Webnovel.Forum

I've started a novel for a month now and I kind of got curious how did the original novels got featured? Cauz' it'll boost your novel exposure and have more readers. I noticed that there are some books that only have 20 chapters but they already got featured.

Clowniac
That's the rule of the game. It's decided by researching the reading habit of Webnovel's customer base. Most readers here prefer novels with daily updates, engaging plot and are not too picky about writing quality. Webnovel's business model relies on this type of readers, so they favor novels that are likely to attract their attention.

I'm sure you and other talented writers would prefer a "fairer" system. But it takes a lot more effort to maintain (for example, who gets to decide which novel is of "higher quality?" There's no literary judges here in WN). Remember, WN is running a business, not trying to search for future J. K. Rowlings.

If you've picked this place (instead of, say, Royal Road) to show your work, you need to put aside your preferences and play by its rule to get noticed. Of course, you could still stick to your own schedule and build up your reader base slowly. But don't expect the rules to be changed to accommodate you.

P.S: Take a look at the top 3 novels in the translation ranking. On average, each week, each of them has 14 chapters released, or 2 chapters per DAY. FMHM is even more insane, 3 chaps per day (the chaps are incredibly short, but that's beside the point). Still, people are crazy about them. That's the way it is.

ImBloo

Hey Bloo! Thanks for the reply. I apologize if my original statement read as critical or whiny. That certainly wasn't the intent. =D

I work as an executive-level manager, so the economics of the whole thing make sense- WN makes its money through SS purchases, and SS are spent to unlock new chapters of promoted or premium stories. A story with multiple new chapters a day, each behind a paywall, would naturally incentivize a hell of a lot more spending than a few chapters a week, even if the constantly updated stories are pretty, well, awful. If you generate a rapid stream of money for the company through constant releases, the actual quality of the product doesn't matter so much because both the company and the author are making money. It's 30's pulp magazines on the internet. I get it. It makes perfect sense, and I'm not in the slightest bothered by it. I'd push for the same exact thing if that's what the quant data showed me.

My only real question was if it was ever an exception based on other factors besides production volume. And if not yet, what one would have to achieve to prove the economic benefits of occasionally making such exceptions to the company?

I know for myself that rifling through hundreds of pretty terrible novels to find something decent on this site is a chore, even including the top ranking books. Having a novel promoted to me by "Editor's Choice" or "WN Masterworks" or something specifically because it supposedly places quality over quantity, even if it was one suggested book a month, and the entire book was premium after the first chapter, would be a far greater incentive to for me (and I imagine more than a few people like me) to pay for access and give my money to the company. I can imagine the amount of people who care about quality on this site is probably not huge, but it's also money that I speculate probably remains untapped.

Either way, I'm still gonna write here!

If it takes years to develop a following because it's impossible to be promoted, I'm not sweating it much. I've already been published irl. Writing here is as frivolous a hobby as I can make it, hence why I'm not using my actual name. I'm here for the community and the ability to be in on the creative ground floor, so to speak, not for money or attention.

Either way, I hope you're having a lovely day!

P.S- Thanks for removing the quotes around "talented" in your reply. It doesn't feel snarky and condescending now XP

Clowniac
Ha. The snark factor of my reply might have been a bit higher than intended. Sorry about that.

About the (hypothetical) group of readers who are willing to pay for quality works, I guess it does exist. But how big it is or whether it is profitable to cater to this type of readers are way beyond me. I guess you can write a post and tag the moderators, or use some feedback function to bring it to QI's attention.

Also, if your work is contracted, you'll be promoted on the front page from time to time regardless of update frequency.