Let's do this one more time. The right way now.

Novel: Mistress of the Steppes (links)

Before the great name sucks you right in and you get tricked by the amazing book cover, you must know that both the name and the book cover have themselves been sucked right out of @Jenjibread's amazing brain. However, the writing is my own. And my stories are boring. I am not saying this to have you cuddle and kiss my literary ouchy better. I am saying this to warn you. Unless you need a sedative, read at your own risk. If you do need a sedative, my stuff could knock out a stallion.

Speaking of stallions, make your choice, ladies:

I got so tired doing this in Photoshop that I don't have the energy for the other character.
Thus, ladies, I am sorry … You are stuck choosing between Rong Fengli and Rong Fengli! I hope you've got good insurance, because that psychologist you'll need once he's done with you won't come in cheap.

So why y'all not take all the novels you love but are not translated to illegal novel translation groups and beg them to translate them for you? That will make you a despicable human being, stealing the hard work of others and helping individuals who do the translations make a profit through donations and ads while the authors gets nothing at all (not even a thank you). However, that would prevent you from throwing public tantrums like 2-year olds when someone decides not to do your bidding (Webnovel can translate whatever it pleases, however it pleases, as per its marketing plan).

Or, if you are rather more ethical, you can go find said novel on Qidian, pay for the Chinese version and machine-translate it as the rest of us Chinaboos do. If you use Google Translate you won't understand anything. If you use Baidu Fanyi, you will understand 80% of it. The 20% remaining is when you use your own brain to figure it out.

Problem solved.

@Gourmet_DAO

EDIT: That is some real review you wrote there. I just saw it!!! Heck, I need to wow you. Expect a review AND comments on Tuesday. You are going to be a tough crowd to please!

@Jenjibread, you cannot complain of being a misunderstood author. People appreciate how historically accurate you are.

arcadian_mystic Ok, so the books locked by Webnovel are either translations from the Chinese original into English. For those books, Webnovel either bought a license, either has a license as per the contracts signed by the authors with Webnovel's mother company Qidian. Those novels are translated by professional translators, who are paid themselves, the authors of those novels receive proceeds from them (or at least, should). All of that costs money. In the same way that you have to pay to read "Harry Potter" legally, you have to pay to read these translations.

As for Webnovel originals, if they are locked, it is because the writers signed contracts with Webnovel that permit for them to receive proceeds from their writing. You are paying the authors in that case, with Webnovel taken a percentage for hosting the novel on its website (how big that percentage is is none of my business - the authors and Webnovel are the actors in that field). So accusing Webnovel for letting authors lock their novels is ludicrous. Accuse the authors.

Of course, when you accuse the authors for not writing for free (many of us do, by the way - in fact, most of us do), you accuse the author for wanting to eat, pay his rent and bills. Writing takes time. It isn't like pooping (in fact, constipated people would tell you that pooping takes up a lot of effort and a big chunk of their time, decreasing their productivity all in all, but that is not the point).

Dostoevsky wrote for money. The man had to eat.
Kafka wrote for money. The man had to eat.
So did Balzac. And Zola. And these are great names of classical literature who wrote books that were actually worthwhile and had a message unlike our CEO romances and half-as*ed cultivation novels (no offense intended to any of us, but let us admit it - our books are not going to change the world anytime soon; they are a great, fun read however)

J.K. Rowling also wrote for money. And I bet the readers who payed 40$ for her hardcover books never even complained about that or thought about how "Harry Potter" should be a free read. Or "Fifty Shades of Grey". Or "Twilight".

Why not try this once? My first time shamelessly promoting something I write.

Title: Remember the Source from Which You Drink

Link: https://www.webnovel.com/book/16600035705520405/Yin-Shui-Si-Yuan%3A-Remember-the-Source-from-which-You-Drink

Genres: Historical Romance, Drama

Synopsis:

“Ah-Li.”

Only she. Only she dared call him in such an intimate manner. To his other women, to the Empress Consort herself, he was His Majesty, the Xinlong Emperor. The Empress Dowager, in an upsurge of tenderness, might have called him Your Highness, in remembrance of the days when he had been but a fourth Prince. But she, she would always trample his dignity underfoot. She, she would always flaunt her dominance in the Inner Palace.

“Ah-Li, always remember the source from which you drink.”

A cold shiver ran down his spine. She knew. He had come to ring the death knell for her. As he had rung it for so many before her. For his own flesh and blood. She knew. He hovered over her outstretched silhouette, looking down on her. Desire whipped his mind, fear grabbed him around the throat, making it ever so difficult for him to swallow the saliva that was accumulating in his mouth.

Before he could even extend a hand, he felt a palm squarely setting against his abdomen. Pushing at it without ceremony.

“It is Imperial Concubine Qin’s great honor to be attending His Majesty, the Emperor, in his chambers tonight. He better take his leave not to make her wait. This humble court lady is tired and wishes to rest.”

(This is half of the actual synopsis. I was not quite sure how acceptable it would be to post the second half on the forum.)

Other Info: Instead of focusing solely on the love story, this work attempts to understand the territorial struggles between the Chinese Han and the Xiongnu and the particularities of both societies. Rather than making on nation, its customs and lifestyle a foil for another nation, it tries to explore the social constructs in parallel through the meeting between a former Chinese Han Imperial Consort and an aristocrat of the Xiongnu Imperial Household.

I have been writing on the net since age 16 (and lemme tell you, the last time I was 16 was back in 2007 - thus, I daresay I have been writing on the net for half of my life). As, what I consider a veteran web-scribbler, I agree wholeheartedly with @Gourmet_DAO conclusions.

In the same way that I have no right in coercing an author to answer me, to answer my questions, to send me thank-you notes for reading and commenting on his work, the same way an author does not have the right to whine about lack reader engagement, about lack of popularity, etc. if he does not try to get the readers engaged.

About this idea of using Discord for questions … what is Webnovel for, then? What are the comment and review sections for? The reason web portals for writers exist is exactly to boost reader-writer communication. And I can assure you, having written on virtually any portal out there (even foreign-language ones), writers do not realize how amazing Webnovel readers are. Go and try Inkitt, go and try Tapas or Wattpad (naming only the big ones). Unless you write BL, no one will even give your work a look on Tapas (but if you write BL, Tapas is a godsent gift to you). As for Wattpad and Inkitt … the best of lucks. Inkitt you might be able to boost your stats if you are willing to boost the stats of others. Investing ridiculous amounts of time into that too. Wattpad, not even that will save you. Only, only on Webnovel will you have free, genuine reader engagement. Readers on here are there to read something fun. And a lot of readers on here are young. Very young. Remember how it was to be young, to throw a comment out on the net for the first time? You speak of your being self-conscious. So are the freakin' readers!

And on top of it all, demanding that readers get a Discord, hunt you down on your personal Discord to ask you a question you might not answer, because who answers questions of random people on Discord? As someone who uses Discord for her side-hobby, I do not engage in conversation with random people on there. Why did that reader even get a freakin' Webnovel account if he needs a Discord now?! We get it, you don't have the time to answer questions, you are working hard to produce the next chapter. Ok. But for a lot of readers, no-interaction means no responsibility on their side either. Don't encourage people to support you if you are not willing to work towards that support.

Honestly, reading some of the replies one here, the vocabulary used (with extra negative connotations), some of them even mocking @Gourmet_DAO for having dared ask a very valid question, namely what happens in the mind of writers who do not answer comments, I have come to a conclusion that the best thing for me to do is to start using end-of-chapter sections to encourage readers to come to the Forum and see what their writers are up to, see their opinions and their thoughts. I said it, it is a good thing to make our individuality seen, it engages readers to interact with us, not just impersonally read our stories. I wonder if readers came to this charming thread how much reader engagement we would still have left after they had a chance to take a look at our comments on here.

Gourmet_DAO For I do not quite understand how to write an honest review if I have questions and the author does not want to answer them?

You know, it is funny authors do not seem to understand what questions mean. So let us teach them.

When a reader writes you a question, folks, it means that somewhere in your story something was not conveyed appropriately. Now, the reader is sensitive to what you guys call self-doubt (because we all know readers do not feel self-doubt or self-conscious when they write you a comment or review and just get a silent wall as response - I can assure you that it is not a fun feeling, you can try sometimes). He does not want to hurt you by clearly telling you that the way you are constructing your story has a lot of plot-holes and inconsistencies that make it a difficult read. That is why the reader cannot write you a perfect, stellar review, give you those five stars you want and a few stones.

Now, there are many ways of taking care of this: (1) Ignore it completely and go on with your story with the result that the reader will lose interest because you look very ungrateful, not even giving his hidden advice (because questions are generally hidden advice) a look and making the reader feel bad because on top of you not responding, your story isn't all that clear, so why bother continuing to read it? (2) fix the problem that the reader has so kindly and politely pointed out but not tell the reader and make him think that nothing has changed, so why continue reading? (3) thanking the reader for pointing out where there is a confusion and doing your best to fix it thus encouraging the reader to read on and get engaged.

The "reader's question" explained.

Gourmet_DAO I felt your wave of sarcasm hit me so hard I almost drowned in it.

Or drowned in my saliva laughing so hard. Child, you have learned much from this old lady today. She deserves you coming to visit her in her retirement home every six months as a show of your supreme gratitude.

But on a serious note, reading some replies on this thread you have the impression that the writers on here consider themselves as the navel of the world (an expression we use around here where I live to say "center of the world", there is another one that is much more vulgar that I will not use). Their lives are so difficult, they are so misunderstood, they are so pressured.

They want their individuality to be respected. But at the same time, they want your stones, they want your comments, they want your ratings and your reviews. But that is a given, right? Their story is so amazing and they deserve this being handed to them without them reciprocating the smallest bit. Honestly, when I write you a comment, it means I have seen something in your work that makes me believe you might be a good time-investment in general. I want to see whether there is something in there or whether me enjoying your work was a fluke. Most readers are like that. Am I a fan of your story or am I to become a fan of you?!

Oh, I am going to respect your individuality. And I am going to make you respect mine. You don't answer my comment? You just lost all the comments, the reviews, the ratings and the stones I would have potentially given you had your answer made you seem as the next great webwriter I shall obsess over. My life is tough too, I am pressured too, I am bad at communicating too (as everyone can see), but look here, I went ahead and wrote you a comment. You not answering it is a clear message that you don't care about my reader engagement.

[Edit: I forgot to mention I will most probably also delete my comment or review if it gets no answer, because why clutter your comment and review page, right? You obviously don't want it.]