Hey folks, here’s your end-of-week fantasy fiction roundup. Let’s dive into what’s been shaking up our corner of the literary world these past couple weeks.
Amazon KDP Cuts Print Royalties (Again)
Amazon dropped their print royalty rates from 60% to 50% for books under $9.99 on June 10th, and the fantasy community is scrambling. Most authors I’ know’ve spoken to are bumping their paperbacks to $11.99-$12.99 to stay at the 60% rate, which means the typical fantasy series starter just got more expensive. Not ideal when you’re trying to hook new readers with book one, but what choice do they have? Amazon giveth, and Amazon taketh away—usually the latter.
LitRPG Goes Full Send
Matt Dinniman’s “This Inevitable Ruin” (Dungeon Crawler Carl Book 7) hit #2 on the New York Times Audio Fiction list back in March, and the ripples are still spreading. Universal Studios and Seth MacFarlane are adapting the series for TV, which feels surreal to those of us who remember when LitRPG was dismissed as “not real fantasy.” Publishers Weekly just ran a feature titled “LitRPG Goes Mainstream,” and honestly, they’re not wrong. When Blackstone and Orbit are actively hunting LitRPG manuscripts, you know something fundamental has shifted.
Tor Doubles Down on Diverse Fantasy
Tor’s June lineup is worth noting: V.E. Schwab’s “Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil” (queer vampire epic spanning centuries) and Kate Elliott’s “The Witch Roads” show how traditional publishers are evolving their fantasy offerings. Meanwhile, Orbit dropped Holly Race’s “Six Wild Crowns” with a 70,000-copy first printing—that’s serious confidence in adult romantasy with sapphic themes and dragon fantasy elements. The market for diverse fantasy keeps expanding, and publishers are finally catching up to what readers actually want.
r/Fantasy Rankings Shake Things Up
Reddit’s annual Top Lists dropped some interesting shifts. Middle-earth reclaimed the #1 spot from Stormlight Archive, while First Law surged to #2—seems like completed series are having a moment. Poor Kingkiller Chronicle slid to #18, which tells you everything about reader patience with unfinished series these days. Most telling: both Dungeon Crawler Carl and The Wandering Inn cracked the top 25, proving web serials can compete with traditional publishing’s biggest names. The 2025 Fantasy Bingo explicitly accommodating LitRPG and progression fantasy is just icing on the cake.
Royal Road Keeps Growing
Royal Road’s Community Magazine Contest pulled 341 submissions—impressive growth for the platform. They’ve also bumped premium subscription prices (website premium now $3.49/$5.99), though existing subscribers stay grandfathered. The trending stories show diversification beyond traditional LitRPG into cyberpunk, time loops, and genre hybrids. It’s becoming the proving ground for what fantasy readers actually want, not what gatekeepers think they should want.
Netflix’s Narnia Gets Star Power
Greta Gerwig’s Netflix Chronicles of Narnia adaptation just added some serious firepower with Carey Mulligan joining Daniel Craig and Meryl Streep. They’re targeting a Thanksgiving 2026 IMAX release, which means Netflix is treating this like a genuine event film rather than streaming filler. Given how badly most fantasy adaptations turn out (including the earlier incarnation of this very series, starring…Daniel Craig.) I’m cautiously optimistic—Gerwig’s track record with Barbie and Little Women suggests she might actually understand the source material.
Prime Video Grabs “Powerless”
Amazon Prime Video is developing Lauren Roberts’ “Powerless” trilogy for television. If you haven’t read it, think dystopian fantasy with powers-based class systems—solid YA fantasy that could translate well to screen if they don’t water it down. After the mixed results with Wheel of Time and Rings of Power, Amazon needs some wins in the fantasy space. Here’s hoping third time’s the charm.
Publishing Consolidation Continues
The big publishers keep eating smaller ones: Simon & Schuster expanded internationally through Dutch publisher Veen Bosch & Keuning, while Hachette completed their Barnes & Noble publishing division acquisition. For authors, this means fewer but more powerful gatekeepers—though specialized imprints like Arcadia (Quercus’ SF/F relaunch) and Enchant (Entwined’s romantasy focus) are creating opportunities for genre-specific publishing. It’s a mixed bag, but at least someone’s paying attention to our corner of the market.
That’s the week that was, folks. The fantasy publishing world keeps evolving at breakneck speed—sometimes in our favor, sometimes not so much. Keep reading, keep supporting the authors doing great work, and I’ll see you next week with whatever chaos the industry throws at us next.
Stay sharp out there.
FantasyLitGuy 
Leave a comment