Excited to have my debut book included in such amazing company!

If anyone is interested, my book Jake's Magical Market has 4.7 stars with 1,678 ratings and the audible has 4.8 stars with 451 ratings (I think you can get the audiobook for less if you buy the kindle version of the book).

Bingo Squares: First Person POV, New To You Author Hard Mode (this is my first book ever), Published in 2021, Cat Squasher: 500+ (774 pages strong), Self-Published, Genre Mashup (sci-fi, fantasy, system apocalypse, survival-ish, litrpg, cultivation novel, slice-of-life), First Contact (sort-of), Debut Author.

You might want to check out the "System Apocalypse" genre. It involves an apocalypse but one where some kind of system is imposed on what remains of humanity, forcing them to survive and learn classes/skills/magic/etc.

The most prominent are series like System Apocalypse (started the genre more or less), Randidly Ghosthound, Defiance of the Fall.

My own book is in that genre if you are interested as well. A slacker working at the local market ends up being one of the only survivors of the apocalypse and has to learn how to survive in a new world full of magic, monsters, dungeons, and other crazy things like that. It has a 4.7 out of 5 stars with 1376 ratings after being released about two months ago and just released on Audible as well if you like audiobooks.

Jake's Magical Market

You may be interested in my first book: Jake's Magical Market. It has over 1,300 ratings and has 4.7/5 stars and is free on Kindle Unlimited. It is also available on Audible now, narrated by the amazing Travis Baldree.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09HWX11N9

Just finished Jake's Magical Market! And, just, wow.

I'm hesitant to say too much about its plot since I think it benefits from diving in blind but here's a couple things I enjoyed about the book in general.

Jake's Magical Market

• Long - Clocking in at 773 pages, it's a hefty tome that saw me through visiting my family over Thanksgiving.
• Softer Tone - A lot of this genre is very...cutthroat? Desperate, maybe. Intense, certainly. This isn't that (mostly). As a whole I found the book to be calmer, gentler, and friendlier than other progression fantasy books I've read recently. Very pleasant palate cleanser.
• Page-Turning - Even though it's less overtly intense, I still found myself staying up late for "just one more page". The setting and systems within it are fascinating - always something more to discover.
• Thoughtful - All the characters feel fully 3D (no harem), as do the factions and their conflicts. By and large most conflict in the book is more nuanced than "bad guy bad because...bad" with some actual consideration given to motivations, which I love.

Hi everyone!

I recently published my first novel Jake's Magical Market on Kindle and Kindle Unlimited. So far I have received over 900 ratings and holding strong at 4.7/5 stars, which has been amazing to me since I originally just released the book as a passion project and wasn't sure if anyone would be interested in reading it at all.

If you want to know more, here is the link and the blurb:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09HWX11N9

Meddling gods. A magical card system. An apocalypse no one could have predicted.

Jake is working at the neighborhood market under his apartment when the world ends. He expected nuclear war, a computer virus, or even climate change burning everyone to a crisp to bring about the downfall of civilization. But cruel and arbitrary gods from another world? Who would have guessed that?

When these cruel gods shuffled Earth like a deck of cards, nothing was in the same place anymore. Monsters, dungeons, and magical items appear scattered across the globe. And suddenly, everyone has access to a new, strange magical card system that gives them magical powers.

Jake, wasting his day slacking off in the cooler, as he usually did, found himself alone in a completely new and very dangerous world. Can he learn to survive? Can he collect enough cards and create a good enough deck to fight back against the monsters that have overtaken his former home? And why are these strange people that look a lot like elves knocking on the door of the market he is hiding in and asking to buy some of his goods?

The gods may have stacked the deck against him, but Jake just might have a few cards up his sleeve that will help him survive.

Hi everyone!

I recently published my first novel Jake's Magical Market on Kindle and Kindle Unlimited. So far I have received over 800 ratings and holding strong at 4.7/5 stars, which has been amazing to me since I originally just released the book as a passion project and wasn't sure if anyone would be interested in reading it at all.

If you want to know more, here is the link and the blurb:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09HWX11N9

Meddling gods. A magical card system. An apocalypse no one could have predicted.

Jake is working at the neighborhood market under his apartment when the world ends. He expected nuclear war, a computer virus, or even climate change burning everyone to a crisp to bring about the downfall of civilization. But cruel and arbitrary gods from another world? Who would have guessed that?

When these cruel gods shuffled Earth like a deck of cards, nothing was in the same place anymore. Monsters, dungeons, and magical items appear scattered across the globe. And suddenly, everyone has access to a new, strange magical card system that gives them magical powers.

Jake, wasting his day slacking off in the cooler, as he usually did, found himself alone in a completely new and very dangerous world. Can he learn to survive? Can he collect enough cards and create a good enough deck to fight back against the monsters that have overtaken his former home? And why are these strange people that look a lot like elves knocking on the door of the market he is hiding in and asking to buy some of his goods?

The gods may have stacked the deck against him, but Jake just might have a few cards up his sleeve that will help him survive.

It's not rational, but if you're looking for some junky litRPG, I found Jake's Magical Market pretty tolerable by the standards of the genre. That means the characters only sometimes do things that make you scratch your head, and that the system is at least somewhat interesting.

The downsides here are that it's a compiled serial, and there are a couple of abrupt shifts in the direction of the story. I was kind of on board with the shifts, but if you were really liking the pre-shift section that might be an issue. For example, the eponymous magical market only factors in for a portion of the beginning. The upside is that there's a lot here, it's a very long ebook for the price.

The system here is card-based, the MC (and others) make a little deck and can swap out builds. Pretty decent, I do play some card-based RPGs like Slay the Spire and Monster Train (highly recommended) and it didn't get deep into it, but it feels a bit fresh. It later shifts to more of a cultivation system, though the card stuff doesn't totally go away. Check out if you're looking for some popcorn and you like the genre.

A lot of LitRPG has what you are looking for if you have never read anything from that genre. Here are a few portal fantasy books:

He Who Fights With Monsters Wandering Inn Beastborne Forever Fantasy Online Hero of Thera Challenger's Call Siphon Delve Worth The Candle The Dungeon Lord Series

My own book is both a System Apocalypse book and a Portal Fantasy book if you are interested: Jake's Magical Market. It involves a wide variety of sentient species/monsters as well.

My first novel Jake's Magical Market is on Kindle and Kindle Unlimited. I have posted about it here before but if anyone hasn't taken a look at it yet I would love for you to give it a shot. The responses to my book have been extremely kind and it has really encouraged me to keep writing and make as much time in my life to continue being an author as I can.

Here is the link and the blurb:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09HWX11N9

Meddling gods. A magical card system. An apocalypse no one could have predicted.

Jake is working at the neighborhood market under his apartment when the world ends. He expected nuclear war, a computer virus, or even climate change burning everyone to a crisp to bring about the downfall of civilization. But cruel and arbitrary gods from another world? Who would have guessed that?

When these cruel gods shuffled Earth like a deck of cards, nothing was in the same place anymore. Monsters, dungeons, and magical items appear scattered across the globe. And suddenly, everyone has access to a new, strange magical card system that gives them magical powers.

Jake, wasting his day slacking off in the cooler, as he usually did, found himself alone in a completely new and very dangerous world. Can he learn to survive? Can he collect enough cards and create a good enough deck to fight back against the monsters that have overtaken his former home? And why are these strange people that look a lot like elves knocking on the door of the market he is hiding in and asking to buy some of his goods?

The gods may have stacked the deck against him, but Jake just might have a few cards up his sleeve that will help him survive.

My first novel Jake's Magical Market released about two weeks ago. The response has been overwhelmingly kind and I really appreciate how many people have given it a shot since I released it. I never imagined it would reach so many people. If you haven't checked it out yet, here is the link and the blurb about it:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09HWX11N9

Meddling gods. A magical card system. An apocalypse no one could have predicted.

Jake is working at the neighborhood market under his apartment when the world ends. He expected nuclear war, a computer virus, or even climate change burning everyone to a crisp to bring about the downfall of civilization. But cruel and arbitrary gods from another world? Who would have guessed that?

When these cruel gods shuffled Earth like a deck of cards, nothing was in the same place anymore. Monsters, dungeons, and magical items appear scattered across the globe. And suddenly, everyone has access to a new, strange magical card system that gives them magical powers.

Jake, wasting his day slacking off in the cooler, as he usually did, found himself alone in a completely new and very dangerous world. Can he learn to survive? Can he collect enough cards and create a good enough deck to fight back against the monsters that have overtaken his former home? And why are these strange people that look a lot like elves knocking on the door of the market he is hiding in and asking to buy some of his goods?

The gods may have stacked the deck against him, but Jake just might have a few cards up his sleeve that will help him survive.

Hi Everyone!

This is my first novel and I am self-publishing it, so please forgive me in advance for sharing it around. I have been working full time in a high risk job all through the pandemic and writing and self-publishing has been one of the main ways I have stayed sane.

If you are interested, here is the link to my book:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09HWX11N9

It is on Kindle Unlimited if you use that service so you could check it out for free. Here is the blurb on it if you want to know more:

Meddling gods. A magical card system. An apocalypse no one could have predicted.

Jake is working at the neighborhood market under his apartment when the world ends. He expected nuclear war, a computer virus, or even climate change burning everyone to a crisp to bring about the downfall of civilization. But cruel and arbitrary gods from another world? Who would have guessed that?

When these cruel gods shuffled Earth like a deck of cards, nothing was in the same place anymore. Monsters, dungeons, and magical items appear scattered across the globe. And suddenly, everyone has access to a new, strange magical card system that gives them magical powers.

Jake, wasting his day slacking off in the cooler, as he usually did, found himself alone in a completely new and very dangerous world. Can he learn to survive? Can he collect enough cards and create a good enough deck to fight back against the monsters that have overtaken his former home? And why are these strange people that look a lot like elves knocking on the door of the market he is hiding in and asking to buy some of his goods?

The gods may have stacked the deck against him, but Jake just might have a few cards up his sleeve that will help him survive.

Thank you for taking a look. If you have any questions or thoughts I am happy to chat!

Hi r/PostApocalypse!

This is my first novel and I am self-publishing it, so please forgive me in advance for sharing it around. I hope that people here might be interested in a bit different kind of apocalypse story. If you want to check it out, here is the link to my book:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09HWX11N9

or

mybook.to/JakesMagicalMarket

It is also on Kindle Unlimited if you use that service so you could check it out for free. Here is the blurb on it if you want to know more:

Meddling gods. A magical card system. An apocalypse no one could have predicted.

Jake is working at the neighborhood market under his apartment when the world ends. He expected nuclear war, a computer virus, or even climate change burning everyone to a crisp to bring about the downfall of civilization. But cruel and arbitrary gods from another world? Who would have guessed that?

When these cruel gods shuffled Earth like a deck of cards, nothing was in the same place anymore. Monsters, dungeons, and magical items appear scattered across the globe. And suddenly, everyone has access to a new, strange magical card system that gives them magical powers.

Jake, wasting his day slacking off in the cooler, as he usually did, found himself alone in a completely new and very dangerous world. Can he learn to survive? Can he collect enough cards and create a good enough deck to fight back against the monsters that have overtaken his former home? And why are these strange people that look a lot like elves knocking on the door of the market he is hiding in and asking to buy some of his goods?

The gods may have stacked the deck against him, but Jake just might have a few cards up his sleeve that will help him survive.

Thank you for taking a look. If you have any questions or thoughts I am happy to chat!

Hi Everyone!

This is my first novel and I am self-publishing it, so please forgive me in advance for sharing it around. I am hopeful this is an ok place to post about the book since it involves a post-apocalyptic world. If you are interested, here is the link to my book:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09HWX11N9

or

mybook.to/JakesMagicalMarket

It is on Kindle Unlimited if you use that service so you could check it out for free. Here is the blurb on it if you want to know more:

Meddling gods. A magical card system. An apocalypse no one could have predicted.

Jake is working at the neighborhood market under his apartment when the world ends. He expected nuclear war, a computer virus, or even climate change burning everyone to a crisp to bring about the downfall of civilization. But cruel and arbitrary gods from another world? Who would have guessed that?

When these cruel gods shuffled Earth like a deck of cards, nothing was in the same place anymore. Monsters, dungeons, and magical items appear scattered across the globe. And suddenly, everyone has access to a new, strange magical card system that gives them magical powers.

Jake, wasting his day slacking off in the cooler, as he usually did, found himself alone in a completely new and very dangerous world. Can he learn to survive? Can he collect enough cards and create a good enough deck to fight back against the monsters that have overtaken his former home? And why are these strange people that look a lot like elves knocking on the door of the market he is hiding in and asking to buy some of his goods?

The gods may have stacked the deck against him, but Jake just might have a few cards up his sleeve that will help him survive.

Thank you for taking a look. If you have any questions or thoughts I am happy to chat!

I am a bit late on this but just launched my first book Jake's Magical Market.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09HWX11N9

Jake was working another shift at the neighborhood market under his apartment when the world ended. The only surprising thing about the world ending was that it wasn’t caused by nuclear war, some kind of computer virus, or even climate change burning everyone to a crisp. As it turns out, the world was destroyed by arbitrary and cruel gods from another world. Who would’ve guessed that one?

These cruel gods shuffled Earth up so nothing was in the same place anymore, introduced monsters and dungeons and magical items, and gave everyone access to a new, strange magical card system. Jake, wasting his day slacking off in the cooler, as he usually did, found himself alone in a completely new and very dangerous world.

Can he learn to survive? Can he collect enough cards and create a good enough deck to fight back against the monsters roaming around what is left of his small town? And why are these strange people that look a lot like elves knocking on the door of the market he is hiding in and asking to buy some of his goods?

Ones I've read and reviewed recently:

• Jake's Magical Market (review, amazon): System apocalypse LitRPG. If you think running a shop is all Jake does, think again.
• Completionist Chronicles (review, amazon): World-system LitRPG. Fun read with an interesting cast. Ignore the weird opening about Elon Musk.
• An Outcast In Another World (review, amazon, RoyalRoad): Your typical isekai LitRPG novel that only gets better as it goes on through rich characters, good humour, and a great overaching plot.
• Rogue Dungeon (review, amazon): Reincarnation fantasy LitRPG. Not Dungeon Core despite the name, but a fun dungeon-based settings.
• Oh Great! I was Reincarnated as a Farmer (review, amazon): A LitRPG isekai about (not) being a farmer and trying your hardest to game the system instead.
• The Last Physicist (review, amazon): LitRPG, isekai/portal fantasy, with a sort-of-but-not-really scientific approach to magic.
• Chaos Seeds (review, amazon): Reincarnation LitRPG that takes wish fulfillment taken to ridiculous levels and throws in as many pop-culture references as possible.
• The Dao of Magic (review, amazon): Reincarnation/cultivation novel. If you just want to read an incredibly overpowered protagonist and don't mind them sounding like a teenager off /r/iamverysmart, go for it...

My debut novel Jake's Magical Market will get you 7 + 2 hard modes with Cool Weapon, Name in the Title, Author Uses Initials (J.R. Mathews here!), Wibbly Wobbly Timey Wimey, Features Mental Health (hard mode), Self-Published, No Ifs, Ands, or Buts (hard mode).

My second novel Portal to Nova Roma will get you 8 + 3 hard modes with Historical SFF (hard mode), Book Club (hard mode - currently selected for upcoming Resident Author bookclub), Cool Weapon, Author Uses Initials, Published in 2022, Wibbly Wobbly Timey Wimey, Self-Published, and No Ifs, Ands, or Buts (hard mode).

My debut novel Jake's Magical Market will get you Cool Weapon, Name in the Title, Author Uses Initials (J.R. Mathews here!), Wibbly Wobbly Timey Wimey, Features Mental Health (hard mode), Self-Published, No Ifs, Ands, or Buts (hard mode).

My second novel Portal to Nova Roma will get you Historical SFF (hard mode), Book Club (hard mode - currently selected for upcoming Resident Author bookclub), Cool Weapon, Author Uses Initials, Published in 2022, Wibbly Wobbly Timey Wimey, Self-Published, and No Ifs, Ands, or Buts (hard mode).

Have you read Jakes Magical Market (review, amazon)?

The progression (at least in book one) is about cards, where you absorb them and each one gives you a different power. Jake starts off with a time-based card, where he can freeze time briefly, and it evolves as the book goes on. However, as the novel progresses the time-based powers become less and less of a focus, which is a shame because there are some amazing places the author could have gone with them.

Jake's Magical Market: https://www.amazon.com/Jakes-Magical-Market-J-R-Mathews-ebook/dp/B09HWX11N9

Hi r/litrpg,

I cannot express how kind and supportive everyone here has been to me since I launched my first book in October. It has been a crazy month. I have hit over 1,000 ratings on Amazon with a 4.7 out of 5 star average. Over 6 million pages have been read on Kindle Unlimited. And now I have an audiobook by none other than Travis Baldree!

Travis was completely booked when I approached him at first and I thought for sure I would have to get someone else to do the narration, but right before we selected someone he emailed me saying he had a sudden opening that just happened to be large enough to fit my book. It was super lucky timing and we jumped on it immediately!

I was able to listen to him do the narration on his discord and it was easily one of the top ten highlights of my life. I never imagined I would be able to hear such a great narrator reading the words that I wrote like that. I hope that you all will enjoy it as well.

Anyway! Here is the link to the audiobook if anyone is interested:

https://www.audible.com/pd/B09MDMD85Z

Here is the blurb for the book itself:

Meddling gods. A magical card system. An apocalypse no one could have predicted.

Jake is working at the neighborhood market under his apartment when the world ends. He expected nuclear war, a computer virus, or even climate change burning everyone to a crisp to bring about the downfall of civilization. But cruel and arbitrary gods from another world? Who would have guessed that?

When these cruel gods shuffled Earth like a deck of cards, nothing was in the same place anymore. Monsters, dungeons, and magical items appear scattered across the globe. And suddenly, everyone has access to a new, strange magical card system that gives them magical powers.

Jake, wasting his day slacking off in the cooler, as he usually did, found himself alone in a completely new and very dangerous world. Can he learn to survive? Can he collect enough cards and create a good enough deck to fight back against the monsters that have overtaken his former home? And why are these strange people that look a lot like elves knocking on the door of the market he is hiding in and asking to buy some of his goods?

The gods may have stacked the deck against him, but Jake just might have a few cards up his sleeve that will help him survive.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09HWX11N9

Thank you to everyone here that helped me launch the book. Thank you to everyone that has supported me with Amazon reviews, kind messages here on Reddit, or support on my Patreon. Thank you to the beta readers that have jumped on to help me with my other upcoming series Portal to Nova Roma (hopefully out in a couple of months!), it is really cool to have people to bounce by ideas off this time.

The litrpg/progression community has really made all the difference and I really appreciate it so much. Post here and I will send you a code until I run out. First come first serve just to try to be as fair as possible.

Thank you!

Jake's Magical Market

Hi everyone!

I recently published my first novel Jake's Magical Market by J.R. Mathews on Kindle and Kindle Unlimited. I wrote the book while working full time in a high risk public job throughout the pandemic. Writing and self-publishing it has been a big help to get me through the huge amount of stress of my job and Covid. I hope that some people might find the book interesting enough to check it out. It is free if you use Kindle Unlimited so you can try the book without having to commit to buying it if you don't want to.

So far I have received over 700 ratings and holding strong at 4.7/5 stars, which has been amazing to me since I originally just released the book as a passion project and wasn't sure if anyone would be interested in reading it at all.

If you are interested, here is the link and the blurb:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09HWX11N9

Meddling gods. A magical card system. An apocalypse no one could have predicted.

Jake is working at the neighborhood market under his apartment when the world ends. He expected nuclear war, a computer virus, or even climate change burning everyone to a crisp to bring about the downfall of civilization. But cruel and arbitrary gods from another world? Who would have guessed that?

When these cruel gods shuffled Earth like a deck of cards, nothing was in the same place anymore. Monsters, dungeons, and magical items appear scattered across the globe. And suddenly, everyone has access to a new, strange magical card system that gives them magical powers.

Jake, wasting his day slacking off in the cooler, as he usually did, found himself alone in a completely new and very dangerous world. Can he learn to survive? Can he collect enough cards and create a good enough deck to fight back against the monsters that have overtaken his former home? And why are these strange people that look a lot like elves knocking on the door of the market he is hiding in and asking to buy some of his goods?

The gods may have stacked the deck against him, but Jake just might have a few cards up his sleeve that will help him survive.

Some of the reviews of the book said this about it:

"By far one of the best books I've ever read. I found this book in the morning of a dark and stormy day. By the time I was pulled out of my reading fugue it was after midnight. This book is spectacular and it desperately needs a sequel."

And:

"I can't find a single flaw, honestly this was perfect I didn't stop reading until I finished it."

And:

"It's one thing to have an MC that breaks down occasionally but has everything handed to him and it's okay, like it is in some stories of this genre. But it's quite another when that character is able to wipe his eyes, take a deep breath, collect himself, acknowledge his feelings, move past them and motor through."

Many of the magical cards are fully illustrated. I commissioned an artist from r/starvingartists and they did some amazing work illustrating the cards for me. After some false starts I eventually found a wonderful artist to do the cover for me as well. I think it is simply magical. I hope you will look the book up on Amazon to see how gorgeous the cover turned out.

If you have any questions or thoughts I am happy to chat!

Hi everyone!

I recently published my first novel Jake's Magical Market by J.R. Mathews on Kindle and Kindle Unlimited. I wrote the book while working full time in a high risk public job throughout the pandemic. Writing and self-publishing it has been a big help to get me through the huge amount of stress of my job and Covid. I hope that some people might find the book interesting enough to check it out. It is free if you use Kindle Unlimited so you can try the book without having to commit to buying it if you don't want to.

So far I have received over 700 ratings and holding strong at 4.7/5 stars, which has been amazing to me since I originally just released the book as a passion project and wasn't sure if anyone would be interested in reading it at all.

If you are interested, here is the link and the blurb:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09HWX11N9

Meddling gods. A magical card system. An apocalypse no one could have predicted.

Jake is working at the neighborhood market under his apartment when the world ends. He expected nuclear war, a computer virus, or even climate change burning everyone to a crisp to bring about the downfall of civilization. But cruel and arbitrary gods from another world? Who would have guessed that?

When these cruel gods shuffled Earth like a deck of cards, nothing was in the same place anymore. Monsters, dungeons, and magical items appear scattered across the globe. And suddenly, everyone has access to a new, strange magical card system that gives them magical powers.

Jake, wasting his day slacking off in the cooler, as he usually did, found himself alone in a completely new and very dangerous world. Can he learn to survive? Can he collect enough cards and create a good enough deck to fight back against the monsters that have overtaken his former home? And why are these strange people that look a lot like elves knocking on the door of the market he is hiding in and asking to buy some of his goods?

The gods may have stacked the deck against him, but Jake just might have a few cards up his sleeve that will help him survive.

Some of the reviews of the book said this about it:

"By far one of the best books I've ever read. I found this book in the morning of a dark and stormy day. By the time I was pulled out of my reading fugue it was after midnight. This book is spectacular and it desperately needs a sequel."

And:

"I can't find a single flaw, honestly this was perfect I didn't stop reading until I finished it."

And:

"It's one thing to have an MC that breaks down occasionally but has everything handed to him and it's okay, like it is in some stories of this genre. But it's quite another when that character is able to wipe his eyes, take a deep breath, collect himself, acknowledge his feelings, move past them and motor through."

Many of the magical cards are fully illustrated. I commissioned an artist from r/starvingartists and they did some amazing work illustrating the cards for me. After some false starts I eventually found a wonderful artist to do the cover for me as well. I think it is simply magical. I hope you will look the book up on Amazon to see how gorgeous the cover turned out.

If you have any questions or thoughts I am happy to chat!

My first book was released recently and has over 700 ratings and holding at 4.7 out of 5 stars and it is free on Kindle Unlimited if you are interested:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09HWX11N9

Hi Everyone!

This is my first novel ever and I am self-publishing it on Kindle (and Kindle Unlimited). I wrote the book while working full time in a high risk public job all through the pandemic. Writing and self-publishing it has been a big help to get me through the huge amount of stress of my job and Covid. I hope that some people might find the book interesting enough to check it out. It is free if you use Kindle Unlimited so you can try the book without having to commit to buying it if you don't want to.

If you are interested, here is the link to my book:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09HWX11N9

Meddling gods. A magical card system. An apocalypse no one could have predicted.

Jake is working at the neighborhood market under his apartment when the world ends. He expected nuclear war, a computer virus, or even climate change burning everyone to a crisp to bring about the downfall of civilization. But cruel and arbitrary gods from another world? Who would have guessed that?

When these cruel gods shuffled Earth like a deck of cards, nothing was in the same place anymore. Monsters, dungeons, and magical items appear scattered across the globe. And suddenly, everyone has access to a new, strange magical card system that gives them magical powers.

Jake, wasting his day slacking off in the cooler, as he usually did, found himself alone in a completely new and very dangerous world. Can he learn to survive? Can he collect enough cards and create a good enough deck to fight back against the monsters that have overtaken his former home? And why are these strange people that look a lot like elves knocking on the door of the market he is hiding in and asking to buy some of his goods?

The gods may have stacked the deck against him, but Jake just might have a few cards up his sleeve that will help him survive.

Some of the reviews of the book said this about it:

"By far one of the best books I've ever read. I found this book in the morning of a dark and stormy day. By the time I was pulled out of my reading fugue it was after midnight. This book is spectacular and it desperately needs a sequel."

And:

"I can't find a single flaw, honestly this was perfect I didn't stop reading until I finished it."

And:

"It's one thing to have an MC that breaks down occasionally but has everything handed to him and it's okay, like it is in some stories of this genre. But it's quite another when that character is able to wipe his eyes, take a deep breath, collect himself, acknowledge his feelings, move past them and motor through."

Many of the magical cards are fully illustrated. I commissioned an artist from r/starvingartists and they did some amazing work. Here are a couple of the cards: Preparedness and Mend.

After some false starts I eventually found a wonderful artist to do the cover for me as well. I think it is simply magical. I give both artists a shoutout in the book or message me for more information if you are interested in their work!

If you have any questions or thoughts I am happy to chat!

Hi Everyone!

This is my first novel ever and I am self-publishing it on Kindle (and Kindle Unlimited). I wrote the book while working full time in a high risk public job all through the pandemic. Writing and self-publishing it has been a big help to get me through the huge amount of stress of my job and Covid. I hope that some people might find the book interesting enough to check it out. It is free if you use Kindle Unlimited so you can try the book without having to commit to buying it if you don't want to.

And yes, there are sci-fi themes although I don't want to reveal too much in order to avoid spoilers!

If you are interested, here is the link to my book:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09HWX11N9

Meddling gods. A magical card system. An apocalypse no one could have predicted.

Jake is working at the neighborhood market under his apartment when the world ends. He expected nuclear war, a computer virus, or even climate change burning everyone to a crisp to bring about the downfall of civilization. But cruel and arbitrary gods from another world? Who would have guessed that?

When these cruel gods shuffled Earth like a deck of cards, nothing was in the same place anymore. Monsters, dungeons, and magical items appear scattered across the globe. And suddenly, everyone has access to a new, strange magical card system that gives them magical powers.

Jake, wasting his day slacking off in the cooler, as he usually did, found himself alone in a completely new and very dangerous world. Can he learn to survive? Can he collect enough cards and create a good enough deck to fight back against the monsters that have overtaken his former home? And why are these strange people that look a lot like elves knocking on the door of the market he is hiding in and asking to buy some of his goods?

The gods may have stacked the deck against him, but Jake just might have a few cards up his sleeve that will help him survive.

Some of the reviews of the book said this about it:

"By far one of the best books I've ever read. I found this book in the morning of a dark and stormy day. By the time I was pulled out of my reading fugue it was after midnight. This book is spectacular and it desperately needs a sequel."

And:

"I can't find a single flaw, honestly this was perfect I didn't stop reading until I finished it."

And:

"It's one thing to have an MC that breaks down occasionally but has everything handed to him and it's okay, like it is in some stories of this genre. But it's quite another when that character is able to wipe his eyes, take a deep breath, collect himself, acknowledge his feelings, move past them and motor through."

Many of the magical cards are fully illustrated. I commissioned an artist from r/starvingartists and they did some amazing work. Here are a couple of the cards: Preparedness and Mend.

After some false starts I eventually found a wonderful artist to do the cover for me as well. I think it is simply magical. I give both artists a shoutout in the book or message me for more information if you are interested in their work!

If you have any questions or thoughts I am happy to chat!

Hi Everyone!

This is my first novel ever and I am self-publishing it on Kindle (and Kindle Unlimited). I wrote the book while working full time in a high risk public job all through the pandemic. Writing and self-publishing it has been a huge help to get me through the huge amount of stress of my job and Covid. I hope that some people might find the book interesting enough to check it out. It is free if you use Kindle Unlimited so you can try the book without having to commit to buying it if you don't want to.

And yes, there are sci-fi themes although I don't want to reveal too much in order to avoid spoilers!

If you are interested, here is the link to my book:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09HWX11N9

Meddling gods. A magical card system. An apocalypse no one could have predicted.

Jake is working at the neighborhood market under his apartment when the world ends. He expected nuclear war, a computer virus, or even climate change burning everyone to a crisp to bring about the downfall of civilization. But cruel and arbitrary gods from another world? Who would have guessed that?

When these cruel gods shuffled Earth like a deck of cards, nothing was in the same place anymore. Monsters, dungeons, and magical items appear scattered across the globe. And suddenly, everyone has access to a new, strange magical card system that gives them magical powers.

Jake, wasting his day slacking off in the cooler, as he usually did, found himself alone in a completely new and very dangerous world. Can he learn to survive? Can he collect enough cards and create a good enough deck to fight back against the monsters that have overtaken his former home? And why are these strange people that look a lot like elves knocking on the door of the market he is hiding in and asking to buy some of his goods?

The gods may have stacked the deck against him, but Jake just might have a few cards up his sleeve that will help him survive.

Some of the first reviews of the book said this about it:

"By far one of the best books I've ever read. I found this book in the morning of a dark and stormy day. By the time I was pulled out of my reading fugue it was after midnight. This book is spectacular and it desperately needs a sequel."

And:

"I can't find a single flaw, honestly this was perfect I didn't stop reading until I finished it."

And:

"It's one thing to have an MC that breaks down occasionally but has everything handed to him and it's okay, like it is in some stories of this genre. But it's quite another when that character is able to wipe his eyes, take a deep breath, collect himself, acknowledge his feelings, move past them and motor through."

Many of the magical cards are fully illustrated. I commissioned an artist from r/starvingartists and they did some amazing work. Here are a couple of the cards: Preparedness and Mend.

After some false starts I eventually found a wonderful artist to do the cover for me as well. I think it is simply magical. I give both artists a shoutout in the book or message me for more information if you are interested in their work!

If you have any questions or thoughts I am happy to chat!

Forgive me for plugging my own book, but I just released my first book a couple of weeks ago and part two of the novel goes to some dystopian/sci-fi places and features classic races and some not-so-classic:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09HWX11N9

My first book Jake's Magical Market is a bit of a unique take on a system apocalypse:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09HWX11N9

 

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Thank you! It is free if you are a Kindle Unlimited member!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09HWX11N9

For sure! Here you go:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09HWX11N9

Thanks for asking!

 

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Hi Everyone!

Apologies if you saw this before here on r/pics, it was removed yesterday because it had the book title and my name over the image. I have uploaded the raw image now so hopefully it can stay up and people can see how great the art is!

This is my first novel ever and I am self-publishing it on Kindle (and Kindle Unlimited) so forgive me for promoting it a bit around reddit. I hope that some people might find the book interesting enough to check it out. It is free if you use Kindle Unlimited so you can try the book without having to commit to buying it if you don't want to.

If you are interested, here is the link to my book:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09HWX11N9

Meddling gods. A magical card system. An apocalypse no one could have predicted.

Jake is working at the neighborhood market under his apartment when the world ends. He expected nuclear war, a computer virus, or even climate change burning everyone to a crisp to bring about the downfall of civilization. But cruel and arbitrary gods from another world? Who would have guessed that?

When these cruel gods shuffled Earth like a deck of cards, nothing was in the same place anymore. Monsters, dungeons, and magical items appear scattered across the globe. And suddenly, everyone has access to a new, strange magical card system that gives them magical powers.

Jake, wasting his day slacking off in the cooler, as he usually did, found himself alone in a completely new and very dangerous world. Can he learn to survive? Can he collect enough cards and create a good enough deck to fight back against the monsters that have overtaken his former home? And why are these strange people that look a lot like elves knocking on the door of the market he is hiding in and asking to buy some of his goods?

The gods may have stacked the deck against him, but Jake just might have a few cards up his sleeve that will help him survive.

Some of the first reviews of the book said this about it:

By far one of the best books I've ever read. I found this book in the morning of a dark and stormy day. By the time I was pulled out of my reading fugue it was after midnight. This book is spectacular and it desperately needs a sequel.

And:

I can't find a single flaw, honestly this was perfect I didn't stop reading until I finished it.

I swear I am not affiliated with the reviewers in any way - I didn't even have beta readers or anything - people have just been extremely kind and seem to be enjoying the book a lot.

No matter what, I hope you can enjoy the cover art. It turned out 10000x better than I could have ever imagined and I hope others will find it as magical as I do.

If you have any questions or thoughts I am happy to chat!

 

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Hi everyone!

I just self-published my very first novel this week on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited. I have been working full time in a high risk public job all through the pandemic so writing and self-publishing my first book was one of the main things that helped keep me sane.

It has received some great reviews so far and I am overwhelmed by the number of people who have purchased my book or been reading it for free on Kindle Unlimited. I hope that some people here will also enjoy it!

Here is the description:

Meddling gods. A magical card system. An apocalypse no one could have predicted.

Jake is working at the neighborhood market under his apartment when the world ends. He expected nuclear war, a computer virus, or even climate change burning everyone to a crisp to bring about the downfall of civilization. But cruel and arbitrary gods from another world? Who would have guessed that?

When these cruel gods shuffled Earth like a deck of cards, nothing was in the same place anymore. Monsters, dungeons, and magical items appear scattered across the globe. And suddenly, everyone has access to a new, strange magical card system that gives them magical powers.

Jake, wasting his day slacking off in the cooler, as he usually did, found himself alone in a completely new and very dangerous world. Can he learn to survive? Can he collect enough cards and create a good enough deck to fight back against the monsters that have overtaken his former home? And why are these strange people that look a lot like elves knocking on the door of the market he is hiding in and asking to buy some of his goods?

The gods may have stacked the deck against him, but Jake just might have a few cards up his sleeve that will help him survive.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09HWX11N9

Some of the first reviews of the book said this about it:

By far one of the best books I've ever read. I found this book in the morning of a dark and stormy day. By the time I was pulled out of my reading fugue it was after midnight. This book is spectacular and it desperately needs a sequel.

And:

I can't find a single flaw, honestly this was perfect I didn't stop reading until I finished it.

I swear I am not affiliated with the reviewers in any way - I didn't even have beta readers or anything - people have just been extremely kind and seem to be enjoying the book a lot!

Many of the magical cards are fully illustrated. I commissioned an artist from r/starvingartists and they did some amazing work. Here are a couple of the cards: Preparedness and Mend.

After some false starts I eventually found a wonderful artist to do the cover for me as well. Please take a look at it on Amazon, I think it is simply magical. I give both artists a shoutout in the book or message me for more information if you are interested in their work!

I hope you will give my book a chance. Thank you!

 

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I apologize in advance if people think this isn't the appropriate place to share this news, but I just self-published my first book and it was inspired by Magic the Gathering (which I have played since I was a young boy) so I wanted to share it here with you all.

Here is a glimpse of some of the cards that my artist and I designed: Preparedness and Mend. I didn't want to copy Magic cards, so they are distinct but I think you can see the influence of Magic the Gathering in them.

Here is the blurb of my book:

Meddling gods. A magical card system. An apocalypse no one could have predicted.

Jake is working at the neighborhood market under his apartment when the world ends. He expected nuclear war, a computer virus, or even climate change burning everyone to a crisp to bring about the downfall of civilization. But cruel and arbitrary gods from another world? Who would have guessed that?

When these cruel gods shuffled Earth like a deck of cards, nothing was in the same place anymore. Monsters, dungeons, and magical items appear scattered across the globe. And suddenly, everyone has access to a new, strange magical card system that gives them magical powers.

Jake, wasting his day slacking off in the cooler, as he usually did, found himself alone in a completely new and very dangerous world. Can he learn to survive? Can he collect enough cards and create a good enough deck to fight back against the monsters that have overtaken his former home? And why are these strange people that look a lot like elves knocking on the door of the market he is hiding in and asking to buy some of his goods?

The gods may have stacked the deck against him, but Jake just might have a few cards up his sleeve that will help him survive.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09HWX11N9

or

mybook.to/JakesMagicalMarket

It is on Kindle Unlimited as well so if you use that service so you could check it out for free.

Thanks for reading about my book and if you are interested or have any questions I will try to answer anything you are curious about!

For those curious, this was the original post: Illustration coloring process

Not sure if anyone else saw it back then, but when I did I was just finishing a second draft of my novel and knew the artist would be perfect for drawing the shop in my story.

I had already commissioned one cover artist, but ended up unhappy with that result and was looking for someone new right when I saw the reddit post above. When I reached out to this artist, he was so busy I had to wait months and, of course, pay for a second cover when I didn't exactly have a huge budget for my first self-published novel, but I think it was worth it!

Here is the artist's website: https://www.artstation.com/danieleturturici

If you are interested, here is my book (sorry for the self-promotion but want to share it if anyone is interested!):

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09HWX11N9

or

mybook.to/JakesMagicalMarket

It is on Kindle Unlimited if you use that service so you could check it out for free. Here is the blurb on it if you want to know more:

Meddling gods. A magical card system. An apocalypse no one could have predicted.

Jake is working at the neighborhood market under his apartment when the world ends. He expected nuclear war, a computer virus, or even climate change burning everyone to a crisp to bring about the downfall of civilization. But cruel and arbitrary gods from another world? Who would have guessed that?

When these cruel gods shuffled Earth like a deck of cards, nothing was in the same place anymore. Monsters, dungeons, and magical items appear scattered across the globe. And suddenly, everyone has access to a new, strange magical card system that gives them magical powers.

Jake, wasting his day slacking off in the cooler, as he usually did, found himself alone in a completely new and very dangerous world. Can he learn to survive? Can he collect enough cards and create a good enough deck to fight back against the monsters that have overtaken his former home? And why are these strange people that look a lot like elves knocking on the door of the market he is hiding in and asking to buy some of his goods?

The gods may have stacked the deck against him, but Jake just might have a few cards up his sleeve that will help him survive.

Thank you for taking a look and I hope you love the cover as much as I do!

 

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Hi everyone!

Many of you might have already seen this on r/litrpg, but I wanted to share it here as well for those that didn't see it. As I mentioned in the title, I just self-published my very first novel on Amazon and KU. I have been working full-time in a high-risk job all through the pandemic and really needed an outlet for my stress, and subbreddits like r/litrpg and r/progressionfantasy really helped me find great books and webnovels to read as well as inspired me to finally sit down and write.

Here is the blurb (slightly changed from my litrpg post thanks to a friendly author that helped me punch it up a bit):

Meddling gods. A magical card system. An apocalypse no one could have predicted.

Jake is working at the neighborhood market under his apartment when the world ends. He expected nuclear war, a computer virus, or even climate change burning everyone to a crisp to bring about the downfall of civilization. But cruel and arbitrary gods from another world? Who would have guessed that?

When these cruel gods shuffled Earth like a deck of cards, nothing was in the same place anymore. Monsters, dungeons, and magical items appear scattered across the globe. And suddenly, everyone has access to a new, strange magical card system that gives them magical powers.

Jake, wasting his day slacking off in the cooler, as he usually did, found himself alone in a completely new and very dangerous world. Can he learn to survive? Can he collect enough cards and create a good enough deck to fight back against the monsters that have overtaken his former home? And why are these strange people that look a lot like elves knocking on the door of the market he is hiding in and asking to buy some of his goods?

The gods may have stacked the deck against him, but Jake just might have a few cards up his sleeve that will help him survive.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09HWX11N9

mybook.to/JakesMagicalMarket

Is there progression?

Yes! Without going into any spoilers, if you like progression you will find it both in the building of the magical deck of cards but also the latter half of the book delves into some other forms of progression that should, hopefully, scratch that itch for you.

I also commissioned an artist from r/starvingartists to design some of the cards for me. Here is a couple of them: Preparedness and Mend. The artist really did some great work, as well as my cover artist. I give them shoutouts in the book if you are interested in their work! Of course, I learned after the fact that Amazon takes more from each sale the bigger the book is, so including images cuts into the royalties of each book, but I loved the cards so much I decided to keep them all.

If you have any questions I am happy to answer them!

 

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Hi everyone,

As I said in the title, this subreddit really inspired me to finally sit down and write my first ever novel. I have been dreaming of writing a book since I was a teenager, but never had the proper motivation before finding this genre and seeing the great people here and the authors openly discussing their work and publishing process.

I have been working full-time in a high-risk position all through the pandemic and really needed an outlet for all of my stress. Reading litrpg/progression fantasy was a big part of that, but the thrill of writing my own book was what really helped me get through it all. The book is professionally edited and available on KU so please give it a read if you are interested and leave a review!

Here is the blurb from the book:

Jake was working another shift at the neighborhood market under his apartment when the world ended. The only surprising thing about the world ending was that it wasn’t caused by nuclear war, some kind of computer virus, or even climate change burning everyone to a crisp. As it turns out, the world was destroyed by arbitrary and cruel gods from another world. Who would’ve guessed that one?

These cruel gods shuffled Earth up so nothing was in the same place anymore, introduced monsters and dungeons and magical items, and gave everyone access to a new, strange magical card system. Jake, wasting his day slacking off in the cooler, as he usually did, found himself alone in a completely new and very dangerous world.

Can he learn to survive? Can he collect enough cards and create a good enough deck to fight back against the monsters roaming around what is left of his small town? And why are these strange people that look a lot like elves knocking on the door of the market he is hiding in and asking to buy some of his goods?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09HWX11N9

[mybook.to/JakesMagicalMarket](mybook.to/JakesMagicalMarket)

I also commissioned an artist from r/starvingartists to design some of the cards for me. Here is a couple of them: Preparedness and Mend. The artist really did some great work, as well as my cover artist. I give them shoutouts in the book if you are interested in their work! Of course, I learned after the fact that Amazon takes more from each sale the bigger the book is, so including images cuts into the royalties of each book, but I loved the cards so much I decided to keep them all.

If you have any questions I am happy to answer them!