Could this work? Maybe a fan translator would be interested to translate a novel that has been dropped due to low popularity?

50% of the Coin Revenue to Translators
50% of the Coin Revenue to Site/Authors

Using this (super good) novel as an example
https://www.webnovel.com/book/world's-best-martial-artist_14495258805541605

436 Chapters have been translated. It has been dropped (hiatus). Fan translator start from chapter 437.

Money earn from chapter 437 will result in 50% to the fan translator. Same with chapter 438 etc...

    The fan translator is doing this for the love of the novel and helping the author.

    The novel has been dropped most likely because the revenue generate can't pay for translation cost.

    The more chapters translate, the more money will be lost. If the novel is profitable, Webnovel will never drop it.

    That's why a "FAN" translator is needed. And 50% of revenue share is the incentive to translate a novel that has been dropped.

    It's a win-win-win for fan translators, the site, the author and the reader.

    Fan translator: incentive of 50% revenue share
    Site and author: get 50% revenue share (the novel has been dropped so any extra revenue is extra revenue)
    Reader: the novel is being translated instead of dropped

    In addition, if Webnovel is worry about IP revenue sharing and whatnot (TV, movies, games etc...) the contract for this fan translator could be just revenue sharing from coin purchase only.

    There is no revenue sharing of IP sales like tv, movies, games...

    For example, chapter 437 of this fan translator generates $50 in purchase (from coins), the fan translator gets 50% of it. But if this novel is made into an English language game, the fan translator would not get a cut.

    If WN is worry about a dropped novel suddenly become very popular and generate a massive amount of money, it could put into the contract a revenue share cap. For example, a maximum of $60 per chapter to the fan translator. Though for most dropped novels, it is very doubtful to generate anywhere near $120 per chapter in revenue for that $60 cap to kick in.

    A Novel Has been Dropped most likely because:

    It cost $30-$40 to translator/edit.
    It generates $20 in revenue.

    The more chapters you translate, the more money you will lose.

    Well I do agree on how there should be an option for someone else to continue the novel rather than just leaving the translation permanently unfinished. I get it isn't profitable, but this is unfair to the readers to be stuck with MTL or nothing when someone else would be willing to translate but can't because they are busy protecting non-existent income from chapters they won't translate.

      There is purportedly a means for translators to contact Webnovel to become the official translator for the dropped novel on Webnovel.

        ssound5rs Personally I don't think it's that bad of an idea, but then there would then be manpower needed to allocate those fan translators, then they will also need to guarantee the quality of the chapters that are coming out. Additionally, not everyone uses coins to purchase the chapters, some go on other sites where the content is stolen and is free to view for everyone. Considering these three points, your idea really doesn't seem like it is going to be implemented.

            FunnyBuns

            Yes, it is not fair to paying readers.

            But good luck convincing a publisher to continue to translate/publish a novel that is not profitable.

            This isn't new to publishing. Many licensed Japanese light novels have been dropped by their English publishers due to loss. The more you translate, the more money you lose.

            With giving 50% revenue share to a FAN translator, it's a win win for everyone.

            The FAN translator is mostly doing it for love....not money.

                Maybe the FAN translators can united and form a group to do this.

                Create a Patreon for this group. Split the Patreon revenue equally among the translators by chapters translated per month.

                So the fan translators will get two sources of income:

                1) 50% Revenue Share of Coin Purchase
                2) Patreon income

                With greater income, there will be more fan translators joining in. Many licensed dropped novels will be translated again. It's a win-win-win for everyone.

                I think this a good idea, and a fair compromise.

                  KoraL how should the fan translators get in contact? What email? Discord?

                  i'm guessing email. I could be wrong though.

                  On the front page of webnovel.com, down at the bottom

                  CONTACTS
                  Translators & Editors
                  mail to recruitment@webnovel.com

                      WEBNOVEL_OFFICIAL All fan transaltors can apply for the dropped project. We can share 30%. (cuz need to share the same.amount to original author)

                      So 30% to Fan translator
                      30% to Author (same amount you mentioned)
                      40% to Site?

                      30% is not that great but it is better than nothing for a fan translator who want to support the author.

                      what about duration of revenue sharing? 5 years? 10 years? 15 years?

                      is the revenue sharing only for coin purchase? The contract should be clear to prevent dispute if the novel generate revenues from movies/games/toys/tv shows / ebooks on Amazon / print books etc...in the future. You never know. A dropped novel might catch fire one day.

                      More details from Webnovel Official would be appreciated. This news is a good thing for readers and fan translators. I'm guessing the message will spread among the translation and reader community in the near future.

                          @WEBNOVEL_OFFICIAL Can you please make this a notification or something? If we are willing to bring in Fan Translators to translate the dropped novels, it would be a wonderful idea. The prime reason readers are getting angry these days is due to the large number of translated works being dropped all of a sudden.

                          These fan translators will be able to resume the dropped work and satisfy the readers. If a notification (APP push notification) arrived as the following, it would be perfect:

                          Calling Fan-Translators~!!!
                          Feeling down that your favourite work has been dropped due to earning issues?
                          Fear not, Webnovel is also accepting Fan Translators to continue dropped projects.

                          The pay will be royalty basis, i.e. 30% of the income generated from the chapters translated.
                          Apply for the position by passing a basic test here: [Insert Test Link]. Once approved, you can begin working on it.

                          If you have further interest, you can apply to become a full-fledged translator~

                            ssound5rs Obviously it isn't new and it isn't just this type of industry that does it. Like even the NFL stops there games from broadcasting if enough tickets don't get sold(even though they make a lot of money in the form of advertising on TV anyway). Knowing it happens doesn't make it any better to stop others from enjoying it just because it doesn't make you a profit, even more so if there were fan translators before and they cancelled the fan translation when they liscensed it, like I understand stopping fan translations if you obtain the license, but you shouldn't stop them from continuing/finishing what they started if you can't finish what they started.

                                ssound5rs Obviously it isn't new and it isn't just this type of industry that does it. Like even the NFL stops there games from broadcasting if enough tickets don't get sold(even though they make a lot of money in the form of advertising on TV anyway). Knowing it happens doesn't make it any better to stop others from enjoying it just because it doesn't make you a profit, even more so if there were fan translators before and they cancelled the fan translation when they liscensed it, like I understand stopping fan translations if you obtain the license, but you shouldn't stop them from continuing/finishing what they started if you can't finish what they started.

                                    ssound5rs Obviously it isn't new and it isn't just this type of industry that does it. Like even the NFL stops there games from broadcasting if enough tickets don't get sold(even though they make a lot of money in the form of advertising on TV anyway). Knowing it happens doesn't make it any better to stop others from enjoying it just because it doesn't make you a profit, even more so if there were fan translators before and they cancelled the fan translation when they liscensed it, like I understand stopping fan translations if you obtain the license, but you shouldn't stop them from continuing/finishing what they started if you can't finish what they started.

                                        Has this news spread to other places?

                                        Do you think that some fan translators would be interested in this?

                                          FunnyBuns

                                          If fan translators want to translate a dropped licensed novel and do it legally, they can.

                                          Just email the licensed company and offer to translate it for free and that licensed company would bend over backward to accommodate that fan translator.

                                          How many fan translators actually did that? NONE or very close to NONE.

                                          But most translators nowadays are not fan translators who do it for free. It's sad but most translators nowadays are for-profit-translators.

                                          Even this 30% revenue sharing offer from Webnovel, I hope that some fan translators will take up this offer. It would be great for readers and the authors.

                                              ssound5rs Just email the licensed company and offer to translate it for free and that licensed company would bend over backward to accommodate that fan translator.

                                              I doubt that very strongly. The company needs to spend the time (and therefore money) to validate that this is a legitimate translator who will do a good job both in quality and timeliness of their translations. The company is the one that gets the complaints and damage from a bad translator.

                                              Otherwise you'll get "translators" who volunteer for a dozen novels, machine translate 50 chapters and put them up, and let the unsuspecting readers pay for however many chapters they read until they give up in disgust at the translation quality.

                                              WebNovel has demonstrated that they are willing to work with translators they trust on novels that WebNovel would otherwise abandon. I know CKtalion has kept a couple of novels alive because he/she wanted to finish translating them even though the novels weren't earning enough for WebNovel. But finding trusted fan translators seems very tough these days.

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