WebNovel Non-Exclusive Contract?

[CommanderMarty]

I got that same message. Was it from a Bryce?

[elisabeth_ist]

Hmm. I didn't think you actually needed a contract in order to work with WebNovel; I thought you could just go ahead and put your stuff up there whenever you liked. That makes me feel like this might potentially be a bit scammy. Like, are they trying to get rights from you? Anyone else know anything?

[alexlcuri07]

@lordsomething36 No. It was from a representative named QianYu, but I did notice the Discord Server was an invite from Bryce. I mean, are they just taking advantage of Wattpad crashing and burning?

@elisabeth_ist My first question to my editor (aka my fiance) was how this would be any different than just posting on Webtoon directly. The message doesn't mention them wanting to purchase anything.

[CommanderMarty]

the rep that messaged me was named Bryce.

What's happening to Wattpad? (I know the forums are down)

[lunagraves714]

Don't do it! It's a scam, their contracts are horrible! I got a message from them too on Wattpad a few days ago.

[alexlcuri07]

Oh??? Did you look into it already?

[CommanderMarty]

You mean not legit right? (I wasn't gonna accept mine on account of the fact that I don't like Tencent)

[lunagraves714]

Yeah all you have to do is search "is [insert company name] legit?" and you can usually find all kinds of articles on it. WebNovel was known for targeting people on Wattpad and usually someone claiming to be an author liaison would contact you a few hours after they joined with a super generic name and a very vague message like "We really enjoyed your works and would like for you to join W e b n o v e l". Beware of these messages. Another one is Ringdom, which is run by STARY. They offer you a similar deal, but once you accept, they give you 6% of the earnings and don't tell you how exactly you earn it. They also sell the rights to your story away to their sister company so they don't have to pay you.

[alexlcuri07]

Woof. Thanks for the heads up.

[CommanderMarty]

This is why I always live by the motto of "fuck tencent"

[lunagraves714]

Yep, STARY == bad...

[alexlcuri07]

All good. Webnovel is a mess anyhow, lol.

[CommanderMarty]

Tencent is a monopoly. (more of one than Disney)

[lunagraves714]

Sorry about the disappointment though, I know it probably felt nice getting an offer

[alexlcuri07]

Meh, I get weird messages like this from Instagram pretty often actually. And when they combined non-exclusive and contract in the same sentence my paranoia kicked in. XD

[joannekwan]

Even if you don't sign any contract with Webnovel, the site is sketch for creators anyway. 1. You can't delete episodes, only edit them, and there is no simple 'delete account' button. You have to e-mail them and give them reasons why you want to leave. 2. They censor mentions of Patreon to keep readers on their site as much as possible and keep their forms of support to you as a creator solely through WN.

[Dark_Faeire]

had anyone ever receive a contract offer from Readict [mobile reading app], relations to VirtalTek.
They emailed me about a month ago for non-exclusive license, they provided their site which people can apply for publishing and they also provide sign-on bonus and had a contract form too.

https://www.readictnovel.com/#/

[vblairehawthorne]

As a premium content creator on Webnovel, I have many thing I want to say about it. Mostly negative. However, since I am locked in the Webnovel hell, I cannot say anything potentially damaging for the company.

One thing I will say to you about the contract: don't do it. Please. Save yourself. I wish I'm just being dramatic.

[Dark_Faeire]

really? So Readict is no different to Webnovel?
I was hesitant when I saw the email and I wasn't too sure to think of it.

[ThatFanwriter_EV]

Perfect! Was just about to ask the same thing!!!

(the offer itself is "legit" actually someone from webnovel who wants to sign, you can post w/o contract but contract is how you get paid)

I was just kicked off their discord server for asking too many questions and was accused of "slander" ... so.... (joined the server yesterday and have been asking questions on and off since)

also all the mods on that discord were so rude and defensive of the company. We asked about the copyrighting and they replied with "why would you care about something like that?"

I was looking into it because I saw a lot of writers from Tapas on there, some even with exclusive contracts and premium stories, and supposedly they paid really well, but the discord chat left a bad taste in my mouth.

Someone asked about it being a scam, to which all the mods replied with "why do all these idiots think this is a scam??? No one is forcing you to do anything! Do your own research before asking us stupid questions and yelling false claims!"

I explained that us doing our research is whats lead us to believe they webnovel is shady, because we see videos like the ones below. (my comment was immediately deleted, I waited the mandatory five minutes of slowmode to ask why, and further explained myself, then they banned me)

@vblairehawthorne I was wondering if I could hear more about your experiences? If possible, if not it's okay! The creators of webnovel that I talked to on the discord all said it was a pretty great deal for any stories that I didn't want tp publish in the future and that they made a lot of money each month, like over 600. I've got a few just for fun/random stories that I don't really intend to publish and thought I could post there, but after my more recent experience on the discord I'm more hesitant, would love if I could hear your experience