Webnovel.Forum

What is the deal with the number of existing books in the romance category that are being re-released with character names such as the ever-sexy Irene, Edgar, Arthur, Starlet, Evanescence, or Rainbow? The names in the original Chinese works (many found on QQ or 69shu) have had characters Chinese names changed to Western names or outright Tragedeighs (web search Tragedeigh names or find threads on Reddit and Instagram. Reighleigh Katniss is an example of a Tragedeigh name). If the Chinese author wants to whitewash his/her/their book for a 2nd salary, okay. Get paid. Realise though that it comes across as pandering to readers too lazy to pronounce a Chinese name or learn about Chinese culture, but it's their book, so they can do what they like with the book they wrote.

The problem is that cultural things like not valuing daughters while pampering sons, bride prices, and wives/children being held responsible for the financial debts of their disappeared/dead parents in no way translates to Western society. This cheap money grab of whitewashing books for 'the West' makes for a very disjointed read. We're struggling to suspend our disbelief far far away so that we can swallow a book that was previously a story about sent down girls in Mao's China being reissued with FL who's a rich New York socialite named Amber Clark. Amber is doing her civic duty by going to the Ozarks to teach philosophy to farmers and loggers kids. Americans don't do that. They go to Africa or Asia to help the poor because they think China and Africa are sun baked dust bowls. We think that because charities run adverts saying that Africans and Asians live barefoot in huts. On the other hand, reading about sent down girl made me Google to see what that is. It was middle class girls and boys who were selected (or volunteered) to go to rural China to learn real-life skills while educating the farmers and their children for the prosperity of society. Let me learn something while lying flat with an online novel, okay?

The culture, morals, sexual morals and conduct...none of the whitewashed versions alter the culture and society of the Chinese original, and when Asian morality is shoved into a Western book it doesn't work, period.

The whitewashing is a bit insulting. If you can't sound out an Asian name, then you're a functional illiterate. If you don't like Asian characters in your books, then read on Wattpad, Wordpress, Tumblr or any Western site. The Chinese whitewashing their own countrymen's work is a self-hating mess. It makes even less sense when compared to the way in which South Korea has exported its culture, food & entertainment content in its original Korean form to Western audiences. Hungary, Spain, France, EU graphic artists - they're all spreading their online creations worldwide in the original language. These whitewashings make it look like Webnovel is ashamed of being Chinese. Stupid. Own your history. Webnovel had tons of readers than migrated over from amateur fan translation blogs to finish reading works owned by Webnovel/Inkstone, etc. Webnovel had readers without whitewashing books. It would be different if it was a subgenre like Korean online writers setting books in Europe or featuring European aristocracy with its rules and culture, but written in Hangeul. It's not on that level. This is dying your hair blond and adopting a Kardashian accent...for what reason exactly?

This is shameful. Be who you are.

'Magical Realism' or death? I choose death. I would love to be able to swap passes for genres we're not into. Giving me passes for something I dislike isn't going to make me like it or induce me to try it. I just feel cheated.

_Ocelot_ Leave time in case the WiFi drops in the snowstorm and editors can't proof the last 2 paragraphs as that just happened to me.

Good luck!

I edited for Blips and seven other authors on WN in the past, as well as for 10 WordPress and independent fan translation sites. I started reading on this site while waiting to see what Webnovel would do with 'Evil Husband' after the fan translator I was editing for was legally told to stop translating a Quidian IP. 'Hidden Marriage' was originally on another site where I edited other books, so I came here after reading the raws to see if I'd missed any plot points.

I edited it for free until it stopped being fun. A good author should have 3-10 chapters stockpiled and ready to be edited. This takes pressure off your editor. Having to edit 55 minutes before the chapter is posted - when the author and editor are on different continents - is unfair as it doesn't allow time for the editor's real-life obligations, nor does it allow editors the opportunity to proofread their work. You want the best edit possible, right? Allow enough time so your editor can deliver quality work. People drop books for poor English, bad editing where names are wrong, and bad grammar in general, so be prepared when you talk to potential editors. Be ready to set deadlines and make them aware of when chapters post. No one wants to edit a chapter you posted an hour ago. Few people go back to read the edit. The after - posting edit isn't truly read until a new reader finally catches up. It feels like a rush and a waste of time to edit a chapter that posted 5 minutes ago, so try not to post a chapter without allowing time for editing.

"Make sure that your proofreaders know where commas and quotation marks go," he said. Editing in a limited time frame while editing the author AND the proofreader is asking too much, especially if you're getting free services. Your editor may move a paragraph or an entire scene from the end to the beginning if it makes more sense to a reader. You can accept or reject editing changes, but make sure it doesn't lead your proofreaders to think they can move entire passages. Their job is to check grammar, punctuation, names, and continuity, not rewrite your book. There's a difference between an editor grouping events and then the back story or reaction to make it logical to readers. If your proofreader thinks your editor us freely rewriting your book so he can too, your book will be gibberish if your editor gets fed up, or if the proofreader edits the editir's work. It's your project, so control your team and define their duties clearly. If your proofreaders are simply 'proofing' to read in advance, decide if not saying anything is worth losing an editor who has to restore what you wrote before editing you AND the proofreader.

Always thank and/or name your team at the end of the chapter or in the author's notes, especially if the editing is free, and esoecially if your editor is writing your steamy scenes because you're too shy too do i.

I got the confirmation email and NO nothing, no points, bonus, zero PLUS I have almost 6000 points and there's nothing available to redeem them for. This is BS. I'm going back to translating QI novels and posting them on WordPress. I'm translating everything currently in my Library that isn't an original. You rob me, I rob you.

TheCabbageLu The Villian's Wife is the only one that's totally miscommunication-free. Regular updates, frequent snu-snu, more worthy goes than vapid white lotuses, and the faceslaps are a bit more complex and far reaching for other evil characters.

We need a spoiler button in the comments like the spoiler button on reviews. Who do we contact or how does one request a spoiler button on comments? Between impatient people getting spoilers from NU and pasting them into comments word for word to those who've read the raws and want to summarize the book whether you want it or not, the spoiler asshats are ruining books. If you want spoilers go to NU or any other forum and discuss them. I can do that but I don't want to. Don't tell me not to read them because if you try to interact with book's regular commenters you have to scroll past the spoilers to reach a storyline related comment so you see it whether you want to or not. The human eye will read words no matter how fast you try to scroll by. It's the science of cognitive processing so don't tell me not to read them because you can't click 'next' to bypass the spoiler. You have to keep scrolling to reach a real comment and you need your eyes open to do that.

Innovation Good and fair points, but is a review that is jkhfyklb gjmm vghk or 140 times the sort of review anyone wants? I've read, translated, and edited books that got cease and desist from QI so I know what you mean about reading a book elsewhere and writing a review, but filling 140 characters with stupidity makes me move past a book with a weak synopsis because there's no real review to induce you to read. Ultimately they need to crack down on these junk reviews. They also need a spoiler button on comments for people who read the book elsewhere or who went to NU and picked up spoilers there. That stuff isn't fair to writers or translators either.

Thanks for correcting my oversights.

I'm with systemmpreg . Yes, as many have said, we could move on to something else but I don't want another genre, I want to read a romance where the FL isn't suffering from Stockholm syndrome. There are quite a few books on their roster where the FL isn't raped and does not welcome the cold CEO back with open arms after he's behaved appallingly. Evil Natured Husband is one example, but it seems to be dead in the water.

I live in Seoul and right now drugging and raping women is all that's in the news. Here, and in Singapore, India, China, and Malaysia I know that it's a cultural thing to brush off rape because of victim blaming and useless cops, but Webnovel doesn't need to reinforce these beliefs. Young girls calling rape 'snu snu' is seriously tragic. I'd like to start reading without having to check Novel updates for rape tags and abuse spoilers so I don't get triggered. Women can be in relationships and enjoy sex. It doesn't have to be rape to make it acceptable. What century is this? Can we just get a consenting adults romance please?

By giving away stones as part of a promotion and also to earn 5 points daily, Webnovel has ruined the reviews. There are reviews at the top of the reviews listings for almost every book that say:
'I'm doing this for points. It's in my library.!!!!!!!!!!'
...and then emojis or exclamation marks until the 140 character limit is reached. This makes looking at reviews a load of crap, and it does not help original writers find new readers.

Webnovel needs to fix it so that books can't be reviewed if they haven't been read, and a requirement to read 20 chapters before posting a review would make it so that the reviews aren't a giant, stone scamming waste of my time. It would also protect the authors from the morons who give bad reviews to books they haven't read based on cover art. Yeah, they do it and admit it.