I agree with what someone else said. Let there be SOME customization, but make a disclaimer as to why you prefer to not change much of it, which, I agree, representation does matter. I think by limiting the customization, you will find a happy medium. As others have already stated, someone will still not be happy but what matters is were YOU happy with what you created, were you true to the story YOU wanted to bring to life. Just my two cents…
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honestly, when i read stories i hardly ever customize the characters because i’m either feeling lazy or like using the author’s vision with their characters!
honestly, as an author, i’ve realized that there are a lot more people that want customization than those who don’t care about it. it’s probably so they can feel more immersed in the story, so usually letting readers name the character and change how they look is the safest route. but, since you’re the one writing the story, it’s all about you and your preference! don’t worry about readers not enjoying the story because of CC, write the story how you want to, and those who truly support you will understand and enjoy it nonetheless!
and as some people above me said, i think you should do everything you can to express that there is limited/no customization, that way you don’t get overwhelmed with messages asking when they’ll be able to customize…although this will probably happen regardless because some readers refuse to let authors write the story how they want to…
whew…i just noticed how lengthy that was! also ignore typos if you see any…i’m running off of zero sleep! 
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Do what you want you are the author and it’s completely up to you. And personally, I’m the type of reader who usually skips the customization part anyways.
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mm, that depends.
when i started my first story, i believe that i had limited CC available. but as it got more popular, i removed CC completely.
i had a couple of people be upset about that, but from what i have seen, most people don’t really seem to care.
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It’s actually fine if you don’t let me customize any characters but sometimes I prefer to have the chance to customize my MC and LI. I have no interest customizing other characters tbh haha
Now, it’s up to you.
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I definitely think some will be upset, if you don’t add CC. But in my opinion: do what you like to do. If you’re more comfortable with writing without CC, don’t include CC. As a reader I don’t mind to read a story without CC, it shows me how the author of the story wants to show me the story. (Hope you get what I mean.) For me CC is not a must.
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Depends… As long as I know why you’re not offering cc, I won’t get upset.
It does irk me a bit if I can’t read a story without changing their appearances into faces I’m familiar with. But remember: it’s not an essential part that makes it a story. You can write a story without cc and it’ll be still fine.
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People will probably be upset, they usually are, but it’s your story. If they don’t want to read it because the “character doesn’t look like me,” then that’s on them. There will be plenty of people who will appreciate what you do anyways, don’t change your story to make others happy. 
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Coming from the opposing perspective, I’m a reader who only reads stories with full CC as like others have said, it allows me to feel more immersed in the story. Just like the author, readers might have a specific character or them selves in mind who they would like to see experience the story. It’s a feeling of familiarity and comfort because usually the character design is a comfort character. I’m not saying stories with no CC are bad because I respect any author’s choice, it’s up to them after all, but I will skip a story if I open it and see that I can’t customize the MC. I don’t mind not customizing the LI more than I mind not customizing the MC. Plus some authors offer the option of keeping the original charcater’s looks and name in case some people don’t like customizing. It’s something many big authors are well known for.
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I actually used to love editing every single feature of the character
but after a while my creativity got used up so I only edit some features
If you don’t give CC then it might cost you a small amount of readers, personally I don’t mind…
but maybe there might be some features the readers may not like like the face shape and such
but since the Mc’s are important to the plot I think you should grant limited CC for the mc and li
In that way, the readers can edit the features that are not thaaaat important like face shape hairstyle etc
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First off I just wanna say that if you don’t wanna have it in your story then don’t do it, do what makes you happy not what will make readers happy because at the end of the day it’s impossible to make everyone happy 
But yeah no haha I gotta have full customization for the MC and love interest(s) or else I won’t read a story period no ifs ands or buts. I love self inserting into a story but it also helps me get emotionally invested into it since it feels like i’m actually in the story and that i’m going on that journey if that makes sense.
Of course I get insanely bummed out when I find a story that sounds really interesting (especially considering i’m picky asf so it’s rare for me to find a story I actually like 
) only to find out that it has limited or no customization for the MC and I end up having to drop it but I don’t have any anger towards that author because of it I’m bummed out for 0.5 seconds then move on and try to find something else.
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I honestly think it depends on what you want out of the story! Not including CC is shooting your self in a foot as a lot of people will leave your episodes the second it’s clear there’s no CC and it will lower your reads and retention and it can affect ranking!
If that’s not something you’re bothered by and you want everyone to see the characters the way you envisioned them, then no CC is definitely a way to go.
However, the thing is really consider is - will you even know what the characters look like in other stories? I get decent reads and barely no SS, meaning in my head everyone is the way I designed them! And even if they aren’t, that’s okay too, people will enjoy a story more if they can see themselves in it and CC is one of the things that I’d say it’s always better to offer than not!
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Whether you do or don’t is 100% up to you. Will it cost you some readers? Yes, there are die hard “CC or I won’t read” users out there.
In my opinion, if the race/appearance of your character is verbalized or their culture is represented in the story, I wouldn’t add the CC.
But, if the MCs race doesn’t really matter to the story and you want to appease those CC lovers, you could add the MC and family CC. ONLY if YOU want to. In my first story, I didn’t offer any CC and only a handful of people fan-mailed me asking if I was going to add it. That story currently has 19k reads.
You do not have to have CC. I personally like seeing characters as the writer sees them and rarely change anything even when CC is offered.
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I almost never do the CC unless the LI is goofy looking.
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yes, people will complain about it. it’s your story and your characters so it’s up to you if you want to include CC. you can also do limited CC to keep peoples orignal ethnicity intact.
people will read it if they like the story and characters.
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I finally posted the first 3 eps of my story. I decided to make the MC customizable and the love interests not. I figured there are 3 of them so i’ll be able to keep my original vision and the reader will a few options. (:
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Haha! I feel that. I have 2 male LI and 1 female LI, but they’re not customizable. I just hope whoever reads will at least fall in love with 1 of them (:
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I decided to make the MC and the brother of the MC customizable. However, the LI are not. There are 3 LI though so hopefully the reader will like at least one of them haha.
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Good luck 
A little side note: try to give each love interest a fair chance? As authors we tend to love one or two characters above all the others and kind of maneuver the readers toward the people we would choose-- and that might not be who they want. I’ve seen a lot of posts about how it annoys readers when they don’t get to really choose their LI.
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I actually made it so the readers choices affect who they end up with. So they have complete autonomy over who they end up with. I’m not gonna push my favorite love interest like they did with Alec in “it starts with a bra” haha.
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