Matt Dinniman

Frequently asked questions

• What was Matt Dinniman doing before he wrote Dungeon Crawler Carl?

  He was selling cat art. Before the pandemic, Dinniman had built a six-figure income creating and selling cat-themed artwork to pet enthusiasts online — a commercial art career he had built over years. When the pandemic disrupted that market, he turned to serialized fiction on Royal Road.

• Where did Dungeon Crawler Carl begin?

  Dinniman originally published the series on Royal Road, a free web fiction platform where writers post chapters directly to readers without going through traditional publishers. The serial readership grew organically over time, building the audience that eventually attracted the attention of a major publisher.

• How did Dungeon Crawler Carl end up with a traditional publisher?

  Ace Books (Penguin Random House) acquired all eight books in the series in 2024, following years of self-publishing success on Royal Road. The deal came after the series had already built a large following through direct reader serialization — an increasingly common path for LitRPG and web fiction authors.

• How did Dinniman learn to write fiction?

  He credits creative writing workshops at Pima Community College, where he returned to the same class multiple times — reportedly up to seven times for one particular course. He has consistently cited the group critique format of those sessions as the most formative element of his development as a writer.

• What is the Dungeon Crawler Carl series about?

  The series follows Carl and Princess Donut — a man and his ex-girlfriend's cat — who survive Earth's destruction by an alien corporation and are forced to compete in a televised dungeon-crawl game show broadcast across the galaxy. It is a LitRPG series, meaning it incorporates videogame-style mechanics (levels, stats, loot, notifications) directly into the narrative. The tone balances dark stakes with dark humor.

• Is Matt Dinniman still writing the series?

  Yes. As of mid-2026, Dinniman continues to write and publish in the Dungeon Crawler Carl universe. He remains active on social media and maintains regular contact with his readership, consistent with the direct-to-reader approach that defined the series from its beginning on Royal Road.