Acutelittletrap If you are not reading anyone's stories, then obviously you don't have to pay for them. Duh. I don't even know what you're trying to do here.
No one is asking to get paid just because they write. All I did was point out that if you read someone's story, you should pay that person because he put in the hours and work to write that story for you to read. Obviously, when I'm talking about payment, I'm talking about readers who have actually read the story, who should pay for the writers for writing the stories that they read. That is a service writers provided. If readers consume a story for entertainment, they should pay for it. Otherwise, why should he spend hours writing a story for the reader's entertainment or enjoyment if he gets absolutely nothing in return? He might as well spend his time doing other things then, maybe watch anime or read manga, or hang out with friends. But no, he chose to write so that these readers have something to read for entertainment. But then now you come in with this weird claim that you're not reading the story. Wtf? If you're not reading his story, if you're not paying to buy his story, why are you complaining that he is getting paid by other people who buy his story? Like, seriously? What exactly is the point you're making now?
This is not about people getting paid? Then what exactly are you even whining about now? No one, and I repeat, NO ONE is forcing you to buy and read something you don't want to read. If you don't spend any of it here because the product sucks, that's your prerogerative. Has anyone forced you to buy anything you don't want to read? I don't see anyone saying that you must pay writers even if you don't read their stories. No one is telling you how to spend your money.
You're the one coming here and saying writers should not be paid. And now you're backtracking and claiming that you are not saying that, and make up some weird argument about having the right to spend your money however you please, and that you have the right to not spend money here and not read here. No one ever said otherwise.
Harry Potter, by the way, has been out for over 10 years. 12, actually, since the last book first came out. And do you know how much they cost back then? The first three books cost about $15, and the next four books cost about $30 each. The first three books were about 300+ pages each, and the next four books were about 600+ pages each. And they cost $15 and $30 when they first came out. Of course they are sold cheaper now, they have been in circulation for 10 years. How many of the stories on Webnovel are older than 10 years? And they are sold less than half the price of Harry Potter novels when they first came out. Yeah, Harry Potter books are professionally edited, but that's why they cost twice the amount of novels here when they first come out (for the same length).
Fair to the consumer? You're paying much less for amateur webnovels than you are for standard new novels, and that's because of quality, etc. I can point to you other examples. Black Library, which publishes Warhammer 40,000 novels, sell eBooks from between $12 to $18, depending on the length. For the same length you can buy lower quality webnovels here, for about $6-$8. Yeah, they suck. They are unedited. But you get what you pay for, and they cost like half of professional stories out there.
Also, "unfinished" is such a deceptive term. Most professional stories are not "finished" either. You buy them when their volumes come out. When Harry Potter book 6 came out, people had to wait 2 years for book 7. No one knew for certain how long Rowling would take to come out, but was she obligated to write book 7? No. What about Martin and the Game of Thrones? Just because you want the next book doesn't mean Martin is obligated to write it and sell it as soon as possible. Here's an article on entitled fans demanding for a sequel to "unfinished" stories: http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2009/05/entitlement-issues.html
What are you paying for, then? You are paying for the chapters and volumes already in existence. It doesn't matter if it's an amateur or professional writer - you don't buy a novel just because you think there's a guaranteed sequel. People didn't buy book 5 or 6 of Harry Potter and then complained about it being unfinished. They patiently waited for Rowling to write book 7. Similarly, if you buy 100 chapters, you are paying for those 100 chapters. You are not paying for 200 chapters. You have to wait for 101-200 to be written and published. You are paying 20 cents today for a chapter that just came out today, and your 20 cents does not include whatever chapter that may or may not come out tomorrow. If you don't like the uncertainty, then you don't have to buy the stories, which are already cheaper when you compare it to new professional stories (about less than half the price). No one is forcing you to buy them.
So I honestly have no idea what exactly you are whining about now, if you claim that you are not against writers being paid. They do a terrible job, yes. Their stories run the risk of being unfinished, yes. They are being paid way less than professional writers (amateur writers get paid 20 cents for every 200 words, as opposed to professional writers who earn $1 per word). Obviously. No one is protesting against that. You can choose not to buy and read their stories, which...is what you are doing. So...what exactly are you whining about? That these writers are being paid for writing terrible and unfinished stories, and you want them to not get paid?
