ThisWangfei
Not a fanfic. At least 20k words. Update daily.
Then you apply to edgarry using Discord. Share your Collections & Views & Word count with him.
He's busy, so it might take a while (a day or so?) before he responds.
How to get original novels featured?
ImBloo
Apply to edgarry? What does that mean?
There's a mod called edgarry on the writers' discord (link is on inkstone, the sidebar)
ImBloo I'm pretty new to this community, but the "update daily" requirement for being featured seems incredibly restrictive and would serve to exclude a lot of talented writers who hold a regular, but non-daily, posting schedule. Or, you know, prefer to put out 3 meaty chapters a week as opposed to 7+ 500 word chapters a week.
Why not make it primarily based around writing quality, update consistency, and collection adds? Then regular daily updaters would still be featured, but people who don't have the desire or ability to post daily, like myself, aren't just completely excluded from the community's primary benefits.
I dunno. Just a thought.
- Edited
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 What if I failed updating everyday. But there are times that I update more two chapter or three. Or I'm able to catch the number of days I didnt update to the chapters I add sometimes.
ImBloo I'm sorry but I can't find the link:(
AHH I found it.
- Edited
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
- Edited
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.
ThisWangfei
I'm not sure. Just ask edgarry. It's probably better if you could have at least 7 consecutive daily updates before applying, though.
ImBloo
Edgarry already accepted my friemd request. I don't know if I should ask him or not, he might very busy:'(
He's a staff afterall
ThisWangfei
It's his job to find feature-worthy novels, and it's your right to apply. Go ahead and ask.
a year later
ImBloo Why can't I found edgarry at discord?
Arkalphaze this thread is from a year ago. They're probably not even on the server anymore. Please stop Necroing threads and start your own.
Lilliny Ah sorry, I didn't notice that it was 1 year ago
Arkalphaze :smiley:
Arkalphaze I found edgarry on discord. I also posted my novel link and all metrics and asked if my story can get featured but I didn't get a reply. I thought it might take a day or two but still no response. Guess he is not on discord now?