From a young age, it seemed like everything that came out of Aleron Kongâs mouth was in the form of a question: Why is water wet? What are shadows made of? How do fish breathe underwater? These questions were most often directed at Kongâs big sister, Jill, who did her best to answer him. But even big sisters need a break sometimes.
One day, in desperate need for peace and quiet, she handed her then 5-year-old brother the first book she could find. It was a well-worn, dog-eared copy of âA Spell for Chameleon,â by Piers Anthony. It wasnât exactly kidsâ reading material, but that didnât matter. âI started reading it and I couldnât put it down. It opened up whole new worlds of imagination, adventure, and magic for me,â said Kong.
Fast-forward 30 years, Kong had graduated from Morehouse College, finished med school, and was working as an internal medicine physician at a hospital in Atlanta. Life was good. Yet something was missing. âI still felt like I needed something to balance out the sort of highly analytical side of myself,â he said.
Science-fiction fantasy books had long been his escape. One day as he scrolled through Amazon.com for his next book, he discovered a new genre: LitRPG or Literature Role Playing Game. The books combine Sci-Fi Fantasy with Kongâs other passion â video games. âIt gives you that feeling that you are playing a video game even though youâre just reading or youâre hearing it in an audiobook,â Kong said.
He devoured every book in the genre that he could find. âAnd I was bemoaning the fact that there werenât more LitRPG books and I figured Iâd give it a shot.â
Taking in his backyard view of trees and wildlife, Kong turned on some 1980s rock, sat down at his computer, and started writing. âIt was daytime, and when I finally looked up, it was nighttime, and I didnât know where the last eight hours had gone,â Kong said. He wrote his first six books in 14 months. âI was exhilarated. It was an excitement that I hadnât felt in a long time.â
Kong uploaded manuscripts for each book to Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP). âYou make a profile and upload your stuff and boom, youâre an author.â Publishing takes less than five minutes, and books appear on Kindle stores worldwide within 24 to 48 hours. Authors also keep control of their rights and set their own list prices.
âWriting these books has completely changed the trajectory of my life.â
Beyond writing his own books, Kong continues to help grow the genre. He engages his readers through social media and encourages other LitRPG fans to write their own next chapters. âAnd now youâve got countless authors publishing in the genre.â
Kong has been in the top 100 by author rank on Amazon, and named on Audibleâs best of 2018 list. His book, "The Land: Raiders," earned the âCustomer Favoriteâ title of the year.
âWriting these books has completely changed the trajectory of my life,â Kong said. âItâs letting me live a real-world fantasy where Iâm doing what I dreamed of doing when I was a child, that I always felt was completely beyond reach. I am confident in saying that Iâm the only doctor who has become a LitRPG author.â