as an author, I like to challenge myself with new things, which is why there are so many different chapters, changes of perspective or technique. Trying to write something like that is definitely new and I could give it a try. But I also don't want to set a precedent for readers to demand a +18 chapter every now and then, like with the dates of each girl. Also, with Elise living with her mother and sister in the same house, doing things.... and also Lisa.....
@RedHunter2296 yeah fair those are very good points in favor of not doing a 18+ chapter (at least for now), other question tho will valkyria squadron stay up ? (I mean will you delete the novel in favor of just keeping the new version of the novel ?)
@TheLord999
The most likely thing is that I will leave it, since I would like to leave the comments that have been appearing throughout the adventure, and also because I still have to save a lot of chapters since the most recent editions are precisely those of this page.
However, I would like the relaunch to try to pass it off as a "new" novel and avoid any kind of external influence that is not purely about the novel. Therefore, I cannot rule out stricter measures if I see that the goal of making the novel appear independent is not having the effect I hope for.