Webnovel.Forum

I write whenever I can (when I am not dancing or doing research), but I never share my unfinished manuscripts with the public. As a rule, I start posting chapters once the whole story is finished (not necessarily super-polished). My current novel was complete and edited before I found Webnovel and joined the company. However, I still decided to update the novel no more than twice-three times per week.

I admire those, who can not just churn out chapters, but also edit them daily. That is a most impressive feat. I don't know how they do it. And I don't think they have time to explain. I myself don't believe that I could deliver quality content daily.

My advice would be to plan everything as far ahead as you can if you really want to hit it hard. Your chapters may not be polished, but they should make sense. And don't bother if daily updates are not something you cannot sustain.

Vienna_Gu I am not a fast reader, but I will try it out. Sounds intriguing.

DsDMonumental Thanks a lot. It makes a lot of sense. I am also genuinely interested in what people write. I would not only review teen romances or very hard power fantasy because these are not my cup of tea even if they are great and I would not want to give someone a bad review because I don't get the genre and its tropes. So, yep, tags help us all!:)

I will check it out, although I am not a very fast reader.

dreamver2 made some good points and I would like to add a couple of my own to her observations. First, I am not an avid BL reader, but there are certain BL novels that I appreciate greatly. Hell, one of my favorite novels, "The Husky and His White Cat", is actually BL. I love it because it is a great piece of literature that also happens to have gay (not only) couples in it.

On a more general note, there are a couple of things many (well-written) BL pieces have that, according to my observations, attract female readers of any sexual orientation.

1. The looks. Male leads are usually described as elegant, lithe, well-dressed, and sophisticated. That is pretty much the type of person (male or female) that many modern female readers find physically attractive. You'd rarely come across a bulky hyper-masculine hulk in a BL manga or novel. Smashing hulks can be great. Sure. But many modern ladies prefer the first type. I, too, picked my first BL novel because I love these aesthetics.

2. Relationship dynamics. Many well-written BL novels pay equal attention to the leads, highlighting their individuality. This....well...does not always happen in other genres. You will often come across traditional couples performing traditional roles and getting kids in the process... In BL, the two main leads can actually live however they want or perform any role they want. That is something I personally appreciate.

3. Novelty. Ok, this may sound strange, but I should point out that BL as a genre is pretty new. When Dumas wrote Monte-Cristo and only hinted at Eugenie Danglar's sexual orientation (she eventually elopes with her female piano teacher to live happily ever after - sorry for the spoiler), many 19th-century readers found it revolting. And now we have BL, GL, Bara. As a female reader, you can have not only a set of characters that you find attractive but choose from a million pieces. Many people simply find it hard to move on and keep on reading BL because they haven't had enough of it.

1. Yes. Of course!
2. Dark Fantasy (European-inspired or Asian-inspired), but I also love historical fiction. The main reason is the vastness of these genres and their boundless reality-bending potential. Fantasy novels (including xianxia works) not only ask 'what if', but actually answer that question. In fantasy, it is the author, who dictates the rules of the world. Reality takes a backseat.
3. Yes, on Wattpad and Royal Roads.

If you have a great fanbase on Webnovel and don't post your work anywhere else (I post on both wattpad and webnovel, for example), then you won't be bothered by the exclusivity of their contract. Some niche novels do well only on specific platforms. Tapas is great for manga, as far as I've heard. I also love royal roads, but I do not write isekai or progression fantasy, so it does not make much sense for me to post there. Webnovel is more inclusive, I think. I also like the fact that it caters to a more mature audience than many other platforms.

I am not sure how this coin system works, but it does seem a bit tricky. Perhaps, a good idea will be to get yourself a patreon account or something like that when time comes. For now, talking about contacts is a bit too early.

I never knew someone went around making offers to authors out of the blue. Thanks for warning anyway.

I think you need a great dose of popularity to even be deemed worthy of scamming. :)

Hey, thanks for creating this thread. I am also a bit confused about the intricacies of story promotion since I've been here for roughly a week.

I would like to exchange reads with someone writing dark fantasy or historical fiction (Eastern, Western or anything in-between). Send me a link, let's wait for each other's updates and let's grow together!

Hello, everyone! I am searching for a fellow author interested in dark fantasy and complicated plots for a 'read-for-read'? Do you have something that falls within the genres of gritty fantasy, historical fiction or horror? Kick me and I will read it.

Does it matter if your viewers are male or female? Also, I don's see any huge disparity between your readers. You've got a slightly bigger female audience. That's great. (You have Readers! Congrats!)

By the way, BL novels attract not only female readers. Their appeal depends on their focus. If we are talking about explicit romance novels with a lot of sexual scenes, then, yes, female readers are more likely to pick them up. But if a novel is plot-heavy and does not focus exclusively on the steamy relationship between two gorgeous dudes, it has a broader appeal. I'd say some BL works by Priest fall within this last category. Most people read them because of their mystery element and complex worldbuilding. Plus, there are gorgeous dudes, gorgeous ladies, bitter betrayals and political intrigue.

Doesn't 'urban' refer to 'urban fantasy'? I am also a bit confused here.

If they have interesting relationship dynamics - yes, absolutely. I have very rarely seen novels online or in stores that deal with two equally interesting female leads that are either very close friends or very close enemies or very close lovers (ok, that last one actually happens a lot - think Gideon the Ninth). But I agree with the rest of the people here: don't just add leads for the sake of it. If it makes sense for the story to have them, go for it. If not, then write a piece with three male leads.

I think the stigma of using female leads is something that has a lot to do with the algorithm that Webnovels applies to our 'preferences'. If you choose 'male lead', you get power fantasy. If you choose 'female', your feed immediately fills with romance stories. It is a limiting approach. Why not subvert the tropes? If you want to use a female lead but do not want to focus on the romantic aspect of the plot, then state so in the description: "a grimdark fantasy with elements of tragedy or a litRPG with elements of mystery or something like that". Romance is not a 'must-have'. Not everyone expects it even if they choose 'female lead' as their preference. (It's a pity you can't choose both). I am not sure how this impacts the visibility of the story, but I think it is worth a try. If you really want to have a female lead, why would you resort to a different choice just to blend in? Or vice-versa.

Alternatively, you can have romance (even if you have a male lead or two leads), but not make it part of the main plotline. Such an approach made sense to me since I wanted to focus on...complicated character dynamics first.

Sara_Wilcox Antti Martikainen. Yes! Victoria Ultima lights our path!

A counterintuitive piece of advice: don't try to ditch the addictive book. Dissect the novel to understand what it was that has drawn you in so completely. Reread your favorite part. It will inspire your writing and motivate you. Then you will move on without effort.

SlaveOfTheLord 'Punch hard' is cool...but some sort of character would be a nice addition to the 'punching part' :).