VERY IMPORTANT: Did anyone get contacted by Webnovel...?

scribesunlimited 2021-07-07 16:19:17 UTC #21

Wish you could get out of that somehow.

therosesword 2021-07-07 16:59:09 UTC #22

@cherrystark and I talk about this a lot.

DiegoPalacios 2021-07-07 17:01:34 UTC #23

Some try to get the fun and the cash

scribesunlimited 2021-07-07 17:04:33 UTC #24

We understand people want to make lots of money as authors and it's great when you get a publisher, a major one, tell you they want your book. Or, happily a few publishers want your book, and a massive bidding war ensues.

But from the very start, people should be thinking of the fun and excitement in getting something down on paper that you really love, that you feel passionate about. Because if YOU love it, chances are great that millions of others will too. Right now we have a client who thinks she's going to be rich and famous for her work, but unless you have the right marketing and all...it's just not going to happen.

therosesword 2021-07-07 17:10:50 UTC #25

Yup, that's pretty much how we feel about it. I've asked her more than once when the talk on various vella forums turns to gaming the system: are these guys writers or carnival barkers.

Re; Webnovel, if I had something fun, that I wasn't passionately married to (and we've all written something like that) i might consider it. I think, you may recall, that I was a staff writer for an audio drama company for many years, so basically, I wrote stories when they needed it within their confines. i put as much effort into the stories as I did other work and many of them became fan favorites, one the boss actually called brilliant. But were they my passion? Nope, they paid the bills. BUT... I had enough pride in my work to still do the best I could with what I had to work with.

A lot of the stuff we're seeing on vella is geared forward $$$. We rarely, if ever, see anyone talking about writing.

scribesunlimited 2021-07-07 17:19:35 UTC #26

Sometimes I think we can put the blame squarely on E.L. James.
She wrote maybe one of the worst pieces of literature known to man, "50 Shades of Grey" and advertised it as "Twilight" fan-fiction. But it didn't stop her from making millions because she happens to have a hubby who's a powerful public relations man. It didn't matter that the book was horribly written and she hated women about as much as the English language...

Sure, if we ALL married powerful PR people, we'd all be rich. =P

In your case, we can see the difference. You were writing on deadlines, not imagination. The writing wasn't coming through your soul, it was more or less something you had to do. And it's hard to feel that passionate about it.

Anyway, the passion is going downhill.

therosesword 2021-07-07 19:03:29 UTC #27

it's like any staff writer on a show, tv or otherwise. I will say that it earned me a spot in the history of audio drama as I am mentioned in a few of those places where people keep track of that kind of thing, and it gave me a solid reputation in the field. I did, however, keep trying to kill of the main character (wink wink) What I did, mostly, was put the passion in the secondary characters and actually developed a couple that, when the company closed due to the bosses death and then reopened there were requests for permission to bring back the characters by the new owners, the fans and the actors.

I refused.

But, I agree with a lot of what we're seeing about your assessment. We find, here on tapas, much more passion about writing than we find in the "best selling" authors on kindle. they're only interested in the trends and with vella they just wanted to know what sells the best.

scribesunlimited 2021-07-07 19:22:07 UTC #28

Our dream for decades. We've written our share of scripts and screenplays but just never got the break.

therosesword 2021-07-07 19:34:27 UTC #29

It's a tough nut to crack. I oversaw a group writing for a German TV show that a guy was trying to pitch. We got paid for all our episodes but negotiations fell apart with a producer, I have no idea what ever happened but...hollywood is tough. Now, web productions...... you might want to check that.

Edel_Li 2021-07-07 19:38:14 UTC #30

Surely it might have been said already, but indeed, Webnovel--or WN--is nowhere a scam. It's the English international platform by Qidian, owned by...Tencent. If you look at Tapas partners, WN is one of them.
They are known for their terrific contract--especially for the exclusive contract--but well, not every writer's seeking to keep their full copyrights.

Despite the contract, they are the biggest web novels app and website. They have millions of traffic every day. So, yes, you gain views, visibility because there will be someone to read no matter what and how you write.

But you might need to know something: even if you put your novel on WN just for free, you will not be able to delete the novel later. You can only delete the chapters. Now, there are still writers who post here themself, even if it's not the whole novel, to have control over their work and avoid random people putting it here before them.

And yep, I know this because... I am on WN
I camed to Tapas after.

EDIT: 2020 WSA winner, with 'My Vampire System', has now 989 chapters with at least 1.5k/words each. So yep, if you want to go to WN, prepare yourself. We are talking about monstrous serials.

scribesunlimited 2021-07-07 19:45:38 UTC #31

Oh HELL NO.

Life is way too short.

Zugaikotsu 2021-07-07 19:48:27 UTC #32

May I ask if you signed the exclusive or the non exclusive deal? They offered me the non exclusive one and it doesn't seem bad, athough the shares are smaller...

Edel_Li 2021-07-07 19:52:25 UTC #33

They offer me the exclusive contract, so that's the only one I know. If you get the non-exclusive, it's not with WN directly but with one of their partners companies, etc. I know there's a bunch of them working for WN only on non-exclusive.

I didn't sign the contract, or else I wouldn't be able to put my story here.

Zugaikotsu 2021-07-07 20:00:28 UTC #34

ahahahahaaa I see! that is why I thought you went as non exlclusive! But thank you so much regardless!

therosesword 2021-07-08 00:34:56 UTC #35

My eventual plans for my Bright Morn serial is 1 to 2k chapters at the very least.

scribesunlimited 2021-07-08 14:11:13 UTC #36

Why don't you get it out to manga/anime venues already?
You've got the talent for this.
Doesn't have to be done does it?
We had an exciting idea for a manga we've been dying to try.
Feel free to PM if you'd like details.

therosesword 2021-07-08 14:47:36 UTC #37

Many thanks but, yes, I have to have things completed before I do anything, I'm a pantser.
When I left the audio drama company I swore I'd never write for hire again so, respectfully, no on the manga.
I'm concentrating on my Bright Morn serial and that's what my media rep wants me to focus on right now. I can give you her contact info but she's hard to reach right now as she's in Cannes. But I think her answer would be the same.

scribesunlimited 2021-07-08 15:13:52 UTC #38

Well, we could give it a shot, sure! We just made a connection with Dreamworks the other day about animation so we're feeling lucky.

therosesword 2021-07-08 15:17:45 UTC #39

I'll ask her first, as she knows I don't want to work for hire.

kitkatxk 2021-08-06 18:34:36 UTC #40

I write because I love to write. And I genuinely love my stories. If I don't like to read my stories I won't write them. I had someone ton there tell me to just give a shitty ending to my story because it wasn't "selling" and I needed to wrap it up and move onto something more generic and mainstream that readers would eat better. They even said readers are stupid, they find one thing they like then they just want more of the same. It doesn't have to be original, it doesn't have to be complex. It cane be absolutely mind mush but if they like it they will search it. It doesn't matter if your content is good as long as it has the same hook they like in every novel. They will pay for the trash and then thank you for it.

So they said I had been on webnovel since it started and my one advice is this site is not for those who want to hone their craft, or want good novel. This site is for people who are okay to write something meaningless, something they may even dislike a little, and write purely for money, and for pumping out novels.

If you can't take the system it runs by, then I suggest trying Tapas. Two years later. Lets just say I wish I had known that before I signed, and also, look where I am typing. XD

I wrote stories I wanted to read. I wrote stories and characters I could connect with. I didn't want to be turned into a poorly producing content farm, milked for half asses stories and all it was worth. And for the person who said I know people making 9K on there. True, some do. But not as many as you think, and even fewer of those are happy with the sheet under their names. And might I add that Webnovel is making so much more than what that author is from their own work. If an author is making 15K webnovel is making 40K.

But if you can't take a content farm, don't join one. Cause that's what webnovel is. I met very few people on there who gave a dang what they were writing. Or cared about their novels or characters at all.