I Enrolled My 3-Book Celestic Warriors Series On KDP Select With Zero Audience and No Marketing — Here’s What I Learned From Free Reading Platforms

When I clicked “Enroll in KDP Select,” it wasn’t a brilliant marketing strategy, a financial calculation, or some galaxy-brain publishing move. It was pure curiosity. A tiny side-quest I gave myself as I described in my previous article. And honestly? After deleting my story from Royal Road because of an AI debate that exploded way faster than I ever imagined, I just wanted a reset. Something fresh. Something that felt like me again. So I pushed the button. KDP Select became my reset button for a new experience.

🔎 Starting With Nothing But Curiosity

Let’s be real: I have no fanbase. No hungry readers waiting with popcorn. No “audience hype.” No marketing budget. So why Kindle Unlimited? Because I’m not chasing results right now, I’m collecting experiences as a beginner.

💥 What Royal Road Really Taught Me as an AI-Assisted Writer

Royal Road is amazing for many things but if you use AI-assisted writing like me, prepare your mental armor. My personal lessons:If you’re not emotionally strong, avoid discussions related to AI on RR’s forums.Because — They escalate fast. It can get personal enough for the AI haters to fire Super Saiyajin boosted emotional essay beams (unfiltered version) straight at your face which definitely won’t be a heavenly experience. Once it starts, there is no rescue. The anti-AI Bankai are Yonko-tier. Honestly, the community is supportive toward creators in general, but the moment AI enters the conversation, it becomes “cheating” which I don’t believe is true. If you post AI-assisted stories on Royal Road: Disclose it honestly. Readers respect transparency. Debaters…? Not so much. Post quietly. And readers will… read quietly Don’t expect comments. And if you do get… you are lucky you are getting it for free. And definitely don’t bring AI up in the forums unless you really want to enrage the RR Gods without an emotion-insurance. Most readers lurk silently anyway… kind of like ninjas. Also, RR has a crush on very specific genres like LitRPG, progression fantasy, harem. So niche genres — anime-tokusatsu fusions like mine — won’t get much traction, even if they’re creative.

📙 Wattpad — A Place for Quiet, Slow Growth

Wattpad taught me something extremely real: Never expect readers, no matter how good your story is. But here’s the good part: Wattpad is safe for beginners. You can post raw drafts without being judged harshly, and if a reader does stumble upon your story, they might genuinely support you. Still, remember: 1. It’s extremely competitive and I MEAN it. 2. Certain genres like romance, mafia and werewolf are Wattpad’s best friends making others hard to stand out. Yeah, unfortunately the algorithm Gods don’t follow my heterogeneity principle and don’t support equality. 3. Quiet beginnings are actually helpful because they let you grow privately and gives you “Peace”🥱 like 😪One Piece… 😌 Ok, now if you really want noise, feel free to drop an article about “Advantages of AI Assistance” on Royal Road forums and escape quietly (please don’t try it, it’s fatal for mental health). Next day open your notifications(please don’t) and what you will see would be high quality unfiltered emotionally exclusive content (costing $0) to entertain you for a week. 4. Finish your story first, proofread it, then upload to Royal Road if you want. Because the Binge Gods hate waiting and desires polished writing with no insurance for no-feedbacks. 5. AI-assisted content is fine, but don’t enter contest events like the Wattys with AI words in it because they love conducting deep forensics for time pass. If they detect AI, your account may face the equivalent of a life sentence in creative prison. One more warning:❌ Avoid read-for-read or vote-for-vote systems unless your goal is to boost your stats/ you genuinely prefer this approach.They inflate numbers, not true engagement. They burn you out faster than a Royal Road AI debate. Writers should write — not negotiate non-contracted engagement deals.

📚 WebNovel — A Small Win That Felt Big

I uploaded my stand-alone novel “Bound By Light And Darkness” on WebNovel just for the experience. To my surprise, it performed better than Wattpad. I got 5 collections. To some people, that’s nothing. But to me, it meant real humans saw it and clicked that little heart-shaped button because something connected. You can also try it for yourselves because it gives exposure to a vast audience. My only advice:

⚠️ Be careful with WebNovel contracts

They limit where you can repost, and royalty terms aren’t always ideal. Their contract reputation is… let’s just say, infamous. You can Google it and see for yourself.

🚀 So Why Did I Choose KDP Select?

Simple: Experimentation. Curiosity. I wanted to see what happens when: You have zero audience You do almost no marketing You rely purely on Select’s ecosystem I enrolled my Celestic Warriors series almost a month ago, and still have like two months left. I knew exactly what I was signing: KDP Select = 90 days of exclusivity. “No sharing. No uploading elsewhere.” You might ask: Do I have an audience? No. Am I doing aggressive marketing? Also no. And yes — I know Select is not recommended for beginners without marketing or a following. So why am I doing it? Because I’m still in the beginning phase. Because 90 days is not a big loss. Because discoverability takes time anyway. Because sometimes you need to try things for the sake of learning — not earning. This whole journey is like my personal experiment. A curiosity-driven quest. When the 3 months end, I’ll create another article sharing the outcome which can be helpful for beginners. Think of it like a “challenge video,” except I’m not MrBeast. Just a new writer doing strange little experiments in the world of algorithm Gods. And honestly? I’m enjoying it.