Sighgray that what I want to say
I feel a bit discouraged.
Whycanti and tbh it back to you again, write for money or write for readers.
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Whycanti
I feel the same way, but I'm not willing to sell my book ether lol one I want it my book and don't want to give it away to anyone, yet the other is no one really wants my book and third I know they want give me enough for me to want to give my book up to a contract. But yeah I get what you mean
It sad know I can't even go do the promotion on my story because he'll even though it's only 21 chapters they tell me I gave to do a new story even though I know some people that have 100 chapter can still put there story in those events. Makes me sad.
So yeah I know what you mean it is discouraging
Whycanti I completely agree with you.. actually it happened with one of my favourite writer ..she eventually gave up ..winding up her work very abruptly
Whycanti I completely agree..it happened with one of my favourite author..she had to finally wind up her work haphazardly
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Whycanti I don't think I heard anything about webnovel suppressing uncontracted authors but I wouldn't be surprised if they're doing so. They're a business so promoting their contracted works is obvious, but recently I'm led to believe the only way for a novel to get in the higher ranks is by signing that contract.
I've mentioned it before, but free works are handicapped in the sense that the default filter for the power rankings is contracted only works. (They have given a low blow to translators as well, considering they are also excluded by the default filter)
You will definitely have far better opportunities on the platform if you do sign the contract, and you are right in that they are a business. They have a financial incentive to promote contracted works. (But when promotion is acquired by cutting down the competition, I truly consider that foul play. It is destructive, not constructive)
As for your contract. Look at it this way, people get very touchy feely about copyright to their work in the sense of "it's mine, it's mine, it's mine". However, until it is turned into a product, it is essentially worthless. This should honestly be the least of your concern.
I would suggest reading over the contract and its terms and conditions. If you find them to be ones you can agree to, sign the contract. If you can't agree to them, don't sign it. Webnovel would definitely like you to sign it and offer you benefits for doing so, but the final decision is entirely up to you. If they will offer you a non exclusive contract, unless you are planning on publishing elsewhere, I would say sign the exclusive one. There's no point in going non exclusive just to keep copyright because "I want what's mine because it's mine".
I think the bigger concern in the "its mine" debate is how the original contract was worded so any follow up works would also 'fall victim' of the contract. Ie. You sell a book to them and want to do a sequel or another book in the same metaverse, the contract was worded that not only webnovel owned the rights to the original book but could, conceivably also then own the follow up book as well.
While this issue never came about, it was the scary wording of the contract which made people leery, much like the rumor (baseless) that original writers could have their book hijacked by the site if at any point they could not meet posting regulations. It was a silly rumor, but it DID make alot reconsider signing off their book on the fictious "what if".
How common is it to a sign contract with WN? Also, just curious. How likely is it that your book would reach a million views and thousands of collections if it is not contracted? :) I have material for at least 4-5 books, totaling around 1000+ chapters (in my mind of course) but wondering if it will ever reach that level of broad audience without contract.
Darth_Xiane You are essentially signing over your work and all it entails. Whilst there is some pause in thought when signing over all rights to it, it is still an intangible asset. Most of this doesn't even have a value at the point of contracting, and how value it will become is a joint effort between the write and company.
As for kicking you off your, now their, novel. this is one of the extreme things which shed a bad light. I hold issue with the power distribution, penalty, and right of priority within the contract, but if I am choosing to be exclusive with Webnovel and all that entails, handing over copyright isn't all that big of a deal in comparison.
The what if is one of the problems that most people held with it wasn't whether they would enforce certain clauses of the contract, but that they could.
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fantasybliss30 It's very common, especially as it gives you much better opportunities on the platform and the potential of revenue. If you write a good novel, those kinds of numbers are definitely possible. I am currently nearly at chapter 70 of my book and I have 2k collections and 600k views.
Wolfick
Wow!! Those are great numbers! Congratulations on the success!! :D
Darth_Xiane While this issue never came about, it was the scary wording of the contract which made people leery, much like the rumor (baseless) that original writers could have their book hijacked by the site if at any point they could not meet posting regulations. It was a silly rumor, but it DID make alot reconsider signing off their book on the fictious "what if".
It's not a rumor, it's written in the contracts(at least the nonexclusive one) and the problem people don't understand is that by giving them the rights you're giving them out for free. You won't get anything unless they start making money out of it which means you may never get anything from it if webnovel decides so. You can't make merch or print it, you can't sell ebooks. Some may say it's meaningless since unless it's making money then it's just sitting there, but what if one day you'd want to do something with the property? Also, the contract termination. Webnovel states several options for them to terminate the contract, but the authors don't have any of that. They state it at the very start that the contract is "irrevocable" afterall. And that's without mentioning the termination costs which are left for the authors to bear among other things.
I took a look at both the exclusive and the nonexclusive contracts (and funny enough,the exclusive one has much better terms, though they're still bad) and honestly what they offer is not worth it.
fantasybliss30 it could, as long as you keep constant updates and high quality.
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Whycanti Not all contract novels get into rankings. My contract experience here is a failure. Stupid me gave it away for free because I didn't understand the premium process clearly.
I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed and frustrated by it. That's how it is. Is my story any worse than others in the top rankings? No. I took a gamble on a chance that my target reader was on WN. Turns out they weren't.
This is something you may need to see and accept. WN might not be suited for your story. Figure out who is your target reader and research for the places that may give your story a greater chance at being read.
The chance for success is only possible if you don't give up.
Veronica8 your story didn't make it on WN and since you gave up the rights you can't take it anywhere else. That's the idea. They will take all rights for free and you receive nothing unless they earn something from it. If they don't then they can keep the rights even without paying you anything. If you look at it that way, Amazon kdp is the same except you get to keep the rights to your book and you can go sell it wherever you want.
Whycanti Exactly. Signing a contract here is a gamble. In my case, I lost my bet and the consequence is giving up my story.
Having said this, it's not all doom and gloom. Because I could see what worked. Be content that, at some point, my story was read and supported here. Everything is a step towards another opportunity or skill growth development.
It's only one story at the end of the day. I still can write and own many others.
Veronica8
So I did some digging and saw that you write gay fantasy stories. Mine is in the same genre. So I have a few questions if you do not mind: :D
1) What do you consider failure (since you said your contract experience here is a failure)?
2) Who were your target audience?
3) What do you feel would have been a better place to post your story?
Thank you! :D
Whycanti
Agreed. I am not short on content, since I know my story will be epic length wise :D. It is the regular update for a long time that I worry about. XD But thank you for the encouragement! :D