Webnovel.Forum

Minapyon Suggestions:
1. Option to exclude certain tags or themes in our interests. This ensures I don't get annoying popups with stories I don't like every single time I log in.
2. Rankings based on genres (with option to exclude tags). So I can easily browse horror and fantasy stories that don't follow system or cultivation tropes.
3. More promotions for stories not with system tropes please.

To add to this, there's a reading site for published books (The StoryGraph) that uses this exact system. When you sign up, you pick your favorite genres / tags, as well as the ones that you never want to see. It has offered me the most accurate recommendations out of any other site I have ever used and it has led me to buying more new books than any other one trying to shove popular things I'm not interested in down my throat (looking at you, Amazon). It would also solve a problem for anyone wanting to read books in both Male and Female leading genres; they wouldn't have to keep switching it in their preferences.

Changing the search system to implement this would also be beneficial.

I've been talking to a lot of people outside of Webnovel while self-promoting and a lot of them have told me the same thing: that they stopped using the site because it only promotes things they're not interested in and the search system doesn't help in finding them, other. Having something like this in our account settings would help a lot with calling a wider public to the website and so would improving the search system.

A lot has been said about the Premium and Privilege prices of chapters on these forums, mostly from the readers’ side. As an author about to go Premium and who had to sit down and figure out prices for Privilege as well, I combed through a lot of threads, to see what everyone had to say. I also had a look at writers’ discussions over on Discord, to balance out both sides. I put both of those together with my knowledge of how things work in traditional and indie publishing and, so, here are my thoughts on chapter pricings, broken down with all the math of how much coins are worth, etc, to back it up.

First, I want to preface this by saying that I’m well aware that the value of money varies greatly according to country and personal circumstances. For a US or UK reader working in IT or a medical field, spending 15$ on coins every month is nothing, it’s mere pocket change. For a reader in Eastern Europe, working as a teacher, that amount is worth much, much more and might be the difference between whether they’re able to pay the bills at the end of the month or not. It’s the same for authors. An author living in Germany or the Netherlands will need to make a lot more money per month to support themselves than an author in the Philippines or India. I would like everyone to keep in mind that their experiences aren’t universal when discussing the topic and to show a little empathy, both for readers and authors.

Onwards to the math, then.

Each coin costs 0.0125$ and readers pay 1 coin for each 200 words. That means that a 1000 word Premium chapter costs 5 coins; 50k words, which is the size of a regular light novel, will cost you about 3$ to unlock. The author receives about 1.3$, after Webnovel takes their share and deducts all the necessary fees.

Are these prices fair?

An argument that I’ve seen thrown around a lot is that you can get novel volumes for cheaper on Amazon. What this argument doesn’t take into consideration is that a) authors are paid 70% of royalties on Amazon, as opposed to the slightly-less-than-50% on Webnovel, so they’re able to price them slightly lower and still make the same and b) Amazon prices are always, with only the exception of big name authors like Stephen King, etc, too low. Indie authors publishing on Kindle are forced to price their books at 1.99$ or less by Amazon itself to be competitive and a lot of them end up not being able to support themselves. It’s yet another classic case of Amazon exploitation that barely gets talked about outside of author circles and, even then, authors bend because there aren’t that many markets available. So, keep that in mind when you do your math. In my opinion, 3$ for 50k is more than fair, both for the author and the reader. (And, for reference, I live in Southern Europe, where minimum wage is about 700$ and the vast majority of people make about that or little more; 1k is considered a GOOD wage, here.)

What about Privilege prices?

Now, this is where things get dicey, for me. Privilege is a completely optional, only-pay-if-you-can system mostly aimed at whales. However, I also understand that every reader wants to read ahead. For the author, there are two strategies: a) price Privilege chapters higher and you’ll need less people to unlock them to make enough to support yourself or b) price them lower and divide the cost of your salary between a larger number of people. The thing is that, statistically, plan A is much more likely to work, as it needs less people than plan B. Pricing chapters lower does not guarantee that enough people will buy them (either because they can’t or because they don’t want to-- we all know that entitled readers who think they should be able to read everything for free exist, let’s not pretend they don’t), thus putting the author in a position where they’re not making enough. In an ideal world, plan B would be more feasible, the author’s work would be available to more people and the author would still be able to support themselves.

Personally, I want to believe we can live in a world where plan B is the best and most common option. Us authors can’t really do much about Premium prices and, like I said, I think they’re fair the way they are. Again, I understand that not everyone’s circumstances are the same and not everyone is able to pay and, more often than not, people who don’t possess the disposable income to use on entertainment are the ones who need it the most. So, it’s up to the people who can pay to do it, thus allowing the author to continue writing and marking their Privilege chapters at non exorbitant prices, so more people can enjoy them. It’s an effort that has to go both ways for this to work.

Having said all this, I understand that greed and capitalism and fear of not being able to pay the bills (both for authors and readers) are all very real problems that will always get in the way of changing things. I’ll be doing my part and hoping it works out.

Hi, everyone! Like the title says, I've created a Discord for fans of Epic / High and / or Medieval Fantasy with dark or horror undertones!

If you'd like to join us, the link is here: https://discord.gg/evsNKVt

Added the Discord invite link to the first post, but here it is again: https://discord.gg/evsNKVt

DonDenis Not a problem, you're still free to join!

sammielane448 That's ok! Mine is more gothic / victorian, as well, you're still welcome!

Book_Keeper Okok, thank you! Here it is, it's just this one: https://www.webnovel.com/book/at-the-end-of-the-world_20555891206642905

Zion_Novel It's on inkstone, under "Assistants", on the left side bar!

Brass_Badger Hi! It's because the star is supposed to be a #, I changed it so bots won't catch on to it and start spamming me. :P

Hey, BK!! I moved here from RR / Tapas, recently, should I apply again, since I'm going to stop posting to those other places?

SrtaA Readers only catch what floats on top.

Yeah, it seems that way, from what I've been seeing. I have no idea where else I could go, though. RoyalRoad is awful, Tapas gatekeeps their Premium series and only accepts very specific genres and tropes, as well, Moonquill has no reader base and Vella is for US authors only, for now.

EternalNightLotus I've seen the non-exclusive contract and, while I haven't seen the exclusive one, yet, I'm pretty sure it's not entirely the same. But, either way, when I was offered the contract, I was told that with the non-exclusive one, I would have to market my novel by myself. Which wasn't surprising, as all webnovel platforms are like that, they push their exclusives far more than their non-exclusives.

EternalNightLotus I agree about building an audience, but the thing is: the exclusive contract will put you on the front page, etc, while the non-exclusive will give you no visibility.

@val_the_mysterious @Samantha_R_Samuel @kuhaku_sora

Hey, I had to make a new listing for my novel due to some problems with the old one, would you mind copy pasting your reviews onto the new one? Thanks in advance!

Old Version: https://www.webnovel.com/book/at-the-end-of-the-world-%5Bold%5D_19692201506098505

New Version: https://www.webnovel.com/book/at-the-end-of-the-world_20555891206642905

I'm not sure this is the right place to discuss this, so please move it if it's not!

I was recently offered a contract with Webnovel while writing on another platform. But, the thing is, I write Gothic Fantasy (think Dark Souls with a tiny bit of Madoka Magica thrown in for that anime flavor) and I've seen a grand total of one novel on the site within that same genre.

What I wanted to ask is: do you think that novels outside of the usual genres / tropes (system, cultivation, transmigration, world / kingdom building, or fantasy romance, since that's also popular) can make it here? I'm not saying being one of the top 10 or anything. But being successful enough that I can live off of this* won't regret being stuck to WN through the contract and unable to leave and take my work elsewhere, where it might fit in better (if such a place even exists).

(*Keep in mind that I don't live in the US and would need less money to support myself. Also that the contract would include marketing on the website and put me in front of a lot of the userbase.)

Thanks in advance!

Mackaina Ooooh, I actually have yours in my library already, wanna do a swap? Mine is here: https://www.webnovel.com/book/at-the-end-of-the-world_19692201506098505

Cyclxne Sorry, I don't read most of the genres your story is in!